PS: This is a really long post, but I have made a summary for the sake of those that hate reading awfully long writeup. You can check the source for the complete article.


In stressful academic settings like ours, it’s very easy to get trapped in the four walls of the institution and lose focus on what the real world entails.


When the lecture materials are so much than you can handle, when the assignments and term papers become overwhelming, to crown it all, the 7am-6pm lecture schedule makes it look like we are robot.

It’s either you read all night or fail…


Social life becomes a luxury; eating a good meal as well becomes a rare opportunity.


Five years (four in some cases) later, many would graduate and go outside, fresh out into the real wall, and they eventually become strangers out there.


Relating with strangers becomes difficult; writing a two-page resume about yourself becomes a difficult task simply because you don’t know what to write about other than you certificates…


No volunteering experience, no extracurricular activities, no award or something exceptional about you.



It’s not your fault anyway, it’s just the way our educational system is set-up…. The best part of our undergraduate days are spent in the library, night classes and lecture room.


But then, who says it has to be like that?


What makes you think you can’t do other things than studying as an undergraduate?


This post will share basic ideas of things you can do as an undergraduate to make an easy transition into the real world when the time comes. Things you should about the world outside there…


1.  EDUCATE YOURSELF:

It’s so easy to get confused when differentiating between getting a degree certificate and getting educated.


A larger percentage of the graduates you see on daily basis are graduates by certificate, and they’re not really educated, as opposed to normal expectation.


Now, what does being educated entails?


In simple terms, it means attaining a higher level of reasoning, either based on previous personal experience, or on other people’s experience. It’s about having a clear pattern of making a decision and acting on current information, based on a clear-cut thought process.


Clearly, all the courses we are taking as an undergraduate will not get us the self-education I am talking about here.


The question now is; “How do I get educated”?


Personal development!


A larger percentage of successful people in life are self made. 


They understand the principle behind constant self improvement and created a pattern for their life based on the principle of self development.


You can start your journey of personal development by doing the following:


(a)    Read non-academic books as much as possible. Get books written by successful people in your field of study, read about their experience, read as much as you can. 


    Read during holidays, read during weekend, read as much as time would permit.


If you can’t afford to get new books, there are various vendors around school area that are into old books. 


Get in-touch with a vendor around your campus, and give him a list of your preferred book, and ask him to get them for you when making his/her bulk purchase


Another option is to check the internet for free EBooks, websites like (en.bookfi.org) comes in handy.


(b)   Read Popular Motivational/Inspirational and Life hack Blogs: The time we spend on Whatsapp, Facebook and other social media is enough to make a difference if used wisely.


Make a compilation of your popular inspirational blog and create a bookmark for them on your mobile/web browser. Check out updates from this blogs on weekly basis.


I spend a considerable number of hours reading threads on Quora, LifeHacker, Nairaland, Reddit and IWT,  your list of favorite blog or website should have something to do with your topic of interest.


Just start with something! And before you know it, you are learning already.


(c)    Start Something New and Master It: During my first year as an undergraduate, I wanted to learn something new, so I decided to learn Python programming language. At that particular point in time, I had no use for the language; I just wanted to learn something new.




2. Prepare For Your Intended Career
 

It’s never too early to start taking professional exams right from your second year as an undergraduate.


Accounting student should sign up for ICAN courses, Engineering student should sign up for project management courses, Medical Students and Engineering students should sign up for HSE (Health, Safety and Environmental) courses and get certified.


This certification makes your Resume more attractive than the regular graduate resume.


3. Have Fun: 


 So you really want to make first class at the expense of your social life…

The truth remains that; everybody won’t graduate with a first class degree, and not every first class graduate ends up fulfilled in life.



So yes! Have fun without harming your academics, the keys are to know your limit and stay in your financial lane.


Go out, meet people and make acquaintance. Make valuable connection with both male and female, skinny and fat, beautiful and ugly, smart and dull, gentle and macho… You never can tell when any one of them would come handy.



- See more at: http://www.oksprout.com/2015/08/things-undergraduates-should-do-or-know.html

MOD should do the needful, and stop pushing FFK stories and his daughter to front page!

CC: olawalebabs , Fynestboi, Richiez