BECOMING AN ACADEMIC DWARF

"Just work hard, it pays. Continue burning your midnight oil and finally fake it until you achieve it." Work hard?..mnmnm.. but what if I have been working hard yet there is no sign of improvement let alone good result? What if I spend most of my time studying yet I grasp zero content of my course work? Why should I waste my time studying when I can use 'MWAKENYA' to pass my exams? These are part of the series of endless questions that will ever ring into the mind of a scholar who finds schooling to be an unpleasant experience especially when it comes to examinations.

In this article, I am going to answer some of the nagging questions of our times: what makes academics and ultimately schooling to be a difficult experience to most students? Is there a better way of excelling in academics? Can we get the highest grades honestly without cheating in exams? Must we attend the best schools in order to excel in our academics? Should we give up in our studies when our academic life takes the rugged ways? Is schooling meant for everyone? Must we excel in academics to succeed in life?

Hard work = Grade A and Academic success= Success in life? Really? ok! let's get started. Ever on the book, studying because you have the boundless energy to always stay on the books, secondly, because you have been sent to school to study and most importantly because you have seen some people excel in life because of their matchless outstanding academic records. You ever determined to score the highest grade because you firmly believe that it is the only way to prosper in life. You boast to be the smartest student, who knows how to pass exams even minus studying(an irredeemable cheater). Your perception of education is that it is a matter of life and death and that's why when you fail to pass your exams, three things are sure to happen: 1. Drop out of school, 2. Give up in studies and practice examination irregularities to earn your way up the result slips and finally, play blame game by finding fault in your lecturers, your school or even your colleagues. But should this be the way?

The answer is a definite no. In as much as we all love to score good grades and good performance or even as far as academic failure is concerned, I would like to challenge us that academics is not all about attaining good grades, neither academic success guarantee success in life. This does not mean that we should make academic our secondary priority because it is through the results that we get the feedback about whether or not our studying tips is right or whether the efforts we are putting are enough.

The road to academic success in never too straight due to several factors viz: the element of competition in it which makes students who have been outperformed to feel like they are failures, the high cost of schooling, the cold nature of some schools, severe punishments at schools, too much assignments, C.A.T s and exams, together with the high demands from lecturers, parents, guardians and the government among others. As a result of these challenges, most students resort to examination irregularities to meet the sky high expectations, which is unhealthy. Worse still, some resort give up in their studies and ultimately in life. But remember schooling is not the road to success even if it is key to success.

Academic success is critical important to nearly all scholars and if you are doubting, the exam fever or stress that students go through during exam periods tells all about it. What should we do when our academic life takes the rugged ways? The answer is simple, pause, critically examine our approach and tactics as well as study habits and then keep going until we achieve it. Knowing yourself and being honest with yourself is always key to academic success.

Not all of us can score grade "A" neither can we all attain FIRST CLASS DEGREE, that's unrealistic, practically impossible and more academic suicide. Our understanding of the concept "ACADEMIC SUCCESS" must always be "achieving our individual academic goals" not the set standards. Our academic goals must always be realistic and attainable. Why should we set grade A to be our goal when it is crystal clear that we can't get anyway near grade C? Let's learn to work at our pace and learn to highly prioritize our individual academic goals. Remember we are unique and special and that's why when we become fully aware of ourselves and potentials, we will never thing of cheating or even practicing rote learning to pass our exams.

I am not the right person to prescribe what should be done to attain an academic success because I am not sure whether the methods I give can work for everyone. But what I am sure of and I am confident to let you know is how to fail academically and become academic dwarfs. The methods of becoming academic failures and academic dwarf vary from one person to a another. Remember that our focus to outsmart our colleagues or even our efforts to earn academic success through the dirty and unhealthy ways is also considered to be academic failure. So if you want to become an academic dwarf, please do the following: Don't attend your classes!Don't participate in lessons, just sit there! Don't take notes during lectures! Sleep during lessons! Chat with your friends or even allow yourself to be distracted by other people during lessons! Don't read or revise your course work! Don't consult your lecturers and classmates areas which you don't understand! Don't do assignments, CATs and exams! Focus fully on none academic stuffs! Read only when exams are about to be done! cheat in exams! Only submit your assignments after deadlines or when the lecturers apply that little pressure! Be disobedient to school and class rules and regulations! Don't set your academic goals, just go to school because your parents or guardians have paid for you school fees! Don't set a personal diary and timetable! Just live as if you are in school to buy time! Be dependent on nearly everything! Read, research, revise and do your assignments when you are told! Wait to be baby sitted at schools by waiting for the lecturers to do for you everything, don't look for your 75% because the 25% that they offer may be enough to you! Lazy around! Distrupt your colleagues who are more serious and focused in their studies! Go to classes to tell stories or even to do your non academic stuff!

After carefully following the above methods, come and thank me later because you will not only be an academic dwarf by doing so, but also one of the greatest failures and academic dwarf of all time!! After all, no one has ever set that record and by being a proud academic dwarf, you will have at least achieved something.