Majority of people, right from a very young age, desire to study
one professional course or the other in the higher institution as a result of
the kind of orientation they get as kids. This leads a lot of students to
making up their minds to become Medical Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, Bankers,
Newscasters, Engineers, etc.
Also, due to peer pressure and the inaccurate advice of friends,
students make the wrong choice of what to study in tertiary institutions. It is
very common among children to hear something like, “You can talk very much, you
need to become a newscaster”, or “You like arguing, you should become a
lawyer”, or “You like money too much, you should become a banker” and even “You
don’t like to see blood, how do you want to become a doctor?”
Statements like this have helped to shape the thinking pattern
of majority of students, negatively, and they end up making the wrong choice of
what to study in the tertiary institution…
…Until JAMB changes their destiny.
JAMB is known as the second most frustrating exam body in Nigeria, the first being WAEC. This is due to its ever-consistent habit of “frustrating” students in their quest to gain admission into the University (most especially). The truth about JAMB is that it only shows the student the real world and because they are not ready for the gruesome challenges the real world has to offer, they become frustrated.
Now, part of the blame can be apportioned to JAMB, but the
truth is that most students pick the wrong path in the first place, that is why
they end up frustrated. You may be good at arguing, but if you do not have the
patience to read for a long period of time, at a stretch, you may find it
difficult to cope in the Faculty of Law; that you are good with keeping money
does not mean you should become a banker or an accountant –if you are not very
good at calculating, you may find it difficult to actualize your dream (although,
these are not the only defining criteria).
Before you allow JAMB to “change your destiny”, you have to
reconsider what that destiny entails in the first place –Do you want to become
a medical doctor because your friends want to? Do you want to become a pilot simply
because you love the sight of a plane? Do you want to become an accountant
because they handle a lot of money? Do you want to become a banker because of
the way they always appear in suit and tie? These questions query the primary
purpose of your choice of profession, but they do not query the secondary
aspect.
After ascertaining that you are not choosing a particular
course because of a frivolous reason, you need to question your secondary
reason for choosing to study that course. You may love to talk a lot, but when
you assess yourself, do you think you have what it takes to become a
newscaster? You may be good at calculation, but are you very sure that you
would cope studying engineering?
It goes beyond paying attention to the practice; you also
need to be capable of conquering the challenges you will face while preparing
for practice. A student that wants to become a medical doctor but is doing
poorly in Physics and Biology should have a rethink before venturing to sit for
UTME. In the same vein, a student who wishes to become an actor/actress should
first fall in love with Literature because it may be difficult to study Theatre
Arts without having a concrete knowledge of the tenets of literature.
There are a lot of professional courses that keep many
students at home for a very long time when, in fact, they could study something
else that would be more profitable with a combination of their skill set.
In summary, before you decide to define your course of study
in the higher institution, you need to be aware of what it entails both
physically, emotionally, psychologically and otherwise. This is the first step.
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