The Making of Outstanding Students

Basic facts every student should know about academic excellence.

The desire to write this book was birthed at a point when I discovered  that very few students in school understand what it takes to excel academically and this is the reason they keep ‘struggling’ with their academics session after session. Some students have even given up hope on their academic pursuit, they are in school but it seems as if school has left them, they just prefer to flow with mediocrity and accept whatever grade they get and when results are out they move to the next class, they are no longer concerned with excellence.

It is rare these days to find a secondary school student aiming towards becoming the best graduating student at the end of his/her stay in school,  it is even worse at the tertiary level, the average Nigerian undergraduate is not aiming for a first class, all he/she wants is to get the degree and leave school. Many students think of being outstanding in school as a mirage or a feat that is achievable only by some categories of students. There is no student that does not have the potential to become outstanding.

During those days in the university, whenever our results were ready, they were usually pasted on the notice board for all to see. On getting to the notice board you would encounter several categories of students. While a student that scored 60% (grade B) in a particular course is complaining and wondering how he/she got to score such a low mark, another student that had 40% (grade D) is jubilating at least for not failing that course or having it as a ‘carry – over’.

To be outstanding means to stand out, to be prominent, different, superior, noticeable and distinguished from others. Students need to first of all understand that that no student was born outstanding- outstanding students are made right here on earth. Ordinary students that have decided to put God first and then with extra ordinary determination and drive are the ones that end up becoming outstanding.

The aim of this book is to explore the basic factors that make up outstanding students and to make students understand the fact that becoming outstanding is achievable, it isn’t limited or restricted to anyone. Regardless of your family background, the school you attended or the community you came out from, you have the potential to be outstanding, do not allow mediocre thinking rob you off your potentials.

 It is however important to note that being an outstanding student is not limited to the school walls, it is not just about getting good grades in school or becoming first position in the class. Being outstanding is about all round  excellence in school and beyond school.

The basic factors that make up outstanding students are revealed in each chapter of the book, and it also feature the success stories of some outstanding achievers. As you explore the book, trust in God and make up your mind to be outstanding,   it is only when you start thinking of yourself as an outstanding student that you will become outstanding in reality.