Navigating Challenges and Celebrating Diversity: My First Semester Experience at NUC

Introduction

My first semester as a Higher Education Student at NUC had different experiences. I would describe some as exciting and life-giving. Similarly, other experiences were challenging and disappointing. The elephant of them all was adapting to a new academic environment. I found it tough but life was not devoid of fun too. Meeting friends with different personalities made it possible for me to face academic life at NUC.

I recall my first encounter with Critical Thinking. It was a bit strange! I expected the course to be the simplest of all the modules offered in NUC but to my amazement, I barely understood a thing for a better part of the semester. We had to study many complex philosophical arguments by different philosophers and scholars. I found myself reading repeatedly before grasping a simple concept.

When it comes to modules involving numbers, I enjoyed my classes. I realized finance and Accounting were all about concentrating in class and doing a few examples on my own. I did not struggle with the above modules and I would spend some of my time explaining some concepts to some of my classmates who thought Finance and Accounting were difficult.

After our first exam results were out, there was something consistent with my performance. I noticed in modules involving a lot of theories my performance was not very impressive.  I did better in Finance and Accounting than in Introduction to Business Management, Motivation and Strengths at Work, Principles of Marketing, study skills, and understanding organizations. All of which involved a lot of reading.

I also noticed that in Study Skills I had scored a lower grade than I expected. I thought Study Skills as a module was easy to read. I didn’t see the need to read and conceptualize the course. I thought it was common sense. On the contrary, I was shocked when it turned out that my performance in that module was the worst in class. I tend to believe my attitude towards ‘simple’ modules contributed to my bad performance. I thought they were simple and as a result, I failed to put enough effort into them.

Comparing my performance in mathematical modules with the theoretical ones, I have reasons to believe that I had a problem reading too much theory. I found myself neglecting the theory and hence failed to balance my studies as expected. I don’t think the theory was hard but the problem was my attitude and lack of balance in terms of the time allocated to those modules. The moment I started balancing my studies across all the modules I noticed a drastic improvement in my grades.

Based on the above reflection of my experience with my studies in various modules, I believe that approaching a course with an open mind is the best way to learn. My perception and expectations about Critical Thinking as a module contributed to my poor performance.  The same applies to Study Skills which proved to be as demanding as any other module. I, therefore, learned that balancing one study in terms of time allocation is another essential thing that I learned from my experience.

Despite my poor performance in some modules due to poor time allocation, I embraced the idea that I had a better capability in some modules involving mathematics. Although most of my classmates had better study timetables and seemed to apply proper study skills than me, they often consulted me in modules involving numbers. I also appreciate the fact that some of them were good at explaining theoretical concepts.

Based on the above, I learned to appreciate the diversity of capabilities and talents. I recall the kind of teamwork we used to employ during exam periods. Usually, we had study groups and through those groups, we could share knowledge and brainstorm over difficult concepts. I remember when we were having a group discussion on the Understanding Organisations module when we felt that there was too much to be covered and time was not on our side. We subdivided the work amongst ourselves and allowed everyone to explain their portion. That was the most interesting moment in school. Students came up with video clips and illustrations from different sources, making what appeared to be unmanageable the simplest module. We passed our exams!

Conclusion

To sum up, I can describe my first semester at NUC as one of the most eye-opening moments of my life. I now appreciate the diversity of talents and capabilities. I also understand the essence of teamwork in life.