MY PROMO-MENTORS WRITING CHALLENGE

"That's the guy!", a tall, wiry fellow told his friend excitedly.
"Wow! Unbelievable" his friend replied, his eyes all over me.

I pretended not to hear any of that. I didn't know them, but they sure as hell knew me. News of my earth shaking, ground breaking five star record had spread like wild fire few hours after it was announced. I had barely left the spot when I heard someone tap me from behind.

"Excuse me please!" He extended his right hand, his lips curled back in a warm smile.

But I don't know this guy!

"Hi?" I replied politely and took his hand.

"Are you Williams Henry the 100L Civil Engineering student who set a university record?"

I smiled, pleased with myself.

"Yea"
"Congratulations! It's not easy!", he said, astonishment written all over his face. " Just make sure you don't go below, OK? " he said, patting me in the back as he left.

So what happened?

Four years ago I took the mandatory screening test(UTME) for admission into Nigerian universities. I had applied to study Civil/Structural Engineering in the University of Uyo(Uniuyo for short), Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Well, I didn't do quite well in the test - at least in my estimation.

Mind you, I hate mediocrity. If something is worth doing, then it's worth doing well. I have never enjoyed operating below excellence or being at the lower rung.

I decided to take out my holy academic 'anger' on the final screening test prior to admission - the Post-UTME. I scored very high this time. I'm told it was the highest in the Faculty of Engineering. For me, that was only the beginning.

Few months to the start of school, I began to research more about the success stories of successful first class students. By all means I wanted to be better than any of them and to do that I needed to know their secrets. I spent hours reading about 2014 Covenant University Best Graduating Student (Victor Ubong, 4.99 CGPA), about 2013 OAU Best Graduating Student (Ademola Oridate, 4.88 CGPA), and a whole lot of others.

(snapshot of my chat with Victor Ubong)

(snapshots of my chats with Ademola Oridate)

I was red hot for Uniuyo!

But then, little did I know that it was easier said than done!

I was in for a real shock.

After my first three-five weeks in school, I started having second doubts about my chances. The courses were frustrating. The lecturers were less than stellar. The facilities for learning were uninspiring at best. The radical, rapid-but-slow adjustment to university life was awefully painful and unpleasant. You didn't learn to cope with all these stress on the pages of newspapers and magazines.

After the second month my expectations or goals took another quick dive.

"To hell with first class!", I told myself.

When our first test result was released - and this was on a major course -, every other person had a score save me. Somehow my script developed wings and flew out of the lecturer's hands! For one with such overambitious plans as I, you will easily understand why this initial experience threw me off board. For days I sat down and lost the guts to press on, to fight on.

So making a first class in this school was impossible as they said?? Shit!!

But one thought kept me going, kept the fire glowing in my heart:

If anybody can make it, then I too can make it!

I remember telling a group of people back then in my high school days that 'quitters never win and winners never quit'. But the real thing ain't always in the talking. Rather, it's in the doing. Armed with this, I collected back my broken pieces and planned an 'assault'.

Then the exam bells rang.

Like any typical student, I have never looked forward to tests and exams, except for few courses in which I am highly competent. But this one was different. It'd be my first university styled examinations. This aura provoked fear mixed with an equal proportion of quiet excitement in me. For what was worth, this particular semester examinations would decide whether I was good enough to merit the crown. I heard the stories already. I knew the stats were in bad shape, an embarrassing one at that. To break this jinx, I must work hard, I told myself.

We started out with Engineering Drawing. I'm not a very good draftsman so you can imagine how easily scared I was about this course!

In my secret book where I wrote down my plans and what grade I hoped to score for each semester course, I put a C grade against the course! I wasn't really confident about my chances anywhere.

Other course followed. In three weeks we were done.

But the exams left me wounded!

You know that feeling that comes when you go through your answers to an exam question after the exams. You discover you didn't get that right. It can be very disheartening, especially when the mistakes you made are quite handy! I faced a similar situation. During the holidays I spent a lot of time calculating and analysing my expected results.

I didn't expect to hit the first class mark, I concluded.

When we resumed for the second semester, we were enveloped by an avalanche of grim expectations about the results that would be released. In my school, results are released sequentially over the course of the semester. It's not likely that all results will be released in a single day. When the first two results, came out, I made an easy A in both. I knew I would. Three weeks after, two results were sent in. I grabbed As in both. By the eighth week after resumption, six of eight results had been released. Not many people scaled through.

I carted As in all, including the much dreaded Engineering Drawing!

A real chance had emerge! If I make As in the remaining two course, I'll be riding home with a 5.0 GPA. My ambition! But here was the problem.

Nobody scores A in both courses!

We had been told by senior colleagues to expect the worse in both courses. In fact, it was said of these courses that

"If you see a D on the board, just go to the Church and call for a Thanksgiving service!"

In my mind I had silently begun to pray for a C and B combination. I didn't stand a chance, not with my myriad of mistakes in the exam hall.

In the evening of a certain Thursday in June, 2015, we were in the Engineering Drawing Studio for our weekly drawing sessions. We were being taught Interpenetration. Suddenly as I turned, I saw our Course Representative, Daniel Daniel emerge from the Exam Officer's office with white A4 papers and gum in one hand. The studio became charged. We sprung out of our seats and made for the result noticeboard. Daniel was about to paste the last two results that could potentially boost or damage my dreams. I could literally hear my heartbeat as it rose and fell in quick succession.

I screwed my eyes again to be sure of what I had seen. No, it wasn't true but it was there! I cleaned my glasses again.

Two As!

Two As in both courses! At first, I didn't know what just happened or the full implications of this. Later on I got to know that this was the first time a freshman scored a 5.0 GPA in the history of the University of Uyo since its establishment in 1991. What was more? It was the first time in the Faculty of Engineering that a student would secure a 5.0 GPA in freshman year.

(My first semester result as grabbed from the university portal)

That year, I set a department/facultyuniversity record.

I earned instant respect and admiration from my fellow students and lecturers. It was an electrifying moment for me, something I least expected after considering my numerous mistakes.

As I look back on this memorable event, all I can say is that when one has raw passion for something, then s/he will always do better no matter what lies ahead. There is very little that strong passion and faith cannot achieve. Passion drives hard work. Kill passion and hard work is useless.

'The course of academic work is never a pleasant one, and the burden of sitting down tight to read is inexpressible. But the joy that emanates from a satisfactory result is just sufficient to heal the injuries of the past',

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