What You Should Be Doing As An Undergraduate

Due to some minor complication, I have been away from school for a while and this has afforded me the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds; though I am still an undergraduate, being away from school deceives me into thinking like a graduate.

Recently I spent some time thinking about how to make one’s days as an undergraduate worthwhile and I came up with these:

Develop a skill

Apart from getting schooled there should be something else of you learn during your days in school. It could range from the academic to the incredulous for example you could develop your writing skill or you as a guy could fine tune your skill in understanding and translating the feminine dialect of the language Gobbledygook (that’s the incredulous).

School should not just be about getting a degree and getting out. Developing yourself in several areas where your interests lie is a big plus.

Dig into your Profession

The main you are in school is to become a professional in your field. While in school dig into it and gobble it all up. If you are an engineer learn to speak like one when professional issues are raised, it wouldn’t hurt to speak and throw in some professional language (read jargon) once in a while. I am usually dismayed when I come across some folks who don’t really know a thing about their professions. They are asked “oh so you studying to be a Vet doctor, what’s the difference between that and the profession Animal Production?” and the go: “I don’t really know”.

Even if you don’t like the course you are studying, for the sake of the money you pay as school fees, dig it.

Build Friendships and Network

Several great partnerships and friendships began in universities. Universities are a fertile ground for breeding ideas, hence if you meet people of like minds befriend them. Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google met and became partners while they were students at the university (PhD students though), and their partnership has helped shape the way we see computers and the internet.

A lot of the friends you will have for the rest of your life may be from your undergrad days; however the bulk of your professional friends will be from your undergrad days. Think wisely and value the people you see every day in class.

The university is a diverse society; there are different professions and there are different fields. Something you should be doing is building your networks. While you are in school your bunk mate may be some dude studying engineering, an architect could be your club member, the list is endless. It will be wise to keep your networks strong and alive. You may not know where you’ll need the services of an engineer or an architect or a lawyer in the future.

Some countries are ruled (directly or indirectly, economically or politically) by the alumni of their elite universities e.g.the Nigerian Defence Academy. FUT Minna is an elite university too right?

Have fun

Does it need to be said? I used to think this was a no brainer until I met some people. Yes, take out time to have fun and play. Your four or five years in school should not just be blank and devoid of fun activities. Just take out time to do something that’s not academic in nature periodically.

You wouldn’t want to graduate and struggle to remember if you did anything else but study. Play football, go hiking, watch football matches, and visit friends. Just don’t go overboard with the fun.

Join a club

Just as I pointed out earlier, try having a life outside the classroom. Don’t just be “that guy”, have something people can identify you with. Have a group people can identify you with. Joining a group, club or fellowship is the easiest way to make friends and build networks. Don’t just join groups because you want to build partnerships and networks, join because you agree with their ideals.

Clubs, groups and fellowships are also a cool source of unadulterated fun. They build up your skills and build your spirit. When I mean groups I am not talking about associations which every student must be member, like the Departmental Associations. Just join the clubs you fancy, again don’t let these groups interfere with your academics.

Have your own Projects and Plan Ahead

I am not sure but I think most tech partnerships that shook the world began in Universities. Sergey Brin and Larry Page were in the same University when they started tech giant Google. Facebook has its roots in the University. I’ll look up where and how Twitter and Instagram began.

While you are being taught in school it’s wise to nurse a personal project of yours on how the knowledge you are gathering could be applied. When I say project am not talking about dissertation or thesis. Such a project could be a small startup in your field, it could be a business idea it could be theory. Just have such in your mind, the beauty of it all is after you have generated an idea for the project and polished it, you could just keep it to revisit it after graduation.

Planning ahead should be something you must do too, by now you should start thinking what career paths you want to follow. One who plans ahead is hardly ever stranded, think up the kind of firms you want to work with, the area you want to specialize in and make plans.

I hope this piece helped, now hit the ground running. Make good use of your undergraduate days.