MR STUDENT

MR STUDENT

I found myself reluctantly registering and signing papers for my first semester in a Masters course in computer science. It was a near-smooth admission process. I had no complications and none of my requirements were missing, neither was I found wanting in any qualification. The reason for my reluctance may not be farfetched,
yet I couldn’t pinpoint it.

Ten (10) years ago I had completed my Bachelor in Science degree and all the time spent between then and now was enough to have lost a lot of grease in the academic pursuit. The issues of life and the forging for survival had become substitute for my academic hunger. Yet the experiences I garnered from my sojourn outside school had toughened my outlook on life.

It was therefore easy for me to understand why a Masters classmate and friend of mine could be so worried because she couldn’t place her hand on a little topic that got her confused. I was initially astonished at the depth of emotions she showed because of a little confusion. As much as I would want to excuse her inexperience in the vicissitudes of life, I also have a better leverage than she does.

You see, I have been lecturing for some years, so I have witnessed first-hand what it means to be taught and what it means to teach. Having the knowledge of certain things differs greatly from being able to teach it to others. To teach, you have to do more than just knowing. It has to transcend having a certificate to prove your performance in a course. It has to go beyond the satisfaction of passing examinations and winning your teacher’s accolades.

As a teacher you have to believe in what you know and teach, you have to experience it, live it, prove it daily to yourself and stand against anything that tries to disprove the understanding you have. You have to know that you were once ignorant and also struggled to understand the concept you so strongly wield. You have to know that no matter how much a teacher you are, you are still a student of life in many quarters.

I am armed to the teeth with that understanding so having to now come back to school to become a student again, though at a higher level, only helped me to acknowledge the beauty of change.

I smile when I see my fellow students complain about lecturers. Do I do same? Yes, I do probably more! I do because right now I am a student and not a lecturer. I know the limits of my existence and I know the mode of my current status. I never confuse my roles in life. I only apply the lessons I have learnt from one to the other for proper balance.

I know as a student one of my inherent attributes is ignorance. It is assumed that I do not know and that is why I have to be taught. That is why I am in a school as a student, a learner and not the learned. As long as I remain a student I would never be angry at myself for not knowing things, except I have had the opportunity and flunked it. I came here to learn and I have the understanding that only he that can assume ignorance is humble enough to learn.

I will learn all I can. I will only feel bad when I ought to have known and yet do not know and that alone would ginger me to know whether I am taught or not. I marvel when I hear my fellow classmates express themselves in letters akin to that the lecturer is versed with, I respect the ones that have read wide and deep but I never compare myself to them.

My experiences and application of knowledge differs from theirs, my mind-set and target doesn’t align with others. I believe in myself and the focus I have. I place more value on my ability to learn than my repository of acquired knowledge. If for anything, I know first-hand how hard it is to be a lecturer and then become a student, it’s a serious phase shift.

I read like my students or more because I can’t allow myself fail in an institution I have challenged others to succeed, I however do not place emphasis on the knowledge above the opportunity of application in real life. Both are necessary and hence I wouldn’t pen what I do not understand just to make my grades.

I am beyond the pressure of proving myself to anyone but myself. I know who I am and how much depth my knowledge is. I came here to seek more knowledge and proffer better solutions to problems around me.

My first challenge was to recognise my ignorance and deal with it, though ignorance would always be a nature of man. I keep reducing my ignorance and increasing my knowledge but in all I do, I seek to apply rather than just to know. I am good and I know it, that is knowledge. I am ignorant and I know it, that is knowledge that brings knowledge.

Eccl 2:26 “For God gives to a man that is good in his sight wisom, and knowledge and joy…

Eccl 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom , in the grave, where you go.”