An average student takes a leap
An average student is one who scores average marks or below average marks but never gets anything above average. Calling yourself an average student, unabashedly, is essentially saying you can never be better.
Hop on a train with me to a land of treasured memories.
Tighten your seat-belts as I begin my story.
In primary school, I always had scores below average. Always.
I just couldn't get past it.
At the end of the session my position was one before the last or the last. Always.
The failure was quite consistent.
I remember my best friend, then, getting first position or second, and I would feel tears threatening to pour because I wanted to be like her but didn't know how.
In time, I accepted failure was my fate; I was not very smart. The best approach I could come up with was to stay in my average lane and tell myself everything would be alright.
Entering junior secondary school I persisted in my average lane, although I sometimes leaned towards below average.
One day, my math teacher called me to the staff room, sat me down on his desk and said:
"I study people. When I first saw you I knew instantly you were a smart person and very intelligent. But your test and exam scores say otherwise. Is something wrong?"
That conversation would later change my life.
The other teachers in the room laughed at me, telling my math teacher to leave me because I was a lost cause.
After that conversation, he made certain I sat in front of the class when he taught, he would ask me questions in his class and ensure I was attentive, but still I maintained an average mark.
I told myself I was dumb.
I eventually transferred to another school and struggled to fit in.
In the new school, they called out people who failed more than four subject in front of the whole school, so I made an effort to not be called out.
I was never called out.
That was my mission throughout junior secondary school. I never even bothered to go above average because I believed it to be impossible.
Things took a dramatic turn when I entered senior class. This time around if you failed only one subject you would be called out.
I told myself:
"You can’t do this, you struggled to fail at least three subject how would you meet up with one"
I know, it sounds comical.
But I said to myself, even though I was dumb, I should make effort not to be called out because it was embarrassing, so i maintained my average lane and was never called out.
Something changed as I entered my second year in secondary school. I miraculously passed some of my classmates, including the smartest, in three subject during examination. I had never gone past that many people in my life.
I doubted my examination sheets were irrefutable, But I was elated regardless.
I heard some of my classmates talking about me.
"Wow, Joan really tried this term, she got very high scores"
And they all murmured in agreement.
I was drunk with excitement.
That day, I thought about what I did differently for the exam and it struck.
I read.
That's it.
I never really made any effort to understand reading techniques and my nagging was counterproductive. All those times I failed was actually because I didn't study hard.
Easy peasy right?
Well not so easy. I still maintained my average student mindset albeit I did better in class.
Time for Jamb came around. The Nigerian entrance examination board for tertiary-level institutions.
I scored 223 of 400.
I enrolled for post utme and failed scoring 44.
So i stayed at home for a year.
The gap year changed me in ways my six years in secondary school could never. I became limitless. I remembered my math teacher during that period of self discovery and realized I could be better.
I widened my horizon and decided to pick engineering which was beyond me, because I dreaded math. I went for a tutorial and it changed my outlook towards a lot of things including math.
After much groaning and a great deal of apathy towards math it became less mystifying.
During the gap year, my confidence level increased notwithstanding the fact I had minor setbacks. I became a better version of myself and also dropped the average mentality.
My mantra was:
"I am not an average student, I can do better, I can be better, I am actually smart, stop being mediocre"
I was comparing myself with my past self.
During my stay in that tutorial, I made good friends and read hard for my exam.
I wrote another jamb and guess what?
I got 272
I wrote another post utme and guess what?
I got 67
All these while I was the one holding myself back.
Now, I grab life by the horns. I am going into the world ready to give my best. I am aggressively becoming the best version of myself without restraint.
As Germany Kent puts it:
To become the best possible you, you must first focus on becoming a better you
I am far from perfect but would never allow myself to be mediocre.
Looking back I realize a lot of things have changed. I have a lot of regrets from my past, immature things I have done, embarrassing moments. Remembering what Nelson Mandela said makes all those setbacks become strength.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Never look down on yourself.
Never limit yourself.
Never settle for less from yourself.
