7 Lessons EveryStudent/Graduate ShouldLearn Today

Of a truth, the time Students and
Graduates of nowadays spend punching
their mobile
phones and tablets are by far wasteful
than useful towards their academic and
career paths. A student having an
examination to write is busy seen
swinging from one social network to
another on their gadgets, paying less
attention to hard work which is the
bedrock of success. Same goes to many
graduates with aptitude tests and job
interviews in view. Get exposed to these
top 7 lessons every student/graduate
should learn to survive.

With the advent of social media and
affordable internet enabled phones,
students and young graduates (especially
unemployed) have another thing to
contend with – web addiction. It is no lie
that many students, and even job
seekers, spend more time peering into
and punching their mobile devices than
they do listening lectures, preparing for
tests or searching for job opportunities.
However, it must be noted that students
with access to technology ought to see
their gadgets as opportunities, rather
than the distractions they turn out to be
for most. For one, having a connection to
the internet should mean more sources
of study materials, opportunity to meet
and interact with like minds from other
parts of the world, as well as learn and
share outside the classroom.

Today we are going to talk about 7 things
a serious student should be doing. All
these points are in a way related to the
use of portable, internet-enabled
devices:
Of a truth, the time Students and
Graduates of nowadays spend punching
their mobile
phones and tablets are by far wasteful
than useful towards their academic and
career paths. A student having an
examination to write is busy seen
swinging from one social network to
another on their gadgets, paying less
attention to hard work which is the
bedrock of success. Same goes to many
graduates with aptitude tests and job
interviews in view. Get exposed to these
top 7 lessons every student/graduate
should learn to survive.
Being a student can be very challenging,
especially in Nigerian public schools.
The average Nigerian undergraduate has
to contend with inadequate facilities,
autocratic academic staff, inadequate
learning materials, endless interruption
of academic sessions, arbitrary fees and
poor finances which eventually affect
the chances of getting a paying job later.
With the advent of social media and
affordable internet enabled phones,
students and young graduates (especially
unemployed) have another thing to
contend with – web addiction. It is no lie
that many students, and even job
seekers, spend more time peering into
and punching their mobile devices than
they do listening lectures, preparing for
tests or searching for job opportunities.
However, it must be noted that students
with access to technology ought to see
their gadgets as opportunities, rather
than the distractions they turn out to be
for most. For one, having a connection to
the internet should mean more sources
of study materials, opportunity to meet
and interact with like minds from other
parts of the world, as well as learn and
share outside the classroom.

1. Start your personal website or blog – these
days, owning a blog is simple as ABC.
With your device, all you need is an app
– WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr,
Instagram, etc., and you’re up and
running. Find out something that
interests you and start writing about it
regularly – daily, weekly or monthly.
Owning a website is not much more
difficult. , once you get a domain name
registered, it’s all set. Owning a
functional blog or website boosts your
profile, even when it’s time to look for a job.

2. Read something new every day – one
excuse most students give for not
reading is that they don’t like holding
books or can’t find books. With your
device, you can just hit Google and
quickly read up something – Google has
something about almost everything. Just
give yourself 5 minutes to surf the web
for learning purposes, it could be
something related to your profession/
job/studies (like an Engineering
magazine for an Engineering student)
or just some random idea. You’ll learn a
lot.

3. Bookmark relevant websites – when you
find random but useful materials
online, the best thing is to immediately
bookmark it. This may not be useful
right away, but will eventually come in
handy. You could call it an online
library. Also, when you find useful text/
article, you can simply email it to
yourself and read it later.

4. Build a professional profile online and
offline – in this internet age, your
visibility online determines your
prospects a lot. So use services like
LinkedIn and About.me to create a professional resume. You should type up
a CV (and passport, scanned/
photographed certificates) and store on
your mobile for easy access when you
need to apply somewhere, even if
you’re not actively on the job hunt.

5. Volunteer, offline and online – there are a
lot of causes you could start or join. For
one, you could start a volunteer group
dedicated to keeping your school/
community clean. You could volunteer
at a school, hospital etc. The good thing
about this is that it gives you a kind of
working experience and your psyche
benefits from doing good

6. Clean up your social media accounts –
employers now hunt on social media
and it would be a minus for you if they
find incriminating material on your
social media. If your youthful
exuberance has led you to post
untoward materials on your social
accounts, clean them up. You can also
restrict your account or hide those
particular posts you think may be
negative. You should start posting only
productive materials on your social
media. As a student, you can use your
social media to ask questions, meet
mentors and learn by following the
right accounts/people

7. Interact with staff and students – you have
a lot to learn from your lecturers,
colleagues, and fellow students that the
classroom will not give you. Take time
to be teachable and relatable by
reaching out once in a while.
Networking is of importance whether
you are a student or a job seeker or worker.
Last but not the least is for you to put
down your phone! Yes, limit the time you
waste on your phone and redirect that
time to study, thinking, planning and
mapping your future.

Phones and other small devices are very effective at wasting your time. So you must cut them off a little to create time for productive activities, mental and physical.