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My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

YOU VIS-A-VIS ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎊

Dear Excellent Mind, how has the new year been so far? Welcome back to Academic Mentoring Class Blogs.

First of all, I want to iterate what always been said on the AMC platform: Academic Excellence is a possibility!!!

I pray that the father of light, lights up your heart as you read through. Amen

Is God interested in my Academics? Someone asked?

My answer is:

God is interested in YOU!

He is interested in who you are and who you’re becoming and if you would need academics, then certainly YES! He is very much interested in your academics and every other thing you would eventually venture into.

You must get this! You must understand that you’re God’s priceless asset on the earth God has a purpose for creating man. I don’t think anyone reding this should argue with that. No man jumped on planet earth for no reason. God is too intelligent to do things without reason. Every of his decision (including keeping you alive) is for a purpose. He’s not a man that makes random decisions. He’s the all-knowing, all wise God. His first Purpose for you is Himself… Smiles

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created ALL things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. ”

We’re all created for his pleasure….just for himself.

The second purpose for creating you and I is for Assignment purposes. He needs you to do something here on planet earth.

Let your light so shine BEFORE MEN that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.

You do this by FULFILLING YOUR DIVINE ASSIGNMENT.

Know this, there’s always A TREASURE IN YOUR EARTHEN VESSEL. Never look down on yourself.

Note: Your Assignment in life needs a platform for its fulfillment. This platform is called a career for you to get to the peak of your career, most of the time “you need your academics as a pathway to your career.

God is not glorified in your mediocre academic wise oo. It’s the starting point. That’s why he gave you an excellent spirit (your human spirit).

God is an excellent God.

Then He provided The Spirit of excellence (Holy Spirit) to help and guide you through it…

Then he gave you an excellent platform as this.

So what’s your excuse???

Some people don’t see the God aspect in their academics and they get it all wrong from there.

Now somebody is asking “what about me offering a course not related to my purpose?” Well, I’d tell you… You can do all things through Christ that strengthens you.

That is still not an excuse to graduate with a poor grade. At least for the record, come out with something nice and then face your life afterwards. What you become in the process is the goal!

I trust you got value. See you in the next blogpost. Have a fulfilling year!

READING TO UNDERSTAND AND PREPARING FOR EXAMINATION (2)

Welcome once again.

From the short illustration in the previous blog (reading-to-understand-and-preparing-for-examination ), we can learn salient lessons from Daniel, Bankole and Tolu:

1. Reviewing each topic the day it was taught and understanding it.

2. Noting the questions to ask at the next class.

3. Having a study group where everyone shares their understanding of the topics.

4. Class participation.

It is important to note that reading to understand takes extra effort.

Reading to understand is knowing the breadth and depth of the subject in concern. It takes much more time to read to understand than the time spent preparing for the examination.

In conclusion, PREPARATION FOR EXAMINATION IS A FUNCTION OF HOW MUCH YOU INVEST IN UNDERSTANDING IN YOUR READING PERIOD.

I do know that there are courses that are difficult to understand maybe because of the lecturer in charge or the course itself among others.
However seeking understanding is the best. If you are reading to understand you are invariably preparing for Examination.

Thanks for reading through! I’m sure you got value. I look forward to seeing your questions, contributions, or peradventure, and experience in the comment section.

READING TO UNDERSTAND AND PREPARING FOR EXAMINATION

One of the issues we have been facing as students generally is understanding what we are being taught in class. And if we do not understand or better still can’t understand, we all have given ourselves another option Crammimg.

And the funny thing about this option is that after examination or test it’s very hard to know if we ever offered the course.

Forgetting that once you can understand, remembering for
examination purpose(s) is no big deal.

I want to make a point here before we proceed. Reading to understand is almost the same as preparing for examination, the only difference is the time involved.

Reading to understand a particular
subject takes much time.

Let’s take a case study, please follow me:

Daniel is a university student offering Algebraic as one of his semester course. He had the plan of having an excellent result by the end of the semester. And I believe we understand what I meant by an excellent result.

Just in no time the semester started and lectures on Algebraic has also commence. The first lecture was just like Hell on Earth for Daniel, maybe because it’s a new aspect of Algebra or being the first class.

I believe some of us have
experienced something similar. Right?
After the class that day Daniel remembered his resolution of having an excellent result. He is left with no choice than to look for a solution apart from Cramming.

He went through the course the same day alongside other materials for better understanding. So did Daniel and to a degree, he had understood
the first lecture and couldn’t wait for the second class because of questions that emanated from his reading to understand.

Here comes the lecturer for the second class and the lecturer before going further reviewed
the previous class for the sake of emphasis. Meanwhile, as the class progressed, the lecturer was asking questions just to know if he wasn’t wasting his time.

Daniel, Bankole and Tolu were the ones giving answers to the lecturer. It should be noted that Bankole and Tolu are other students like Daniel offering the same course and they also had done a review of the previous class giving them an edge in class.

After the second lecture, Daniel, Bankole and Tolu met to share opinions based on the fact that they all had ample understanding of the course owing to the fact that they also had done a review on the
previous class.

As we know that no one knows it all, for we know in part, and coming together most time
helps for better understanding.

As I conclude this: their coming together birthed a new understanding and perspective of the seemingly difficult course. The following class, these three guys were on the same page as the lecturer, giving others the impression that these guys must have been taught by the lecturer
beforehand.

But if I may ask, why was it so?

Share your thoughts in the comment section, why did they stand out? Thanks for reading, I’m sure you are getting value!

Let’s meet in the next blog post as we learn what differentiated Daniel, Bankole and Tolu.

IMPROVING YOUR SKILL SET: CORRECT VOLUNTEERING.

Hello Excellent Minds! Welcome once again

Do you know? Volunteering can broaden and deepen your experience and provide skill development in a way that is often not possible or available to you elsewhere.
Volunteers have the ability to gain perspective, understanding, and knowledge from the individuals and populations they are working with.

What is then volunteering after all?
#It should be to give without getting any benefit or incentive.
#Volunteering simply means agreeing to serve, though you’re inexperience (in the field) to gather relevant experiences and skill sets.

Having the right perspective/mindset for volunteering!

Volunteer with right mindset, not with benefits in mind but with the right skill set gain – though, money sometimes come along and some other benefits, like free trips, goodies, incentives etc.

Ways at which volunteering is worth your time and how you can have a sense of growth for development!

Time conversion for daily life buildings are attributes of great men.
You’d be motivated.
You’d be opportune to lay hands on complex problems/project or be part of the solution provider to fixing of problems.
It gives you a sense of accomplishment and limit your errors. This can increase your self-confidence tremendously.
You are able to make new connections and friends.
You will develop new skills and improve current ones.
Improve your mental health.
Volunteering inspires you to better understand your strengths, weaknesses, needs, values and goals.

More Tips:

📌Thinking you know how to do things is very wrong for you as a young man/woman. You learn by doing.
📌Times to learn on jobs are over, you’ll be replaced immediately. The world isn’t transacting with inexperienced men any longer.
📌Have/build the right skill sets. Go for internships.
📌Be ready to serve. Learn and learn.
Unlearn and relearn.

IMPROVING READING SPEED, MEMORY POWER AND LEARNING FAST

Hello, Excellent Minds! Good to be here again.

It’s obvious that we all learn and grasp information at different rates. Yet, we all can improve, regardless if some are fast learners and others quite slow.
“Slow learners” can catch up with anything and can develop through practice. Some are slow learners (in academics) but can grasp other information important to them. While some are fast in getting academic-related information but slow in some other areas. So it’s a split. No one is better than the other. It’s just different circumstances.

But the schooling system seems to favour those who grasp “academic-related information” pretty fast. So we have to leverage on information to boost our competency.

HOW TO LEARN FAST:

1. Use a lot of visuals.
a. Translate your courses to pictures or get related pictorial representation of what you have
learnt in class.
b. Use a lot of colours too: I used 3-4 colour pens in my 100level days. Colours facilitate quick learning.
c. Meditate on diagrams, charts, graphs, images in and out of class. Learn to memorize by just looking.
d. Always be present in class to see for yourself what and how the lecturer is acting out what he is teaching. Your sight-learning must be consciously engaged. Not just looking during class, project or group work.

2. Do a lot of Speaking
Your speech affects your learning rate. When you read with your eyes, there should be “two speakings” to improve learning. The first one is the inner one (silent in your mind) while the second is the spoken one (outwardly vocal).

a. After you have understood what you’re reading, read to yourself or others outwardly. It’s been proven effective by research that children whose parents read to them, learn faster and improve in grammar quicker.
b. Use Rhymes and Sing them. I told my sibling to begin to rap his Maths and Interscience, the way he was singing a rap song. He looked at me in awe. Use Rhymes. Put vital aspects and vocabulary into Rhymes and sing or quote it. Remember your Multiplication table? You were forced to say it until it stuck. Most students love songs but have never thought of translating their courses to songs, poems and Rhymes. This aids learning. It’s proven.

3. Engage in Effective Listening
a. Listen with your mind not just your ears. Pay full attention in class.
b. Repeat to yourself till you hear within and without what you are learning.
c. Record your Question and Answer. Then listen as you walk or do your chores. I recorded almost all my Q&A’s from 300Level to 500Level.
d. Tell your reading partners (if you have), to read Questions and their Answers to you.
e. Just listen to brilliant people solving questions. Yes. Just listening is key to Remembrance. Instead of wasting lecture time before the lecturer arrives, you can listen to the previous classes (if you can record them on your phone).

4. Take Relative and Relevant Action
a. When you read, try to always write out. Jot and jot till you have practically and unconsciously memorized the note.
b. Learn to solve questions (theory or otherwise BY YOURSELF). Write out what you will write out for the examiner and see.
c. Do enough practicals, if they are available in the course. And if it’s a theoretical course, solve plenty plenty questions. Just Act out what you have learnt.

d. “Dramatize” your learnings if possible. It’s “Kinesthetic” in nature.

Did you learn anything new? Please point out for re-emphasis (which is a major way we learn). It’s called The Repetitive Advantage.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Question 1: When it comes to Maths, is recording also included?

Answer: If it won’t confuse you. But I did a lot of repetitive solving. I solved a question (all those long theoretical questions) very many times before tests or exams.

Question 2: Expatiate on “Do a lot of speaking” sir?

Answer: It’s been proven that your speech affects your entire body. Your little tongue can drive your whole body. So to learn, speak. Speak to yourself. Tell yourself you can learn fast. This is aside from speaking out your courses after you have understood what you have read. This is effective when it’s time to memorize.

HOW TO MAKE USE OF THE ASUU STRIKE

Great Nigerian Students! Great!

The ASUU STRIKE has been a hot topic in Nigeria since February, and if you are a Nigerian, it is definitely not a strange topic to you.

Whether your school was affected by the industrial action or not, here are some tips from one of our previous classes to help you make good use of break periods while in school.

Learn and improve on all Microsoft Office Suite Skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
Practice how to sell ANYTHING
Learn and educate yourself
Read up or hook up with anyone or platform who offers the business or practical side of your course (or where your gifts/ talents/ passion lies)
Listen daily to MP3s and practice immediately (on some points) on finance spirituality and relationships.

Cheers!

Do not waste the ASUU strike. And even when you resume, make good use of your time. Your life is in your hands. You are loved and honoured.

Welcome Back!

Hello!

It’s been a while here, and it’s great writing to you again🤗. How have you been? To my ever gallant Nigerian students on strike, I trust the holiday has been fulfilling.

A hearty welcome to you all 👋. I look forward to our weekly interaction henceforth.

I’d love to hear from you. What are your expectations? How does it feel reading from AMC again? What have been up to in the past months academically?

The comment section is accessible, let’s have a chat. 💃💃

See you soon.

HOW TO MAXIMIZE THIS LOCK DOWN PERIOD AS A STUDENT

This lock down season is more than just a virus issue. To me this season is more than just virus issue, it’s an outbreak of a Revolution, A new phase we’re being forced to enter but what the Revolution will be depends on our Response to it.

After this period of time, there will be change in Power,Mind-Shifting, Change in Business, Change in Education. It is a Revolution; the impact of this Revolution on us is based on our Response to it. So, what then do I want to bring out of this.
Let’s move on to the subject matter:

Circle of Concern is a circle of all things that relate and concern you (Things that you can control and thing you can’t control), For example: You can’t control the fact that Federal Government declare all school closed but you can decide on what to do.

You can’t also control the fact that your parents want you indoor but you can control what you do with your 24 hours. You can’t control the fact of you helping your parents at home, cooking e.t.c but hello; you can’t be helping them 24/7.

You must consciously rearranged/reschedule yourself based on the Situation where ever you are. There are always things you can do that can make up for this lock down period

Unplanned Days are Unproductive Days –**DR MIKE MURDOCK**

Circle of Influence is a circle of things you can control and influence by your action each day. The Deal here is to make your Circle of Influence becomes your Circle of Concern.

***There are always things you can do that can make up for this lock down period***

If this lock down period lasts for 6 months, what will it affect? How will each system in the world be? What would change?

Ask yourself those questions. What then can I do to ensure, I am a factor in what happen next? Don’t just assume that there’s nothing you can do, don’t! , It’s a lie.

You can apply for courses online, you can begin to build automation system, You can learn to bake at home, you can build your writing skills, your Presentation skill, how to write a résumé, How to make more income, Read books about Revolution, Read books on that also interest especially those relevant to this dispensation.You can Pray, engage in scripture-reading and endeavor to stretch your mind . Don’t let this moment blind your mind, see possibilities. One of the ways to help is to picture what become of us in next few months.

Here are links to Harvard University free online courses.

Top 10 sites for free Online Education:

Coursera
edx
khan Academy
Udemy
iTunesU Free Courses
MIT OpenCourseWare
Stanford Online
Codecademy
Open Culture Online Courses
TED-Ed

Top 10 sites to learn Excel for free:

Microsoft Excel Help Center
Excel Exposure
Chandoo
Excel Central
Contextures
Excel Hero
MR. Excel
Improve Your Excel
Excel Easy
Excel Jet

Why am I doing all these? It is to make us understand that in the next few months,
some Jobs might go obsolete,

If this persists, what do you think will happen to primary school teachers who have not equip themselves on how to use the internet? Nor computers. What do you think will happen to lecturers that can not operate systems.
Move, Guys, don’t be static at this point.
Move!!

What if Education becomes totally online, who will win, who will lose, what poverty scale will you be? Don’t let this period kill us, there’s something you can do in that house. What will happen to the market women?

Push yourself beyond limits. People are actually moving, be a factor in this movement.

This period is our Revolutionary phase. Ensure you do one thing daily that will fight your comfort. Don’t be at home watching movies, and joke around only. You can do more than this.

Top 10 Sites to review your resume for free:

Zety Resume Builder
Resumonk
Resume.com
VisualCV
Cvmaker
ResumUP
Resume Genius
Resumebuilder
Resume Baking
EnhanCV

Top 10 Sites for Interview Preparation:

Ambitionbox
AceTheInterview
Geeksforgeeks
Leetcode
Gainlo
Careercup
Codercareer
InterviewUp
InterviewBest
Indiabix

God bless you and heal our land at this time, see you next time in your transfigured form.

AMC… Building, Training, Coaching, and Equipping Students Holistically Towards Academics Excellence

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
What topics do you think you’ll write about?
Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.