2020: YEAR IN REVIEW

 

2020 has been a different year, in some aspects positively in other aspects, alhamdulillah ala kulli hal!

I started 2020 as a youth corper and I’m leaving it as a post NYSC Pharmacist actively searching for greener pastures. The fact that my life was spared means the world to me.

I had a life altering experience in Kano in my final weeks of service. Let’s say it meant the world to me that she saw as a good person. The details are in my hardcopy. And I am having a serious rethink regarding my position on marriage.

I came back home from youth service in the second week of March. I failed to secure employment (let’s leave it at that!) and then before I knew it, COVID-19 struck and we were on a three-month lockdown. Surviving became the goal for everyone. I observed Ramadhan and Eid-el-Fitr during lockdown. To be sincere, my 1441 Ramadhan is nothing to write home about. I didn’t achieve the spiritual growth I envisaged myself attaining and I pray that Allah spares my life to that of 1442 and grant me the ability to correct my errors.

After the lockdown, I secured a locum job and I am still making ends meet with the job. Alhamdulillah.

I watched about 20 kdramas this year (those that aired in 2020). I didn’t count the rest. I have been trying to quit watching kdramas but I’ve been finding it difficult. In sha Allah, I would succeed in 2021 if Allah spares my life and grants me the ability and mental strength.

One thing I am happy about is that my relationship with the Qur’an improved in 2020. I pray that Allah increases my taqwa and I become a better muslim as we collectively move forward. I also included the hijri calendar in my daily routine and I must say that I am seeing the impact in my life.

My priorities changed overall. I found inspiration in the story of Dalut and I realised that knowledge and a good healthy body are more important than wealth. The only way wealth counts is if it is in combination with beneficial knowledge and a healthy body. This is driving my strive towards attaining beneficial knowledge, both of the world and Islamic, with the goal of becoming a person who is more conscious of Allah.

I also struggled with quitting some of the sins I commit. This is also a work in progress as a lot of the things I engage in are haram. This is because the modern life is just wired to lead us to hell. And this is part of the reason I am desperately seeking for ways to increase my knowledge and Allah-consciousness. Without the moral compass of the perfect way of life that is Islam, it would be difficult to navigate through this messy world.

In conclusion, I listed all the things I think are relevant to my year 2020 but the most important blessing remains the fact that I entered the year a muslim and in sha Allah I am leaving the year a better Muslim. Islam remains the greatest blessing an individual can have. I am grateful for Islam, my health, my family, my friends and for all the numerous uncountable blessings Allah has bestowed on me. Alhamdulillah.

 

Distinction: Beyond The 4.1

 

One of the definitions of distinction given by the 8^th edition of the oxford advanced learner’s dictionary is “the quality of being excellent or important”.

In our academic setting, distinction refers to having exceptionally good results. Results that can only be obtained by the top percentage of the class. In Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, the people with second class upper (above 3.5 CGPA) and first class (above 4.5) with the greater emphasis given to students with a CGPA above 4.0. The current university system gives way too much emphasis on attaining good results, while at the same time neglecting the importance of having good skills, behaviour and attitude.

Every hardworking student in the university dreams of attaining a distinction by the end of his stay in school. To most students, this is more important than having the requisite skills and attitude to navigate through ones chosen profession effectively. This is a wrong misconception that must be addressed. The problem is difficult to address, because even the university system heavily gratifies academic achievement alone while at the same time neglecting true values of skill, hard work and attitude. This discourages students from imbibing the right attitude towards life. Many situations abound where students deliberately refuse to learn the requisite skills and instead decide to cram through the course work with the main aim of just attaining their As and by extension their distinctions.

To tackle the aforementioned issues, it needs to be emphasised that distinction goes beyond attaining a good cumulative grade point average (CGPA). It is more than that. Distinction is also about being superior to others in your knowledge of a chosen profession. It is also about having a better attitude towards the profession and life in general than average individuals.

Distinction is not something that only deals with school life. It most importantly involves being able to show your superiority towards others; in other words proving that the attained result is well deserved.

In reality, the real distinction in life begins when a person goes into the outside world. While attaining a desirable CGPA can be a stepping stone, it is more important to be well grounded in ones chosen area of expertise or profession. Being well grounded enables a person to contribute his quota towards the development of the profession, and by extension the greater society. A person becomes needed and one attains a sort of reputation when it comes to the field. All these cannot be achieved if a person only blindly follows extremely good grades and neglects what really matters in life.

There is a huge difference between people who only pursue grades and people who pursue excellence. While most of the former end up without the requisite skills, members of the latter group end up having greatness following them. Pursuing excellence means a person is willing to do all it takes to obtain good skills, values and attitude that can make a difference in one’s life. Distinction is therefore so much more beyond the CGPA (4.1).

However, it is important to point out that attaining a 4.1 (a good CGPA) is also part of distinction. Attaining a good grade point and having a good academic standing requires a great deal of hard work, dedication and devotion to academic work. Attaining a distinction in school require that one attends lectures, judiciously does all assignments, and studies religiously. This means that one has to be disciplined. This is of course excluding the extremely gifted individuals that somehow attain unexplainable results. 

In addition, practical examples abound that clearly show the difference between having a  both types of distinctions. People with only good results almost always end up under people who choose to have a distinction even after school. And it begins in school. The difference between the two makes the latter better equipped to manage people. In contrast, the former are only barely qualified to work under the able supervision of the latter once their results are no longer in play. This is why most first class students are only able to secure work under people that were unable to attain results as good as theirs. In some cases, their employers are not even educated beyond the secondary level. Their attitude towards school work and life in general makes them to make the mistake of blindly pursuing only good results. By the time they are out of school, they find out that they do not understand how the real world works. By contrast, those who pursue real distinction understand the intricacies of the real world and are therefore better equipped towards managing others. Some of the members of this group are able to attain both exceptional results and real distinction.

The idea that attaining a good CGPA (above 4.1) alone is enough is erroneous. It makes one become complacent. When one believes what he has is enough, one does not strive for personal improvement. It ultimately leads to stagnation. Believing that attaining a good CGPA alone, is enough, leads to stagnation.

Back to the definition of distinction. Being excellent requires an attitude shift. It requires being willing to do what it takes. Ultimately, it requires knowing that attaining good results alone is not sufficient. Once one attains excellence in a particular endeavour, one becomes important. It is a natural progression as the excellence portrayed automatically puts one on the radar of people that matter, leading to the said importance.

In conclusion, I believe that all the aforementioned points have underscored the fact that attaining distinction goes beyond having exceptional academic performance, as it requires having the right attitude and a good understanding of the inner workings of the real world.