SECRETS TO ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR JUNIOR SECONDARY

Academic excellence is the demonstrated ability to perform, achieve, and/or excel in scholastic activities. Academic excellence has been identified with achieving high grades and superior performance.

But academic excellence is more than just making good grades......

 It is the maximum development of your intellectual capacities and skills in service to humanity.

SECRETS TO ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

DEPEND ON GOD

The bible says that with GOD all things are possible so you need to always ask GOD for help. When you pray with your parents during the morning devotion always ask for GOD’S help ask GOD to make you academically excellent.

As a student you need GOD to succeed in life. So always pray and seek the face of GOD

My mother always refers me to Matthew 7:7 that says

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

TAP INTO YOUR WHY

"For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?" ~ James Allen

As a junior student you need to ask yourself certain questions

William Barclay once said “there are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why”.

When I was in JSS 1 I remember asking myself why I wanted academic excellence and my uncle would remind me that I had to make my parents proud, I had to make my school proud and above all I had to make myself proud.

Although I didn’t come out tops in my class till I got to JSS 3, but I kept improving myself daily because I knew that I would come out tops one day and that day came when I got to JSS 3

All I ask of you is to strive for academic excellence so that you can make your parents proud, but remember that academic excellence is not a destination, it is a journey

If you have figured out why you should achieve academic excellence then the HOW will show up

SET WORTHY GOALS

Brain Tracy once said that “a goal is a dream with a deadline”

If you want to be academically excellent you need to set worthy goals, set goals that reflects your dream

When I got to JSS 3 my number goal was to get five A’s in my major subjects which were inter sience (basic science), English, mathematics, introductory technology, and social studies.

I had this goal clearly written at the back of my mathematics notebook, remember that I had discovered why I should be academically excellent from JSS 1 and I kept working towards it daily, although I had previously not set goals for myself until my JSS 3 when my mother (Mrs. Patricia adun) told me I needed to set goals of what I wanted from life if not I will get anything life gives me that was when I set my first goal to get 5 A’s.

So I ask you again what your goals are for this term.

Do you want to get two A’s, do you want to come out first? Do you want to have the best grades? What do you want?

Sit down and write it down on a piece of paper, then start working towards it

IT IS POSSSIBLE

This is one thing you should tell yourself every day in your pursuit of academic excellence.

It is possible that you can come out tops in your class

It is possible that you can be the best in the school

It is possible that you can have straight A’s

It is possible that your goals and dreams can become a reality

Sometimes you might be tempted by the fact that it is hard! Sometimes you might be scared of what the future holds for you, maybe because you have performed so poorly in the past or maybe because you think that others are better than you but I want you to forget about the past and always tell yourself that it is POSSIBLE that I can be academically excellent

Always tell yourself that it is possible

No one is better than you, no one is smarter than you, no one was born with the ability to come out first better than you.

Remember that if anyone can do it then it is possible that you can do it to

ONLY QUALITY PEOPLE

 Select friends who are dedicated students and are serious about their grades.

You are who you move with, there are different kinds of companies you can keep in an academic environment but the choice of those that can make or mar you is entirely yours to make.  Students form cliques for different reasons; to some, it gives them a feeling of importance while for others; it’s a way of being a part of something. 

For good companies, it has to do with mingling with people of similar interests and goals, people of like minds, passion and vision who have excellence as their watch word, people who believe in your dreams and are ready to push you through.  It can be a study group where you exchange ideas, learn and also impart others. 

 I remember maranatha a very good friend of mine in JSS 3 who has always been top of the class from JSS 1, when I realized that I had to mix up with only quality people I decided to become very close to maranatha and that was the term I came out tops in the class because we always shared good ideas on how to become better in the class, we always read our books at every single opportunity.

Sometimes it’s hard to ask for help from other people, it hard to break off from your circle of friends when you have known them for a while, but if you want to achieve academic excellence then you need to associate with only quality people. My mentor les brown will call them OQP

THINK BIG, DREAM BIG, BUT START SMALL!

The most important thing is to perfect the small things in your life my dear. You need to do the test like it’s the exam; you need to do the assignment like it’s your term paper.

ASK FOR HELP

In your quest for academic excellence you need to ask for help. Don’t be shy; don’t feel inferior when asking others for help. If there is something you find difficult or you don’t quite understand then ask for help from your peers (only quality people), ask for help from your teachers.

If you ask for help from someone and don’t get it, ask others. Keep asking till you get help don’t give up.

In the end, the pursuit of academic excellence is an ongoing process that some students may never embrace.  Nevertheless, Clever Minds believes that such a pursuit represents the highest aspiration of any student.

Our goal must be to offer a transformative educational experience where students flourish in an intellectually rigorous environment, one where they learn to appreciate—and even enjoy—deeper analysis, more complex thinking, and greater intellectual challenge. 

The quest for academic excellence and rigor, therefore, is inherently a process and never a result

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Z

ION OSHIOBUGIE is an excellent radio presenter, comedian and educationist who has this burning desire to help students achieve academic excellence.

Zion is a bestselling author, a comedian and an international motivational speaker whose influence spreads across the religious and secular arena

A staff of CROWN FM 89.9 and a regular host of the segment Students Corner on Saturdays and Sundays. A segment where he gives out educational information helps students to have a larger vision of themselves and motivates students’ across board.

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Hotline:            08137506467