Carryovers are when a student fails a course and is expected to study it again and rewrite the course. It is important to note that carryovers are not always the fault of the Students. In the higher institution, not less than 60% of all students have had one or more carryovers. Even some first class graduates at one time or the other have had one carryover or the other but it never killed their hopes and expectations. The two best graduating students in my department and in my set were both first class students and both of them had carryovers in our first year and yet they still buckled up and came back to their feet and succeeded in the end. Failure is not the end of the road but rather, we fail when we quit and refuse to try harder.

Knowing that we could at one time or the other have carryovers, the question is “how do we cope with carryovers?” I had three carryovers in the university. Therefore, the recommendations and suggestions I will outline are practical recommendations which I applied and for sure, they worked for me.

Humility
Humility is indeed a great gain. When some students have carryovers, you will never see them attend lectures. They feel that since they have passed the level, they cannot stoop as low as attending the lecture with lower level students. But if actually you have passed the level, then why fail the course? If you think you cannot attend lecture with the lower level, then make sure you don’t fail any course that will warrant your attending lectures with lower level.

In the three carryovers I had, I was regular with the lectures except in situations beyond my control. To my greatest amazement, in one of the courses I failed, as I went to rewrite the examination, I discovered that many of my level mates also had carryovers in the course yet none of them ever attended the lecture. Even when we wrote the test, many of them missed it because they were not informed and I could not inform them too because I never knew they also had carryovers in the same course. I attended lectures but saw none of them. If all of us who had carryover in the course had identified with each other, we could have created a network and in turn work as a team in doing assignments, in reading together, in attending lectures and as much as possible, identified with the lecturer. By so doing, we would have been more prepared for the examination than we were.

When the exam timetable for the semester was released, we found out that that course clashed with another of our final year course. Many of the students rewriting the course saw it and yet did nothing about it. It was myself and one other student who worked together with the course representative to make sure that the timetable was amended so that one course could be shifted for the other. So, humble yourself and identify with the necessary people.

Add More Efforts
We worked hard and yet we failed. This shows that our preparation was insufficient. If we had prepared enough, we would not have failed the course. Therefore, failing a course means that we should work harder. We might have heard a lot of success stories of different men and women in different spheres of influence. But most times, we hear of their success without hearing of their failures. But be sure that these men and women at one time or the other failed. In fact, they failed so many times. Now imagine how it would have been if at the time of failure they quit. We would not have known them or heard about them as we have today.

Work hard, but when your hard work does not lift you to the level you want to be, then work harder. Always live each day with the consciousness that practice makes perfect. It becomes part of you when you keep doing it over and over. Add more efforts to the one you have added already. Develop a well guided and easy to-follow-reading timetable and make sure you pay serious attention to that course. If you did not attend lectures the previous year, please attend them now so that your back will not be put to the ground the second time.

Be Disciplined
We all love pleasure, we all love comfort, but on the road to success, there should be room for opportunity cost or alternative foregone. It will not cost us much if we deny ourselves certain pleasure for a short period of time in a bid to achieve something. Even if it cost us anything lets be willing to make the sacrifice. Be disciplined enough to mark out time for your various activities each day. Where there is a well-structured action plan, discipline will help us achieve all of our goals.

To discipline yourself does not mean you will spend 24 hours daily in studying your books, but rather, it means letting go of all unnecessary things. There are a lot of things that take our time but the question is “do we actually need to spend time with some of these things?” Any activity that might not add value to your life is not worth it, therefore do not pay attention to them. Anything that is not building you up is breaking you down. In a bid to discipline yourself, it does not mean you will quit your lifestyle and hobby forever, but rather you only quit certain things for a period of time. Now that you have on or more carryovers, sit up.

Be Determined
Determination leads to discipline which in turn enables us to achieve our goals. When we are determined to achieve anything, there is hardly any other thing that can take us from our path. In all my period of research and studies, I discovered that there is nothing that can stop any man or woman except self. A determined man is an unstoppable man. A determined student is that student that is determined and the only thing that can stop him is when the success is achieved.

President Donald Trump said, “The more people tell you it’s not possible, that it can’t be done, the more you should be absolutely determined to prove them wrong. Treat the word impossible as nothing more than motivation”. As for the ocean, it can be crossed. As for the red sea, it can be divided, as for the mountain, it can be surmounted. It will only take determination to do it. Determination is a very important and indispensable virtue that must be possessed by every and any success minded fellow. The only thing is that it might take us some little time, but as for achievement, our goals and objectives must be achieved.
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