Regrets and Excitements: A Life for a degree. Final Part.

Let's finish this...

Level 300 was not too memorable because we had to be humbled by covid which locked us indoors whilst trying hard to make learning possible. Covid came with its blessings and troubles and I believe each of us had a fair share. As covid was minimizing, I decided to find some use for my time. Through Brother Abdul Gaffar Ali and Ibrahim Alhassan of Starr FM, I applied as an intern at Starr FM hoping to broaden my journalism and radio experience. I almost lost hope until the current manager of Starr FM called me one afternoon and engaged me in my letter for the internship. After a few conversations, he asked me to start work the following week. He again asked if I knew anyone who will want an opportunity to intern with me. Though I didn’t have anyone in mind at that time, I just told him yes. He asked that I connect the person to him immediately. I ended the call and I immediately spoke to Zulaiha about the opportunity. Her response was positive so I asked her to contact him for the opportunity. We were both picked and were asked to start work the following week.

The experience at Starr FM was very helpful. For the first time, we learned how to write stories for the news. We learned how voice-over is done and how sounds are edited for a story. How to create a voxpop and a report and the art of reporting. It was great learning with the massive team there. We also had the opportunity to meet some important personalities in the country including former President John Mahama, during his 2020 campaign. It was a great experience there.

The school was calling in 2021 so we had to leave Starr FM and attend to our academic responsibilities. By then, I was already selected as the new president of GMSA Legon. I knew I had a bigger task ahead because I was in my final year and I had other extra-curricula activities I was managing. Legon also implemented a double-track system which made things too difficult for most student leaders on campus. Whilst level 100s and 400s are in school, 200s and 300s will be home. This affected our work as executives because we had a chunk of our colleagues in 200 and 300. It also made organizing programs quite difficult and also working for four semesters with no vacation.

We had to be very strategic to address the problems accordingly. Gmsa like any association was handed over to us with its numerous problems that we needed to deal with. My experience with GMSA, I would say, is like leading a whole nation but having just a few followers. You will be aware that there are so many Muslims on campus, but for those interested in activities of the Muslim community, we have just a few of them. We had plans for the association that also needed some time and commitment, but being in school and having lectures for just 6 weeks instead of the normal 13 weeks is also another mood. It becomes difficult to pressure executives to get things done since you understand that those on campus are academically occupied and those at home are handling other businesses.

To be the president means I need to deal with both internal and external personnel. And that means I needed to spearhead the struggle to find solutions for both internal and external problems. It’s been very tough. Very challenging. And very discouraging. We have just managed to survive and we shall continue to do our very best. In Shaa Allah. One of the things I did that I would encourage us to do is to learn to plan and organize ourselves. What I do is plan my day before going to bed. I write all I’m supposed to do for the next day in my diary before sleeping. After the morning rituals, I go through them again to keep them fresh in my mind. I come back and in the evening I analyze my day and plan for the next as well. This has been helpful and we can try it as Students.

I will now rest my pen here and allow us to reflect on our lives. Find a time and think through your personal development. Understand how far you’ve gotten and make sure you criticize yourself honestly. Ask yourself if you’ve made the best use of your time. Ask yourself if you are fit to take up certain opportunities at the stage you’ve gotten to.

You will realize that I didn’t mention much of my academic work. And that is where my biggest regret lies. I didn’t pay much attention to academics. In general, I gave it just 30% of my time and used the rest for other businesses. I haven’t written resit exams since I gained admission but I always feel I haven’t done my best with regards to academics. If I had to go back again, I would take learning seriously and make sure I do better than I did and I am doing. To an extent, my regret diminishes because I believe whatever I did with the rest of the time was worth it. And these are huge investments I made in my life that keep me hopeful that, it will pay one day.

My advice to you is to make your personal life your biggest priority. Always think of how you can develop yourself as a student since being in the university is the biggest platform each student has. Find opportunities. Seek assistance. Attend events and meet people. Make some investments in your life and make yourself valuable. Read books. Have fun and pray hard. Plan and organize yourself. It is tough. It is hard. But it’s worth the struggle.

Again, if I am to be back again, I will do double what I have done and make sure I do them well this time. My story isn’t much but I hope and believe that you have been inspired in a way. And that should inform us of other 100 similar stories of students across the country. Share yours to inspire others as well.

Life is hard.....but harder if you do nothing for yourself.

The end

We have come to the end of this series. I thank everyone who has been following me till this part. I hope we all learnt something. Not forgetting, this is my first story here, if you will love to see more, Let me know in the comment sessions. Because if you love them, there are more to come In Sha Allah.
Thanks for always reading!