Somtochukwu

Being in the university so far has been interesting; I have spent about two (2) years here, learning new things and meeting different kinds of people. Virtually everyone tend to see me as really young.  I was in the bus one day when the young guy sitting close to me asked where I was going to and I said “School”, then he said “Okay, you are in SS3 right?” Hmmm, I smiled and said, “No, I am in the University”.  He was surprised, so he told me that he was sorry for looking down at me, I replied by saying that I didn’t pick offense in what he said and besides his referring to me as an SS3 student is actually a plus because most people will give up to saying that I am in JSS2 – I left that class about 7 years ago.

Well, this is how it has been even in my Junior and Senior Secondary school days, I have been the youngest and I am totally okay and comfortable with it.

Back to the main topic of this post, I will like to outline and summarize the new things I have learnt about the University system for the sake of the new entrants and any other person that was inquisitive to open this. Here they are;

Transportation; I never knew that there was something like boarding a bus from your area that will take you to a bus stand in school, then after that, entering another shuttle or keke that will take you to somewhere close to your department, then finally trekking the remaining journey  to your department. It was when I got into the university that I experienced such; it was hell for me when I started it at first but I am already adjusting to this.

How the course code changes; I am sure this happens in other universities around the world, but I am more concerned with that of Nigeria. In each level, you get to have new courses and different course codes. For instance, in my 100level Economics I get to see course-codes like Eco 101, Eco102, Soc 101 et cetera. Then when I  proceeded to my 200 level, it changed to Eco242, Eco251, to mention a few.

Only two semesters exist in a year; the entire system over here is different. Unlike secondary school when you get to have your First term, second term and third term. We have just the First Semester and the Second Semester respectively.

Our school fee is paid once a year; this is one part that my mum likes a lot. She will always ask me “Sommy, okwa nkwo school fees nke a, onwero nke nga akwu oso?” which translates to English as “Sommy, if I pay this school fees, I am not going to pay another school fees again right?”

Then I will tell her Yes ma! So, it is really nice because our fees are affordable, and it has given a lot of Nigerians the opportunity to go to school.

Buses are sufficient for everyone; even with the high population of students, buses to convey them to their various places are sufficient. So, you do not have to worry about not getting to find bus to convey you home.

Students are identified with a Registration Number; everyone has a personal mode of identification it is just yours and no one else. It is a ten (10) digit number. For example, 2014112111.The first four digit (2014) stands for the year you got admission into the university, (112) represents your departmental code, while the last three digits (111) is your personal number.

We photocopy almost everything ; it is really common in the university to photocopy. When you even get tired to write a note in class and after that, you photocopy that of your classmate. Well, as for me, I don’t photocopy peoples note, I write by myself and I know it is the best.

The only reason when I photocopy is when it is a textbook that I do not have or a lecturer gives out a piece of information to the entire class.

Assignment is done on a piece of paper; Yes! They call it a foolscap paper. There is actually nothing like a particular assignment book dedicated to a particular course. All the assignment is expected on the foolscap piece of paper.

No one has a personal desk or chair; everyone sits on a long chair and bench. Like you can see in the picture above.

Exams comes too fast; okay, this is something I have also noticed. The way the period for exam comes is so rapid. Imagine you just resumed for second semester and after like two months you begin to hear the echo of exam here and there.  Well, this makes every student sit up.

The best part is the long break holiday: I cannot pour my entire mind on this because I may not be able to do so. First of all, let me rewind a little, the best holiday I had had so far was that of my 100 level end of the year break which took place from August – November. It was just so wonderful for me because I had all the time to myself, I learnt a lot of things and I met a lot of creative people. When resumption began to draw closer, I felt it shouldn’t come – I wanted more holidays. During the holiday, I got fat (somebody may ask where the fatness is), lighter in skin and my hair grew so long. I can’t just wait for the next long vacation because I already have laid down plans for it.

Students struggle to enter small buses rather than the bigger ones; Yes! This is the one that I am sure of. Students of the university always like entering smaller buses like shuttle rather than those big and long buses. And I think it is because the bigger bus moves two times slower than the smaller ones.

You must pass a course; it became tough here when you need to pass a course. Anyone who has an F (fail), will get to rewrite it next year (it is called carryover), you are expected to at least have an E.

 

My list stops here. Whether you are a student of a Private, State or another Federal University in Nigeria, feel free to contribute to the list and even share your experience below.

Daalu.

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