Adedeji Oluwakorede Joshua, best graduating student from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ilọrin shares his academic success in an interview.
How can you describe this feat and how did it come about?
I think the first thing is to recognise God’s grace in all of these through hard work, dedication and discipline. It has not been easy, I must say, but with prayer and sustained efforts, we were able to conquer.
Did your background play any role in this?
Of course, I attended a private school and was born a Catholic. My parents taught me how to pray and be hard working which gave us this attitude and mentality to always strive and believe in ourselves. They were always concerned about our position in school. That was a major driving force growing up.
The prolonged 2020 ASUU strike and COVID break affected many of your colleagues who ventured into or prioritized money-making ventures during the period. How were you able to stay focused?
There were a lot of distractions during that period for students and the issue of money was at the peak. Many ventured into businesses and other related ventures to earn money because of the situation of the country. That period truly distracted many students which was no fault of theirs, but it took me a lot of discipline to stay focused, especially seeing my 200-400 level results. Then, I vowed not to be distracted at this stage after coming this far. During the strike, I decided to go to the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMA) for an internship to prepare me further. But this year, I am working at NAFDAC for my internship.
Having 4.96 CGPA in pharmaceuticals is not an easy task, did you see this coming?
No. Initially, my plan was not to be the overall best student, I was just working to maintain my CGPA and do the best I could do, especially after seeing what other people were scoring in other faculties. Although, in my secondary school, I was a good student, but I know that the university has a bigger population, more diverse and competitive and it’s a different ball game entirely. In my first year, I just decided to read as much as I could and see what comes out of it. I ended up with 4.96 CGPA which gave me the spark that if I can achieve this now, why not try to continue. From there, I got the impetus to push further and in my 300 level, I tried to maintain it, though it came down to 4.91 in 200 level and shot to 5.0 in 400 level. In 500 level, I had a B, which brought me back to 4.96 where I started from. So, I guess being able to remember why I was here in the first place and what I have achieved in my lower level gave me a refined focus to continue to strive. But I thank God that I was able to pull it off at last.
What were the distractions and how did you overcome them?
The first is money which was never enough and there were times when one didn’t have any. It’s either you go and hustle or find a way out. Finding a way out and not allowing my entrepreneurship to overcome my academics was my major struggle. At times, one is tempted to go get the money but I make sure that the hours I use in extra curricular issues, I balance it in reading. But there was no woman; not that I don’t have them as friends or they didn’t come, but it’s about people management, knowing how to keep people close in a way that you are all friends, rather than chasing people away. And then being prayerful.
On the issue of the internet, it comes down to per hour management, knowing that I have just three hours to read a course. For instance, I either turn off my phone or data or put it on flight mode, so there is no time for Whatsapp or browsing the internet. Luckily for me, although it might not be for others, there was no internet service in my room in the hostel which also assisted me.
Source: AllSchool
