Just in case you need to know more about the life of an outstanding engineering student, you should learn from Ikeoluwa.

Ikeoluwa is a gentle, cool-minded and vast individual.

He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, you might need to pick up a pen and paper to jot down some insights.

He was the best graduating student from Mechanical Engineering department, FUTA. Here, he speaks his mind on a variety of questions and has from his wealth of experience and skill, answered in the most sincere and intriguing way that will leave you in a thrilled state.

So, relax and enjoy every bit of the lines and don’t forget to absorb them!

1. YOUR FULL NAME?
Ogedengbe Ikeoluwa Ireoluwa.

2. COURSE STUDIED, GRADUATION YEAR AND GRADUATING CGPA?
I graduated in 2014 from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Federal University of Technology, Akure. CGPA – 4.6/5.00

3. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THAT COURSE OF YOURS?
I chose mechanical engineering because it gives you a broad space for invention and innovation. Mechanical engineering is one of the most versatile fields of engineering. Albeit, the nature of the profession is changing with time. This should be a talk for another time. The truth remains, for what it was or what it will become, mechanical engineering will remain my first love.

4. CAN YOU PLEASE SHARE ANY DIFFICULTY OR HURDLE YOU FACED WHILE BEING A STUDENT AND HOW YOU OVERCAME?
I would say my most difficult challenge as an undergraduate was maintaining the First-Class result. It was like hard work begets more hard work, the more you do, the better you have to be. I did not just have to work harder but I also had to work smarter.

I got to realize that the better part of an excellent performance was a mastery of strategies. Another major challenge was bearing the burden of expectations – parents, close friends, fellowship folks – a lot of people looked up to me and actively expected me to be the best.

Eventually, I figured that as much as these expectations are valid, God’s unconditional approval, irrespective of whether I got a First Class in Engineering or not, was much better motivation to succeed.

5. WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL MISSION/VISION STATEMENT?
Well, as per personal vision/mission statements, I wouldn’t say that I have a fixed, fancifully crafted composition. I simply want to be all that God wants me to be, period.

Of course, this has several components whose details are too broad. Furthermore, the vision/mission thing, although fixed as far as God is concerned, is constantly evolving in the realm of man. It becomes clearer as we go according to Proverbs 4:18.


6. WHAT DRIVES YOU TO SUCCESS?
What drives me to succeed is my debt to the world – at least one person out there needs me to be who I am and will be. The intriguing life Jesus lived as a man and how much God has invested in mankind over the ages also play a role. Simply put, God has invested too much for us to fail.

7. WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?
Hobbies… Well, I’d say I love reading and writing – those two go together for me. Also, I love learning new things – that’s one major thing that keeps me from being bored. I love music. who doesn’t?

Watching football, seeing movies and taking long walks are my favourites too. I really do love interacting with people on a level that makes them move from a state of psychological incapacitation to one of real emancipation and self-edification.

8. WHAT ARE YOUR DISLIKES?
I don’t like it when people give in to weakness, I hate bullying – which is essentially an art of manipulating other people’s weakness. I particularly do not like selfishness and narrow-mindedness.

9. DID YOU SEE YOURSELF BECOMING THE BEST STUDENT A FEW YEARS BACK AND WHY?
I would say the answer to the previous question also applies to this one – how I did become the best student. But in addition to that, I had great friends that believed in me. My success was more or less shared with them, it became ‘our’ success. We combined and jointly deployed resources to tackle our academic challenges.

I would also say I lived an uncluttered life, I cannot handle that. Not living among students from the start of my studies went a long way in helping me gain stability and traction.

Ultimately, I would say I succeeded because God blessed me with specific leadings and guidance. There were things I cannot even explain, things with obscure origins that God helped me master, adapt and apply to get better results.

10. HOW DID YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS OF BECOMING THE BEST STUDENT?
I would not really say I saw myself as the best student in my department which had a lot of talented people when I started out but I did believe it was possible. As I said, I feel the inherent necessity to be the best. I simply gunned for 5.00 GPA every semester. I figured if I hit that target as often as possible and stayed on track, I don’t really have to worry about being ahead of another fellow.


11. WAS THERE ANY TIME YOU FELT UNHAPPY WITH YOUR GRADES? CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE?
There was this one time I didn’t do well. In fact, it was a course in my first semester of school. I had a particularly low grade although my overall performance was good. I was quite deficient in that area of science.

The great thing about that experience was the fact that the very next semester, I had a distinction in the second half of the course. That quick and sound recovery is something I’ll never forget. Generally speaking, the best semesters/courses were those in which I picked myself back up from a relatively low point in my performance.

12. HOW DID YOU GET OVER IT?
The way to overcome is to simply pick yourself back up. Evaluate the last time you tried perhaps with someone with a skilled and unbiased eye, pinpoint the loopholes and devise strategies to plug them.

Then assess your implementation of the action plan to see how well you are doing and how effectively the plan is working. Make changes where necessary, anticipate and adapt to future possibilities.

Simply put, just look back and look at where you are relative to where you know you are supposed to be and act on eliminating any perceived difference.

13. HAVE YOU HAD ANY CHALLENGE WITH A LECTURER IN THE PAST? HOW DID YOU SCALE THROUGH?
I have never had issues with a lecturer probably because I’m pretty quiet and prefer it that way. I didn’t really like being close to them personally, not that I see anything wrong in it but I felt I did not need that attention. Most times, I just let my work speak for me and God did speak for me.

14. WOULD YOU ADVISE STUDENTS TO COMBINE ACADEMICS WITH OTHER ACTIVITIES WHILE ON CAMPUS? WHY?
Life is beyond school, but a major part of what happens in life is determined by what happened in school. Combining academics and other activities is a dicey thing. First of all, whatever we are combining should not be contradictory or detrimental to the objective of studying, to say the least.

I believe life to be a whole package, not a fragmented mess. Whatever we do should be tailored towards maintaining the wholeness of our entire being. The best way to do this is to have a life goal or vision as we sometimes put it. When you strictly follow a vision, you will not be plagued with a plethora of conflicting activities but would rather have a fulfilling sense of harmony no matter the level of the diversity of your activities.

In that case, more can actually be better. Albeit, in some cases, less is best. It depends on the accuracy of your personal assessment and how much you have discovered about yourself.


15. WERE YOU IN A LOVE RELATIONSHIP WHILE IN SCHOOL? IF YES, HOW DID YOU COMBINE IT WITH YOUR ACADEMICS WITHOUT ONE AFFECTING THE OTHER? IF NO, WHY?


Read the rest of the interview: https://explicitsuccess.com/life-of-an-engineering-student/

Wow

Brilliant!

Congrats

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This is Awesome!