Everyone, in one way or the other, is a student. Studying can either be just for the purpose of knowledge acquisition or a continuous process of building up a career to earn a living from it. Learning just for the sole purpose of acquiring knowledge can be lots of fun, and is usually informal. With informal education, one can decide to take things at his/her own pace and care less about recorded performances and striving for better heights.

Formal education and training, however, is a little bit different. It usually takes place in an institution, the University of Buea for example, where a student or trainee has a set of rules and regulations to follow.

Fighting against rules and regulation can be fun, especially for stubborn and casual students, but is it really necessary? We find all excuses to expose necessity in Above-the-Law, but do they really help us? I don’t think so. In a large institution like the University of Buea, the administration finds it very difficult to control thousands of mature students. In this case, no student should rely on direction and discipleship.

I don’t know what an academic counselor will tell you, but to the best of my own knowledge, a good or successful student is a self-disciplined student. One who strives as much as possible to follow rules and regulations related to academics, and goes a long way to set and follow considerate but strict ethical principles to help him/her achieve academic success.

A good student, therefore, will not wait to be pushed around by anybody. He/she understands that studying is for his/her own benefit, and the only way to succeed is taking academics seriously.

Below are a few characteristics frequently observed in successful students.

1 - A successful student will strive as much as possible not to miss a class or come late for lectures. In case of failure to observe the above, the student tries to catch up by copying missed notes, reading them, and asking classmates for help in areas that do not seem clear.

2 - A Successful student pays attention in class and listens very carefully. He/She is focused and bent on getting more than just notes. Classmates and gadgets pose no risk of distraction for him/her in the classroom.

3 - A successful student will strive as much as possible to do all assignments. He/she will even benefit from assignments that are optional by doing them verifying from classmates and instructors if his/her answers are correct. Instead of copying assignments from classmates, a successful student will ask for guidance.

4 - A successful student looks upon him/herself as being too big to be breastfed, and at the same time, too small to be allowed to walk without someone holding his/her hand. What I mean here is the ability to work independently and in groups.

5 - Finally, and above all, A successful student understands that academics is not only restricted to learning and making good grades. He/she looks upon his/her institution as a community that contributes to his/her success. In this regards, he/she respects hand helps the institution and the members in it. The best way of doing this is by following rules and regulations, and giving great value to basic ethical concepts like being friendly to schoolmates and helping them spiritually, morally, academically, materially and even financially. He/she is a friend to at least one instructor from whom one-on-one help can be obtained.

Next Issue: Intelligent but not successful. Yes, some students are.