Nexus - /neksas/- the tie or link; the centre of something.
Usually, when you come across an academically sound individual, you attempt to determine the number of hours with which they read in a day.
Such person has to be one who spends all of his/her days in the library. In fact, he/she is always excited to read, and they get intoxicated by the smell of old library books. Else, how do they manage to turn in excellent results at t-he end of each semester even with the heavy work load and the cumbersome assignments, right?
However, while you may encounter intelligent people who devote much of their time to reading, it may not be true that all they do is reading and studying.
Usually, they are well-rounded human beings who have found the nexus between their academic and social life.
Thus, not only are they sound academics, they are also multi-talented people whose skills are relevant in the social world. In this article, an attempt would be made to explain how to find the centre of your academic and social life such that you can oscillate between them excellently and efficiently.
According to Dr. Tasha Eurich, an organizational psychologist, one important/distinguishing quality common to highly effective/influential people, as well as world leaders is Self-Awareness. In her book, Insight, she lists a number of world leaders, whom she interviewed, who attested to the fact that understanding their strengths and weaknesses helped them attain phenomenal success.
Hence, in order to be academically sound, you must identify and understand your strengths and weaknesses. You must be able to answer questions such as:
‘what time of the day do I assimilate better?’,
‘what is my ideal work environment?’,
‘what specific courses do I naturally find easy?’
Not only would your answers help you appropriate your time, but it would also help you work smarter and leave you happier.
Just as you should understand your strengths in terms of academics, you must also decipher what makes you kick in terms of socials. That is, what extra-curricular activities do you find the most joy, or align with your goals. Identifying these specific activities would help you develop yourself and save you from frustration.
Imagine a situation where you join the Campus Network of Journalists, not because you are interested in journalism, but only because your friend also joined them. Obviously, your lack of interest would build up unhappiness in your heart, and would ultimately leave you frustrated.
Furthermore, understanding your core areas would enable you efficiently appropriate your time. In his book, Finding Your Purpose, Hafiz Akinde quotes an excerpt from Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s book which states:
"It behooves a believer to organize his/her time in respect of his obligations and other duties, both religious and mundane, so that one does not dominate the other, the unimportant does not overshadow the important, the important does not prevail over the more important, and the timeless does not take precedence over the time-specific.
Thus, an urgent duty should be expeditiously performed and a less urgent one deferred to a later time, and a duty that has a prescribed time, should be consummated within its specific time."
The above excerpt describes how a student who wishes to be well-grounded should treat time. This means that you must understand your priorities and act in line with them.
Naturally, your academics would be your priority, so it must be apportioned the chief part of your time. Similarly, your social activities should also be arranged such that the important one does not over-ride the more important one.
With this said, it does not be hove the writer to tell when you should attend a dinner party or not. This also depends on your level of discernment and your priorities.
Moreover, self-awareness and time management ultimately lead to working smartly. In terms of academics, working smart means grasping the peculiarities of your lecturers, understanding the area of focus for each course, and comprehending what is expected of you as an A-student. Armed with adequate knowledge of who you are, working smartly requires you to play towards your strengths, and minimize your weaknesses by getting help when you need it. It also requires you to read, pray and plan ahead of time.
It is illogical to post-pone personal study till a few weeks before exam. Reading ahead eases your workload, it helps you ace impromptu tests and it enables you speak from a position of knowledge with confidence.
In addition, working smartly in terms of your social life requires you to be strategic. You must carefully position yourself in a place of relevance to the people around you, which would aid your growth and personal development.
Here, the popular maxim ‘your network is your net-worth’ plays. To be a well-rounded intelligentsia, you must build quality relationships with people who can add value to you. However, the rule of thumbs states that you must first have value to offer.
Finally, finding the nexus between your social and academic life requires foresight, discipline, discernment and plain work. It is not enough for a student to have certain qualities/skills, he/she must also be able to utilize them dexterously in the real world.
Likewise, understanding your abilities would guide you on how to divide your time between your social and academic interests which would replace frustration with enthusiasm.
Also, it is important to work smartly, not just hardly in order to hit the academic and social nails on the head.
Zainab ADEROUNMU,
LASU Chapter.
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