Be a high achiever: Achieving all-round success in College & University

Introduction

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." ~~ Nelson Mandela

Is there indeed a "secret" to achieving all-round success in college and university? Why are some people A-students while others aren't? To even complicate this idea, one can ask – how come some students hold part-time jobs while enrolled in full-time course workload, and yet they ace their courses? What about students who graduate with GPA of 3.0 or 3.5 out of 4? How did they manage to pull that through? As if all of this is not enough, some students receive job offers even before their graduation. How on earth do they do it? These and many more similar questions may have crossed your mind at specific points. 

You may have wondered if you can accomplish such remarkable feats. "Yes, you can!" A straightforward way to prove this is to remind you that thousands, possibly millions, of students have done it. If you give yourself enough time to reflect, I bet you will find that you know one or two students like that. If they can do it, you can too.

In pursuit of academic excellence
A person's background and early experiences may affect how that person approaches life, studies, and excellence. For example, all through my education - from primary to secondary to university – I had always wondered what separated high achievers from the average or low achieving students, having observed and admired high-performing students. Upon reflection, I suppose that was one of the reasons I was able to excel at school. In the summer of 2015, I completed a BSc program in Computer Science with specialization in Software Engineering at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I graduated summa cum laude (great distinction) reserved for students graduating with GPA of 3.6+ out of 4.

Students, who are focused on achieving success, will apply themselves entirely to their studies, to the extent that they would earn awards that might even come with financial benefits. It is impressive to aim for excellence and to achieve many by-products in the process. For example, during the course of my studying at university, I received some honours and recognitions including the Golden Key International Honour Society membership, which is awarded to the top 15% in a program; the Dean's Honour Roll List and Outstanding Scholar Awards, which are awarded to students with a GPA equivalent of at least 3.6 out of 4. Interestingly, I earned these awards for each academic year I completed. In addition, I also earned an Outstanding Performance in Co-operative Education (co-op) Work 2014.

What is worthy to note, is that in spite of all these achievements and recognition, I still had several challenges. There were times I experienced such "low times" that I had to agree with the popular maxim that on the road to success there are curves of failures. However, instead of this to discourage a focused student, it could actually serve as further inspiration. Why do I say this? If students realize that every success is accompanied by several attempts and several challenging opportunities, then they can be energized to find the tenacity and strength to continue pushing through every obstacle when obstacles present themselves.

The need to maintain a balanced school life
A successful student who is focused on achieving excellence will also aspire to have a balanced social life. Outside of academia, there are other activities, which help to provide a well-rounded, successful student. Therefore, endeavouring to incorporate extracurricular activities becomes very important. As a high achieving student, I too was involved in extracurricular activities. Some sources have preferred to call it "co-curricular activities" because they do help to further learning at a different dimension and in a different way. For example, I was involved in several extracurricular activities on campus, including participating in mentorship programs, for 3 and a half out of the 5 years I was at university. In this capacity, I had the opportunity to work with students to create goals, to develop a plan to achieve those goals and then encourage them to follow through with executing the plans pertaining to the goals.

As much as possible, I encouraged students to set goals across the spectrum, encompassing academic, social and personal goals. In addition to serving as a mentor, I also served as the leader of the ushering department at the church I attended, for about 2 out of the 5 years I was at university. I was also the Vice President of the church youth group, for about a year and a half, and I was involved with other programs and activities in the church. Added to this, is another 15 months of real work world experience in my field, software engineering, through my participation in the co-op program. A combination of these activities not only helps to broaden a student's perspectives, but it also helps them acquire leadership, negotiation and time management skills among other valuable soft skills which are valuable in the world of work.

Ok! Please understand that I had shared my success stories not to brag or blow my trumpet. I only want to show you that you can achieve any goals you set for yourself in the areas of your life that matter to you – academic, spiritual, physical, mental, and so forth. That is basically what all-round success is all about, and that is what you will learn as you peruse the pages of this book. Moreover, with the level of technological advancement in this era, you have at your fingertips the information and resources needed to accomplish your goals. I, therefore, urge you to make full use of these opportunities, while you can.

Diligence, self-discipline and commitment are required
According to Andrew Carnegie, "Anything worth having in life is worth working for." Throughout history, it is difficult (and perhaps impossible) to find one person who didn't work hard to achieve what he or she had desired. Likewise, if you must fulfill your desires, goals, objectives (in the areas of academic, physical, spiritual, or mental), you must be diligent. It takes self-discipline to develop successful habits and commitment to keep up with those habits. Good habits - such as maintaining daily, weekly, and semester schedules, managing your time correctly, and nursing a positive mental attitude – can make the difference between an A-student and the other students; they can also determine whether or not you'll achieve your goals.

Who is this book written for?
If you are a high school student warming up to enroll in university or college; or you are currently living the university or college life, then this book is for you. If you are happy with your current academic performance or you are beating yourself up about it, longing for better grades, this book is for you. Are you struggling to balance academic work with extracurricular or mental activities? If any of those captured your current state then you are holding the right book. This book won't only help you achieve the academic success you desire, but it will also guide you on how to excel outside the academic realm so that you can make the most of the time you'll spend at the post-secondary school of your choice and achieve the all-round success you desire.

How to get the most from this book
Reading a book like this one isn't meant just to increase your wealth of knowledge alone but to change the state of your mind and spur you to action. For this reason, you'll be greeted with a "Roll up your sleeves" section at the end of each chapter. The section has a couple of action exercises prepared for you to practice what was covered in each chapter. If you can, write down your responses to the questions somewhere you can always refer to, for example, in a diary, or on sticky notes which you can stick to a wall in your room. Getting involved with the action exercises is undoubtedly a great way to learn, and Benjamin Franklin attests to that when he said, "Tell me, and I forget, teach me, and I remember, involve me, and I learn."

Endeavour to remember this one thing: nobody is smarter or better than you per se; he or she just knows something you don't yet know or does something you don't yet do or have not yet decided to do. I believe that if you purposefully engage with this book, you'll learn, the secret of how to maximize time spent pursuing post-secondary education and eventually achieve the all-round success that you so desire. You too can become an example to cite when people are trying to encourage others.

See you in the pages ahead!