I will never forget the words of my lecturer Mr. Tunde; that man gave the best advice and the funniest adages. We would often call him “the Oracle.” He once said during our lectures that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. At first, that made no sense but sitting on my bed now; I wish I had listened.

My final year exams were approaching, and I didn’t know the magic I thought I could perform; being on a 2.24 CGPA, I yearned to graduate with a second-class upper. The reality of life began to hit me suddenly. Job hunting in Nigeria, as we know, isn’t easy, and only those that have good school grades sometimes get employed.

My name is Titi, and I wish I had planned earlier. In my 100L days, all I did was attend all the parties on campus and skip lectures. The truth is all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but I overdid it.

Fast forward to Law school; on my first day, it felt like the teachers were speaking Chinese, I didn’t understand a word, and I saw my mates from various universities answering questions like they had digested the entire ”Civil law” textbook or we didn’t all resume same day. I felt bad for a few weeks; then I remembered my mother’s words as I left for law school;”let me go and sew my aso-oke for your call to bar, my barrister”. I mean, I had no option but to make excellent grades.

This time I knew I had to pick myself up, dust my dress and forge through, telling myself I was a failure to Titi; you can do this. I joined study groups, asked questions in class, and studied for my exams like I had no other option. Some of my mates called me” Legal Authority” because I began to answer questions just as the lecturers wanted me to.

I remember surfing the internet one day, and I came across this write-up.

Don’t leave studying until the last minute. While some students do seem to thrive on last-minute cramming, it’s widely accepted that (for most of us) this is not the best way to approach an exam. Set up a timetable for your study to help sort out your time management. Write down how many exams you have and the days on which you have to sit for them. Then organize your study accordingly. You may want to give some exams more study time than others, so find a balance that you feel comfortable with. 

I did just as it said, and I prepared twice as hard, and the examinations came, and I somehow didn’t believe in myself even when everyone around me did.

It was 1:30am, and I checked the portal and saw I had passed my exams. I’ll never forget screaming and running to my parent’s room to show them I had passed my call to bar exams. This time, I had a second-class upper.
I was so happy I didn’t give up and didn’t let the fact that I failed once get in my way of doing better.

Now say hello to the latest barrister in town, Barrister Titi.

Persistence should be a driving force for every student looking to achieve their academic and personal goals. The idea of persistence in the face of adversity would eventually lead to an outcome of academic excellence.