SECRETS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE....Agbenyo Yao

THE YOUTH AND FUTURE INC.

WITH

GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE

PRESENTS

SECRETS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Agbenyo Ebenezer Yao (B.A. hon.)

There are secrets in everything and your lack of knowledge of these secrets will keep you behind. We shall in this write up try to figure out some secrets people employ to become geniuses. YOU TOO CAN BE….

What is academic excellence? It is that outstanding success that is admired and envied by many people, especially in a learning environment. This cannot be achieved overnight, but a conscious deliberate step-by-step approach needs to be employed in order to achieve this fit. It does not come by luck, nor by chance, but of choice, backed by adequate proper prior planning, coupled with hard work, long time preparation, and making sacrifices.

REMEMBER: you have not achieved academic excellence until your mates envy you.

Determining your purpose, developing a positive attitude, right focus, taking responsibility for your own success, employing proper study techniques, identifying your potentials, and setting challenging goals for yourself are requisite for a successful academic performance. A realistic goal is a mental picture of the future that gives you a firm grip of your actions. It is the energy, the driving force which can take you to your dream land. Without these factors you cannot say you are on the highway of excellence.

1. Determine your purpose.

“When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable." So what is your purpose for coming to school? I want you to answer that sincerely. I know that you didn't just wake up one morning, and had a matriculation number. Of course, you wrote some exams, you burned the mid-night oil, you reduced your sleeping time, and even wrote NOV/DEC perhaps, before finding yourself in level 100 or wherever you are now. Don't forget that whoever is sponsoring your education has reasons for doing so. He/she has hopes and expects you to make him/her proud by coming out (of school) with flying colours. I have discovered that it is very easy for you to get distracted with parties, fun, entertainment, fashion, and all that but the distraction is not the problem, but the consequence of the distraction, how it affects your purpose and your grade point in school. Even those who make time for their books do not have an easy time passing let alone excelling so if you decide to mess around, you have yourself to blame.

What do you hope to achieve in, and by going to school? That is food for thought.

Set challenging goals

Do not be like the pauper in the poem, craning your eyes in every direction in no direction. Get a focus. Say for instance, this term or this semester, I hope to make three ‘A’s out of the seven courses, two ‘B+’s and two ‘B’s. now that that is more realistic than saying I want to make seven As when you know yourself.

If you were the 20^th in your class last term, set the goal. May be coming to the 10^th position or better. Make sure your eye is on a goal. When you get to prep, you have two hours ahead of you, how do you expend that, set a goal and keep your eyes on it.

Employ proper study techniques.

Learning as it is, is not just taking a book from the shelves and sitting behind it to look at a few stuff, run your eyes over some three lines, stretch yourself and say “uuuhmm I am so tired”. It’s not about the number of hours you spend behind your books, nor the number of books you carry to school or prep. It is making a conscious, deliberate and intentional effort to decode an academic work and to retain what has been decoded.

It not just enough reading a book, you should be able to retain and remember what you learn.

THE SQ4R

Survey        Question    Read Recite         Revise        Recollect   

 You need to make a survey of what materials are available to you. Do you have the text books, the past questions, the human resource for the course, you need to know whether the materials are available in the library, on the internet or wherever.

Ask questions related to your topic. Set your own likely examination question and attempt answering them without looking or referring to the materials. In certain subjects, especially the reading oriented ones, there are certain questions that should come into the mind of any one studying them for instance those regarding definitions ane explanations and examples. Some too are application questions.

Then delve into READING. Now reading is done in stages.

Scanning refers to surface reading through the text to ascertain certain facts and key words. After this stage you do what is called scheming, where you read with closer attention than scanning. After this you do a close reading to make sure that you have what you need to pass your exams. Here you make conscious effort to UNDERSTAND what you are reading. If at this stage, you do not understand anything, you need to consult a more experienced friend or your tutor to ensure that you get a REAL understanding of the text. Remember there is a need to consult in every situation no matter how old you are than the one who has the information.

After READING, RECITE what you have read. Making a deliberate effort to memorise what you have read so far, is a sure way of retaining what you have learnt. Ruminate over it, ponder and reflect over what you have learnt. After these processes, go over what you have learnt. Many times we make the mistake of not revising what we are taught in class. Statistics has it that if you fail to revise what you learn in 24hrs, you are likely to forget about 40 to 60%. To reach one month without revising means you are likely to forget about 80 to 90% of what you have been taught or learnt. Remember, procrastination is not just a thief of time, it is a thief of life. So remember to revise your notes the moment you return from class.

JOIN A STUDY GROUP

Your study group should not be more than eight, so that each person takes one subject in which he or she is very good. You can decide to take turns in teaching each other. If you do not understand anything, consult. You may get others from other schools or other classes to visit you for peer tutoring. Additionally, appoint a potter to ensure that there is law and order in the discussion. In a group where talking and gossip are the order of the day, stay away.

GET A TIME TABLE

A personal workable and working time table is very important. Both at your group level and personal study level. There should be flexibility in your time table. Don’t tie yourself so much to the point of suffocating. FOLLOW YOUR PLANS AND SCHEDULES.

GET A STUDY PLACE.

Your study place should be well lighted, there should be fresh air and it should be free of distractions. Know yourself, what is good for you and what is bad, at what time you learn best and work accordingly. Seek help if you do not understand anything. Better you ask and be a fool for once, or you keep quiet over your ignorance and remain a fool forever.

NEVER GIVE UP

Believe in the power of your brain and what you can do. If nothing could stop you from being born, nothing can stop you from being successful. If you try once and it does not work out, that is not the end of life. Go again until you get your desired dream. Everybody fails at one point in life or the other, so if you failed, you aint the only one who failed, you can bounce back.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul? Knowledge is earthly, but the ability to apply that knowledge is called WISDOM and wisdom comes from God. That is why a doctor knows that its bad to smoke but he still smokes. You know that wasting time and aimless roaming will make you poor but you still go ahead to do it, WHY??? You lack wisdom. You have the knowledge, but God has not given you the ability to apply it. Ask God for it.

Make Jesus the Lord of your life and he will give you the desires of your heart. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. GOD BLESS YOU.