Dear freshmen,
It is imperative that I welcome you in the most sincere possible way. So, welcome to the first and the best university in Nigeria. Now that you are here, you have that euphoric feeling of “Here at Last” and as you walk around, taking in the view, your mind keeps booming with the same phrase: “I made it”. Of course you did, and big kudos for that. The fact that you made it here means you are most probably among the best and brightest in this country. That’s amazing, and in fact, it’s more than enough to keep you happy for a while.
But let’s be realistic now, Euphoria is over. Lectures have started and it’s time for work, or like the Americans like to say, “it’s time to get down”. I will speak to you in a very sincere and straight forward way. I had the opportunity of meeting a fresher the other day and she asked me how things are around here. It took just five minutes for her to detect that I was intentionally deceiving her by presenting the UI environment as all sugar and candy. She wanted the truth and I told her. In the same vein, I am going to deliver the truth you as quick as I can. Firstly:
“YOU CAN’T SURVIVE OUT HERE ALONE”
I don’t care what your IQ is or how high your UTME score was (frankly speaking, now that you are here, UI doesn’t care anymore too). You need to interact with others and make good friends. As you will soon find out, you need them more than you think you do, as no man is an island of knowledge.
The second issue is finding your way around. If I try telling you each and every fact you need to navigate the UI environment, we will most probably never exhaust the list. By now, you know the University’s main entrance, you know Trenchard hall, Jaja clinic, your department, your faculty and I’m sure, your hall of residence too. That’s more than enough to start with. You will learn as you go, the more you move around, the more you know the roads and routes. Just keep your eyes and ears open.
Be adventurous, it lets you know more places, but if you happen to notice you are getting lost, never be afraid to ask for help from people. With that, you can always find your way around. If you have a GPS enabled phone, you can always use Google-Maps to find your way around, they are pretty accurate to a very large extent. And, do read the press-boards; they have a lot to say if you don’t want to miss out of happenings and events.
To cut short my long epistle, live and learn. Feel free to join societies and organizations that can help your career and enhance your personality. The decisions are all yours, no parents, and no strict supervision, just you living your life. So, you get to choose how you pass through the school and how the school passes through you.
One thing matters most here though, you have to make good grades. Here, there is a limit to the number of courses you can fail at a time; there is a limit to the number of carry-overs. Here we have the tsunami and the erosion. (May they never be your portion, but at the very worst, it is better to be eroded than to be tsunamised.)
The school library is very good and functional but don’t get hung up on the fact that it is your only reading point. There are a lot of good places too. Your faculty, department and hall of residence most probably has a reading room too. Make good use of them. Even apart from the reading room, just find whatever or wherever works best for you and adapt.
Most important of all, be Serious and know what you are doing. This session and even this semester promise not to be lengthy. Don’t procrastinate, do whatever you have to do in good time and please don’t pile up notes before reading them. The truth is, that is never funny. Have a wonderful and Stress-free semester. Gracias.
Yours sincerely,
OKEMAKINDE SAMSON
