MONDAY INSIGHTS

With

Tope Ajetunmobi

Tope is a petroleum engineering graduate of Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, and a first class chemical engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

This article is a sequel to my last post titled “making the best out of academic failure”. Here, I will elaborate on the tips shared in my last article using personal experiences. Before you read this article, I recommend you read the previous article so as to get a clearer picture of where I am coming from.

1. Quit the blame game! 

After finishing high school, my first UME/JAMB score was 224/400 hoping to secure an admission to OAU chemical engineering program. To my disappointment, my name was not among the shortlisted candidates as the cut-off mark was in the 240 range. Two options came to mind:

a) go for another pure-science course with a lower cut-off mark; or

b) transfer to another university offering chemical engineering but having a much lower cut-off mark.

To the amazement of my family and friends, I chose none of the two options, rather a very weird option which was to wait for another year, prepare better, rewrite the UME/JAMB in an attempt to beat the cut-off mark this time around. The watchword was: “If OAU chemical engineering program were to admit only 1 guy in the following year, it had to be ME!” I accepted the fact that I wasn’t good enough to get into OAU that year. In simple English: I FAILED!

2. Review the cause of failure! 

I started by placing my UME score on the table: MTH 51, PHY 51, CHM 63, ENG 59. I reviewed the general cut-off marks for chemical engineering amongst the top ranked schools in Nigeria, and then made a generalisation that a score of 270 was good enough to get into any program of my choice. With this I drew up a score target: MTH 70, PHY 70, CHM 70, ENG 60. Next I brought out the question paper, and solved all questions under the same time conditions. To my surprise, I couldn’t finish any of the science subjects within the 45-minute allotted time. The next question that came to mind was: Where is the trick, if I need to finish the 3 science subjects within the 2 hour 15 minutes allotted time? Another review of cause of failure: I had never seen a JAMB syllabus before. I knew it existed but was very scarce. No matter the distance, I had to go find the syllabus. Summary of my game plan:

a) master speed and accuracy; and

b) rigorously prepare using a JAMB syllabus.

3. Never stay idle! 

One year equals 12 months!! Oops, that seems a long wait for another exam? I had to draft up another game plan to keep my brain active while waiting for another opportunity to unleash terror on JAMB. I opted to write a mini-UME (for polytechnic entrants) in an attempt to:

a) test my game plan for the macro-UME coming up the following year; and

b) stay briefly in the polytechnic so I could rub minds with other guys in similar conditions and also seize the opportunity to learn Advanced level Physics/Maths/Chemistry which will greatly enhance my preparation for UME and future life in the university.

The plan worked: I found myself in Yaba College of Technology in the same class with one of the smartest and friendliest students I had ever met (most of whom are still great friends with me till date).

4. Any role models to emulate/study? 

Next I started researching on people who had great scores in previous examinations. Unfortunately, many were of no use as they had indulged in exam malpractices in order to secure these outrageous scores. I managed to get hold of ex-colleagues who shared some tricks which were handy:

a) seems there is “negative marking” so any question you do not know or aren’t sure of, kindly leave this out

b) Spend your time first on a subject you know very well even if it will take more than the 45minutes allotted to it. There is nothing as horrible as leaving out questions you could have answered because of time constraints.

5. Be Positive!  

In summary, failure isn’t the end of the world. Once this happens, just take a break and review the cause of the failure and restrategise to come back stronger. I hope this write-up encourages a soul currently going through discouragement as a result of failure or not meeting assigned target. Catch up with you another time.

The rest is history. I smashed the UME scoring a record 314/400, the 5^th highest score in the country that year, with public recommendation from the registrar of JAMB, Prof Salim Ahmed Salim. That year, I had the highest JAMB score amongst all candidates who applied to Obafemi Awolowo University. I was fulfilled that the game plan worked perfectly well. The next thought came to mind: “If I could be the student with the highest JAMB score in OAU, then why couldn’t I graduate with highest GPA in some few years to come?” That’s another story for another day.

I disengaged myself from people making fun of me that I was in a polytechnic despite claiming to have come from a “gifted school” yet couldn’t pass the UME at first attempt! What a waste of government resources, some exclaimed! My approach was to spend more time with my Yabatech colleagues and have the greatest fun of my life staying away from negativity as possible. My backup plan was: “If for any reason I failed UME again, I could always apply for a direct entry program to a university”. Hopefully there would be no need for a backup plan.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tope got admission into OAU with the highest UME score for that year and graduated 5 years later with the highest CGPA for the set (and probably in the history of the university). Stay close to JarusHub as Tope tells us the other story.

***

Subscribe free to JarusHUb for more articles on education and careers

[subscribe2]