NAIJA CGPA

What do you do when motivation for study runs low?  Every student in the course of academic pursuit gets confronted with the problem of depleting motivation  in school. The severity might, however, differs from one student to the other.  That notwithstanding, it shouldn't pose a severe risk to your aspirations for an eye-popping CGPA, provided you know what steps to take. I'll briefly explore ways by which you can deal with low motivation for studies without coming off worse. The fact that everyone at some point gets confronted with low motivation should keep you at ease when this happens. You could discover your interest in that course of study or subject begins to wane. You don't want to attend classes . Reading becomes a burden. If at all you are present in class, your mind wanders away— a typical sign of disinterest. How to tackle low motivation 1. Identify triggers: more often than not, a cursory look at causes of low motivation will point to spec...

A few months after graduation (from University), I had to draw up a timetable. Why? Managing my time became increasingly difficult after school. 24 hrs of the day just got spent so quick. The consequences were dire for me as several important activities crucial for personal growth and development were left undone. A timetable serves as your personal timekeeper. There is the tendency to get complacent and leave important task, either academic or otherwise, undone in the absence of a timetable. In the same vein, much time could also be devoted to something trivial. However, a working timetable helps eliminate or reduces to the barest minimum, all of those issues. If you have a hard time following routines or bored by a regimented lifestyle, you might need to be creative with your timetable. Draw up something simple for a start. As you get used to it, more items/activities are gradually added. Also, try rearranging items on the timetable every fortnight or monthly. Remember, your ti...

Basically, we study in order to understand concepts and pass examinations in our various disciplines. Studying is no easy task. It could become a boring routine. Many students don't fancy personal study. It is important that one engages in a personal study if the goals of scholarship are to be actualized. To get that eye-popping cumulative grade point average (CGPA) , you have to cultivate the habit of personal study. It will also help you master concepts and principles relating to your course of study. I intend to give you quick tips/steps to aid your personal study time and make it worthwhile. The tips are effective when followed to the letter. So, read along with me. RETRIEVAL So you're at home, or you've left the class. You were in class earlier, heard the lecturers presentation and also took down notes. Great! See top 8 reasons why you should not miss classes. To consolidate what you have learnt in class,  try to remember all (is that really possible?) of ...

The cumulative performance in all semester/session examination determines what class of degree you get at the end of your academic program. To ace that examination, certain guidelines are essential. I will enumerate some, which if you adhere to, will go a long way in making that examination memorable. These guidelines will help you at every moment, during the course of writing that exam. Let's go through the points together... Pre-examination verification:  Don't get confused by this subtitle. I just had to find and use one. What this means is that you test your materials for efficiency. Your materials could be anything you need to aid you smashing (hehehe)  that examination- pen, calculator, pencils, set square and scale rule among others. Ensure they are in good condition and working properly. Also, ensure that you have a valid means of identification (carry your ID's along) General examination guidelines So you are already seated in the examination hall. The ...

Graduating with a First Class degree is a sweet experience. It is beautiful, amazing, thrilling, awesome and worthy of all the nice adjectives you can think of. Graduating with a First Class means you scored a cumulative grade point average  (CGPA) of 4.5 at the minimum. It also means you have been found worthy in character. A First Class degree opens so many doors of opportunities (to the informed). A First Class degree earned well, earns well. But then, here lies the problem... First Class hasn't helped some people. It is common to see students who graduated with poor grades ridicule First Class graduates with difficulty moving forward after school. "who First Class help?", they ask. Why do many First Class students settle for less? Why do many flatter to deceive? Why can't the First Class be translated to everyday practical life and experience? There would probably be a thousand and one answers to the above questions and its many variations. Students would blame...

Ireti Akinsola, the Best Graduating Student of the 2015/2017 set at Crawford University, Igbesa, Ogun State, has spoken about how she achieved the feat. She also said the current national economic recession is an opportunity for the country to develop its other sectors. Ms. Akinsola, a Geology graduate with CGPA of 4.89, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos that the over-reliance on oil had greatly affected other sectors of the economy such as the solid minerals. “I think this recession should have taught us a big lesson not to put all our eggs in one basket. It is time for us to wake up to the challenge. “We need to develop other sectors that can equally earn us what we are deriving from oil if not more, especially our solid minerals. “Nigeria has abundant mineral resources that can earn us equivalent of what we are earning from oil if not more than that. “We are talking about diversification and it’s just mere mentioning, no real efforts geared toward...

In the pursuit of academic excellence, you need to realise that the calibre of friends you associate yourself with will determine to a large extent how far your goals of studentship will be achieved. Man is gregarious. He appreciates and revels his association with fellow humans. Friends are important; the good one will help propel you to your dreams. If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you should be familiar with its central themes: understanding the core concepts of your course of study and getting that eye-popping CGPA . This post, therefore, will revolve around those themes. Going forward, I'll be giving instances where friends will provide invaluable support. Motivation: in my previous post , I talked about the importance of motivation in schoolwork. Friends are one of the biggest motivators for success. Associating with the right friends has a dual impact; you motivate and in turn, get motivated. I had a smart and small circle of friends in my undergradu...

Motivation is key in all life's endeavours. The employee requires appropriate motivation in the workplace to function well. So also do students in institutions of learning require motivation to excel.  Motivation is a propeller of success. It gives the needed energy to attain a certain goal. In the quest for academic excellence and getting that eye-popping CGPA , you'll need a lot of it. Without motivation, your interest and focus drop. The academic environment gets frustrating and boring intermittently. The temptation to lower the bar will come. However, a well-motivated student forges ahead irrespective of those clogs. motivation could be intrinsic in which case it comes from within. Here, you develop an interest in a particular task, desire to get more knowledge and know the mechanism behind a certain process. Being rewarded in this instance is not a motivator. The benefits of intrinsic motivation are that it's long-lasting and self-sustaining. Intrinsic motivation...

Every student has his/her study preference. While some thrive well through personal study, others prefer group study. I wouldn't want to go into the pros and cons of both methods (will do that at a later time). If you find study groups attractive, read on as this article is for you. Study group functions when the right members make up the group. This is by far the most important point to note. Ideally, study groups are made up of students with sincere purpose, self-discipline and commitment. Anything short of this will run contrary to its purpose. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to forming a study group. However, the guidelines below are a common sight in articles on group study. They will help make your study, and study group effective. 1. Form your group. Like I stated earlier, the success or otherwise of your study group depends on the members that make up the group. Self-disciplined members are a beauty to behold in any group.  To form a study group, you ...

I've seen many reasons adduced by several individuals why grades do not matter or are less important in determining future successes. I do think the influence of grades has been understated. No doubt, grades can be a poor way to determine someone's success or better still, measure an individual's self-worth. Your success in life or otherwise may not be determined by how excellent your grades are. It probably isn't going to make you successful or unsuccessful. However, grades are an instant image of you at any point in time. Grades are the foremost tools schools use to measure it's students abilities. This means it will give a huge initial judgement about you, which transcends beyond the academic environment. If you think grades don't matter, ask that friend who missed that fully paid scholarship by graduating with a third class. Grades matter if you desire to get that competitive job where employers look at CGPA. As a fresh graduate, grades will matt...

If you've ever been within the Nigerian academic environment, it's common to hear the oversabi cliché and its other synonyms such as ITK and 'I too know' bandied around. Oversabi as they call it, isn't an English word. It derives its origin from the Nigerian pidgin, a severely distorted version of the English language.It has been taken to mean overdoing something- an assignment, a test, and activity, or anything in particular. Of particular importance is its use within the academic environment, where it is used most times in describing students who present unique coursework. In order not to suffer the infamy of being termed an oversabi, students now turn in bland and mediocre works. Ingenuity has been jettisoned for mediocrity! A lectures gives a task to a group of students, they head over to google, do a few cut and paste, and immediately, assignments are ready for submission. Not content with that, those who dared to stand out with well researche...

Many students love quick fixes. This topic is an abridged version of the one I wrote earlier. So if you fall into the group I mentioned above, read on. To improve you CGPA and write that eye-popping CGPA, follow the steps as itemized below. Don't miss classes/lectures. Copy notes but listen more during lecture sessions. Read you notes promptly (don't pile it up).  Seek other relevant course materials and use them (the internet and the library are good sources). Get you own personal academic materials/equipment (calculator, drawing board, pen, mathematical set, meter rule, stencils and the likes depending on your course of study) and carry it about. Choose a suitable study plan and time. Get past question papers and review them. Know your lecturers, their demands and styles. Choose your electives wisely. Make use of reading strategies such as SQ3R. Roll with the good guys (make friends with those well behaved and intelligent coursemates). Be determined and op...

If you are a regular visitor to this blog , you must have come across terms such as GPA and CGPA. These two terms are used for grading and degree classification in Nigerian universities. They show how far you've performed in a semester or throughout the duration of the particular course you are studying. The CGPA stands for cumulative grade point average while the GPA refers to grade point average. The GPA is over a semester while the CGPA covers multiple semesters. Many universities have their own grading system which might slightly vary from the one here. However, this template seems to be the most common. You should check with your institution to see what is obtainable there.

Many students desire eye-popping CGPA's, however they are not willing to pay the price. The price of success is diligence and hard work.  It is commonplace to see assignments/homework  trivialized . Not doing assignments is the secret of mediocrity. Top performers in class know this and work to avoid it.

A few years ago, our 100 level departmental results had just been released and I was one of the two individuals with eye-popping CGPA above 4.0.  The news was all over the department. Instantly, the easy going and reserved me had numerous friends and foes to deal with.