SECRETS TO

ACADEMIC
SUCCESS

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SECRETS TO ACADEMIC SUCCESS

N NOTE

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any
means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission from the Author.

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Content

Introduction
My personal story
Making up your mind
Gathering materials before time
Be punctual for lecturers
Note taking – write everything
Studying – no need for all night study
Assignments, tests, exams
Tutorials
Redefining your perspective
Humility
Handling Failure
Conclusion
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Introduction
As a successful student, I regularly receive countless pleas from
fellow students, soliciting advice on how they can become first-
class students. In this guide, I would explain in clear terms, how
any student can earn good grades and make first class in the
University. Before we proceed, I should point out that, one
common mistake that many students who want to earn good
grades make is; often times, they set out to earn good grades.
Funny, but no pun intended! Truth is, to make a first class, you
do not set out to make a first-class. Yes, I always tell students,
the easiest way to make a first-class is to fall in love with what
you do. When you fall in love with what you do, then success
would become a by-product.

For me, I want to become a renowned chemical engineer. This

dream motivates me to go to the library and carefully study and
understand the principles of Chemical Engineering. When I go to
class, it is because I want to learn and gain invaluable knowledge
from my professors about Chemical Engineering. I do not do any
of these with the mindset of graduating with a first-class – no! –
I do these things because I want to be knowledgeable enough to
be able to engage in cutting edge research in the future. In the
end, first-class comes naturally for me as a by product.

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As a young student, do not direct all your focus to making a first-
class. Your focus should rather be aimed at becoming the best
you can be in your field. Develop genuine interest in what you
are doing, find a purpose for what you are doing, and first class
would chase you.

This book would be one of the most personal books I have

written. It gives a detailed insight into my life in the University.
The actual reason I am writing this book is to provide an easy
guide (easy? really? well you would get to find out) to academic
success for students who are passionate about their academics
and want to make exploits in their fields.

Over the years, I have come to realize that successful students

hardly ever let out the real secrets to their successes. Often
times, when you ask successful students about their successes
and how they are able to become successful in their academics,
they end up giving generic and shallow responses like “it is God’s
work” or “just study and you would be fine” etc. Well, while it
may be God’s work that they are successful, becoming a
successful student also requires other works. It is those other
works I would be focusing on in this book. Before delving into
details, I should let you know that this book is not intended to
be a motivational book. If it motivates you in the end, fine! But
that is not its actual purpose. I want this book to be more than a
motivational handout.
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I want you to read this book and learn practical lessons that you
can apply to your own academic life and become a successful
student.

Readers should have it in mind that becoming successful in

school does not translate to becoming financially successful in
life. However, becoming successful in school could open
numerous doors and opportunities for you to grow and advance
in your career. Before we proceed, let me tell you a short story
about myself.

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MY PERSONAL STORY

In my secondary school years, I was consistently among the top

performers. I changed secondary school four times. Some of the
times, it was as a result of relocation. Other times, it was
because I was looking for more challenging environments. But
one thing was constant, everywhere I went, I made exploits. I
remember a school I enrolled in, “Immaculate international
school”. I had my entire SS1 session in that school, and I topped
my class throughout the entire 3 terms in the session. My
academic wins during secondary school made me develop a high
sense of confidence in myself and in my abilities.

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When I secured admission to study
Chemical engineering in the University
of Benin, I resumed with that same
confidence. I knew I was good. My
secondary results were there to show.
I used to say to myself “I would show
these Uniben students the stuff I am
made of”. The semester started, 100L
first semester. The university life came
with so much freedom and things were
different. In secondary school for
instance, I never studied at night, but
coming to the university, I noticed that
almost every student in my hostel
dressed up every night and would go
to any available lecture theatre to
study, throughout the night. They
called the practice of going to lecture
theatres at night to study, “night class”.
As a new student, I didn’t take time to
understand myself or what I wanted
for myself. Seeing people leave their
hostels for night class, was enough to
convince me to join them. And that
was how I started going for night class.

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Night class was fun. You get to see so many students studying all
through the night. For me, I wasn’t much of a nocturnal student,
so I always slept early. Then the next day, I would repeat the
same cycle. Well, the semester ended and results were released.
Sadly, my results were far below what I expected. I wasn’t even
on a first class. I had a 4.18/5.0 and I felt sad. Not long, second
semester started, and I thought to myself, maybe I didn’t spend
more hours studying in night class the previous semester, hence
my bad result. So, that second semester, I became a night class
champ. I spent consequential hours studying throughout the
night. Sadly, the semester came to an end, and I flopped again,
4.35. Still not on a first class. There and then, I gave up every
desire to get a first class. 200Level came and all I wanted to do
was just to study for the sake of acquiring knowledge and
nothing more. I didn’t bother about my grades anymore, I just
wanted to be a well learned engineer. In 200Level I completely
stopped going for night class and I started spending most of my
time in the university library studying engineering books.

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There was a course I particularly fell in love with, CVE211, a civil
engineering course on structures. I used to spend hours in the
library everyday reading and learning about structures, about
beams, about concretes and reinforcements. After studying,
when going home, I used to put what I learnt into practice by
analyzing the stresses on pillars and on building I see across the
streets. In 200L, I genuinely enjoined studying. With no interest
in grades, I took my time and studied for the sake of acquiring
knowledge. I developed interest in all other courses; Engineering
mechanics, electrical engineering, engineering drawing,
production engineering, etc. I used to spend hours studying
these courses. I consulted a lot of foreign materials on these
courses and I enjoyed studying all of them.

Well, exam came, and for the first time, I wrote my exams
without panicking. The exams were relatively easy for me,
because I was well versed in all the courses. The semester
ended, and when results were released, I reluctantly went to
check my result on the board. To my greatest surprise, I saw a
4.92/5.0. I was the best student in my class that semester. That
was the semester when everything changed for me, and till
today, I have consistently been on a first class.

So now, I would share more intricate details on the things I do

that makes me get good grades.
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1. Making up your mind
This should not be mistaken with believing in yourself. At this
point, you do not even have to believe that you can make a first
class. All you need to do at this stage is to make up your mind to
religiously follow the guide lines and instructions in this book.
Before getting my first ever First-Class GPA, I never had the
slightest believe that I was going to get a first class, neither did I
envisage that I was going to be the best student in my class that
session. All I wanted was to be well knowledgeable in my field,
and maybe have an average result. It was after that first
experience that It dawned on me that I could actually graduate
with a first-class. So, at this stage, do not bother yourself about
believing in yourself. Just follow diligently, the instructions in this
book, and with time, you would see the effect.
Now, how do you go about making up your mind? It is simple,
just decide at this moment, this very moment, make the
decision that you are going to use this book as your manual and
guide in this journey. If you do not follow the guidelines in this
book, then I would not be able to guarantee you a first class
eventually.

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2. Gathering materials before time

After making up your mind that you would want to graduate

with a first class, the next step is to start working towards
graduating with a first class by sourcing for materials before
time. At this point, you do not even need to start studying your
materials. Just try as much as you can to get all the materials you
would need, all sorted out. In doing this, your mind would be
psychologically prepared for the tasks ahead. You could ask
senior colleagues for their old notes and materials. Also get test
and exam past questions from your seniors.

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I must point out that in this journey of making a first class, you
cannot afford to work alone, so make friends with your seniors,
so that you can easily walk up to them at any time to ask for
materials. Most times, senior students are always willing to
provide academic assistance to junior students, but they can
only provide assistance when the junior student asks for
assistance. So as a junior student, do not hesitate to ask your
seniors for assistance and materials. In summary, endeavor to
gather all relevant materials before the semester starts.

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3. Be punctual for lecturers

Low grade students actually attend lectures. But one thing they
fail to do is to be intentionally punctual to class every time. A
good number of A-grade students are intentionally punctual.
One thing with being punctual to class is that, it prepares you
for the class, and it keeps your brain relaxed and ready to learn
before the class starts. It could also afford you some minutes to
go through the course material before the lecture begins. If you
want to be an A student, you have to try as much as possible to
always be punctual.

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One way to be punctual, especially for early morning classes, is
to sleep early. Just as the popular saying goes, early to bed,
early to rise. Your passion for first class should not keep you up
awake all night. You should cultivate the habit of sleeping early,
so that you would be able to wake up early for the next day.
When you arrive class, say hi to a few friends, wear a big smile
to relieve stress, and go through your material briefly before
the lecturer arrives.

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4. Note taking – write everything

When lecture starts, endeavor you write. Writing is a skill that

every first-class student must possess. It is in writing that you
get to earn your grades, so you have to cultivate this skill now.
One way you can learn how to write and articulate points clearly
is by writing notes in class. Though, when writing in class, focus
shouldn’t be on properly articulating your points, rather, your
focus should be on taking note of everything the lecturer says.
Often times, lecturers emphasize on important points that they
may feature in their tests or exams.

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Students should always pay good attention in class so that they
can pick these vital information and keep them in mind, and one
way to pay attention is by writing what the lecturer says.
But I should point out that you shouldn’t put your entire effort
and focus into copying notes. You should also take some time to
listen for the sake of learning.

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5. Studying – no need for all night study

Well, this part is interesting. For me, I do not advice students I

know to study throughout the night. Personally, I do not study
throughout the night. One thing that studying throughout the
night does, is that it makes students sleep in class the next day.
And you cannot afford to be sleeping in class while your lecturer
is teaching. The solution to this, is to maximize your day time. Do
not play away your days. Use your days to study. Visit the library,
or study in you hostel, what ever works for you. Then when the
night comes, you go and sleep, peacefully. The next day, you
wake up and the cycle continues. But if however, you know and
you are sure that overnight reading is what works best for you,
then stick to it. There is no one way to success.

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6. Assignments, tests, exams
One way to prepare for tests and exams is to give yourself self
tests always. After studying, it is important that you test yourself
on what you have studied. When you do this, you train your
brain on how best to answer questions. Do not cultivate the
habit of just studying from beginning to end of the semester
without giving yourself self tests, ort without solving past
questions. Always test yourself! Always work with past
questions.

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7. Tutorials
One way to retain what you learn, is by teaching others. Never
hoard knowledge. Never refuse to teach your friends, classmates
or junior colleagues. In the end, everything ends here on earth,
and the knowledge, if not shared, would eventually be taken
away from you. So, share information freely with your peers. The
more you teach, the more you become good at what you are
doing. So I would advice you to always teach your classmates the
things that you know. Even if you are not yet a good student, you
could still find ways to teach those whom you can teach.

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8. Redefining your perspective
At this point, you now need to believe in yourself. See yourself
as a brilliant student. Do not let impostor syndrome make you
feel you are not good enough. You are good enough. Begin to
see things from a new perspective. Begin to see yourself as good
enough to take on the most toughest of challenges. Begin to
seek new frontiers, new challenges, new opportunities to grow.
Begin to leave your conform zone often, life is too short to spend
it locked up in your comfort zone. Go out there; fail, win,
explore!

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9. Humility

Yes! When the good grades start coming, it is very important to

not let it get into your head. Always remain humble and
approachable. Afterall, you are still human. I must inform you
that getting good grades comes with a lot of admiration from
friends. Friends would begin to eulogies and praise you. Your
feats would be lauded by everyone. When these things begin to
happen, do not let pride set in, rather use the influence and
popularity to make positive change.

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10. Handling Failure
Yes! To be successful, you must learn how well to handle failure
and use it to your own advantage. In the journey to success,
failure is often an inevitable part of the adventure. And it can be
dangerous if not well handled. One thing you do when you fail to
do well in a test, an assignment, or an exam, is to learn from
your mistakes, dust yourself up and move on to the next
challenge. If your result is bad, do not beat yourself over it, learn
from your mistakes and move on to the next challenge.

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Conclusion
While getting good grades is not a guarantee to securing a
bright future, getting good grades can significantly position
you ahead of your peers when opportunity comes knocking.

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THE END 25