Dos and Don'ts for a Pakistani Undergraduate Student!

Many students come to me for advice to excel in studies and profession and they expect from me to give a secret ingredient that can make them successful student and professional overnight. This reminds me of my favorite quote from B. Franklin " we humans devour eagerly any piece of writing that purports to tell us the secret of success in life; yet how often we are disappointed to find nothing but commonplace statements, or receipts that we know by heart but never follow".

If you watched Kung Fu Panda, there is a famous line at the drop scene of this animated movie "There is No secret ingredient". True it is. What I am trying to suggest in this essay are the things obvious to you but not often practiced and hence the results we see in our lives are not at all surprising. After spending major portion of my life in academia and after my study and talks with some learned people of the world, I came to following Dos and Don'ts that can transform a student's life if followed in true letter and spirit.

Initially, I will focus on the Don'ts as most of the students of pakistani universities consume major portion of their day in these activities and really don't find time for the things that really matter which I will cover in the next half of this essay. We are grown listening this cliche "Time is a precious commodity" but in fact it becomes really hard in the daily affairs of life to catch hold of the time. Where does it go? This is the question that needs to be addressed. Stephen Covey, in his famous book 7 habits wrote " It is incredibly easy to get caught up in the daily routine of life". So, avoiding this trap is the most important thing a student must realize. Here are those don'ts that eat up the valuable time of our university students

• STOP watching Hollywood, Bollywood and Lollywood, even if it seems that you feel these woods are a great source of entertainment. They are not only inimical to mind but engulf the major portion of a student's time. Human mind has a unique ability to mimic the things it is exposed to. Students "unconsciously" start imagining themselves as heros and heroines and start behaving that way after having a heavy dose of woods.
• STOP listening to emotionally touching songs, the songs that create longing and air the lusty desires that are labelled as "love" by the woods. Light music is fine but emotionally charged songs are lethal to a developing mind.
• STOP consuming whatsapp information, even though it may seem intellectual and mind uplifting. Whatsapp information comes in the form of images, videos articles etc. and it kills a lot of time and distract oneself from the major focus of the things. Whatsapp can be used for connections and conversations but not as a substitute of books and lectures from learned people.
• STOP consuming Facebook information, don't read FaceBOOK, this book is mostly a crap and distract mind. Like Whatsapp, Facebook information comes in the form of images, videos, articles and ads that distract mind. Well, again Facebook can be used for networking and conversation and personal branding but not as a source of learning.
• STOP watching pakistani and hindi dramas ...that comes with plethora of glamor and negativity that affect student's unconscious mind. I mean to say STOP watching HUM TV, GEO KAHANAI, ARY, STAR PLUS etc. People say there are some quality dramas that enlighten mind: my reply is "It takes usually at least 13 to 15 hours to finish one drama serial and you can enlighten yourself far more by giving the same time to a quality documentary, an audiobook, a video lecture or by reading an article or a book.
• STOP watching Pakistani News Channels. If you really wish to be well informed about what's going on in the country, it's better to explore the news websites or listen to 9pm headlines, that should not consume more than half an hour of the day. But, watching talk shows, analysis and commentaries of the news channels is catastrophic to mind and time.
• STOP engaging in political and religious discussions with the people who do all the things that are described above and who rarely find time to study books. Talking to such people will make you hypertensive and you will never be able to win the arguments with them. They have self-fulfilling prophecies about all the subjects that exist on this planet earth and surprising thing is they never could find time to read anything but Facebook, whatsapp articles etc.
• STOP thinking about the things you don't have control over. For Example, thinking about the subjects of national or global magnitude. How to change the education system of Pakistan? How to solve the poverty of the country etc. You are not RESPONSIBLE for these things to think and the time you spend on trying to solve these riddles will only devastate your time and energy and will drain you ultimately. You are RESPONSIBLE for YOURSELF only. Don't solve problems, try to enhance your ability to solve problems, problems won't stand on your way if you adopt this approach.
• STOP changing people, I know it is hardest thing to do, but we human beings are tempted to do this by default but ultimately, people will change automatically if they see a changed person in you. Start with yourself not from others.

Now, we come to the Dos part of a student life who wish to excel in his/her career and life.

First thing, and I emphasize, first thing for any student to take care of is his/her physical health. I have come to conclusion, sound body has a sound mind rather than vice versa. Each student should take care of his/her health habits. Eating regularly and physical exercise are the habits to remain sharp throughout life. I can't emphasize more: this is the single most important attribute that ensures both professional and personal success in life [On a side note, i learnt this concept the very hard way and I know neglecting health habits and avoiding physical exercise can be very detrimental to your professional and personal success.] You want to neglect too, go ahead but once you are above 35 you will be saying the same to your younger lot. Either learn from the centuries old wisdom of great people or learn by repeating the mistakes. Decision is solely yours.

Develop good relationships with your family and friends and develop social skills. Once, you have some trusted relationships in your life, it will not only ensure your personal success but will certainly shadow in your professional success.

The most important time, a student spends by default is the classes that he/she takes daily. Usually, this is the most underutilized time. learning note taking and making a journal of each subject, as per my belief and experience, is one of the important skills that each student should learn. Often time, it is a practice that students dont given much importance to the lectures delivered by teachers and note them on rough papers (and usually borrowed from class fellows) and they don't keep record of these notes. Usually, there are above 40 courses in any 4 to 5 years undergraduate program/professional degree and if a student has a record of each of the lecture taught in these courses, this record can become a quick review book for the entire program. Rarely, I have found students who have this complete record with them. After graduation, when it comes to job interviews and tests, students ask for review books and I believe, the notes written in the classes throughout the span of studies can become very handy tool for passing these exams and excelling in job interviews.

Another advantage of keeping date wise record of each lecture is the confidence one gains and only this habit can guarantee a minimum cGPA of 3.0. Also, if a student can develop a habit of doing daily work daily and learning each topic before sleeping on that day; this can ensure a cGPA of more than 3.8...a medal very much cherished for higher education. So, bottom line: Utilize the time spent in classes during a work week to the maximum and keep record of whatever you learn in the classes.

Another do that is important but neglected is reading textbooks, especially of basic sciences. For instance, in any medical profession, understanding the basics of biology and chemistry from college years and basic concepts of physiology and biochemistry is a pre requirement for excelling in the field. This mastery can only be achieved by reading and understanding textbooks. Recommendation of textbooks can be sought by the respective teachers of these courses. An important consideration here for reading and understanding basic science subjects is language. Try to spend time in improving English language. Once, you know the intricacies and expressions of English language, you will start enjoying the quality textbooks. There are few things that can facilitate the language comprehension that are; read a quality grammar book, I found "High School English Grammar and Composition" by Wren and Martin a very helpful book. Also, "On writing well" by William Zinsser and " Element of Style" by Strunk, W., Jr. and White, E.B. are must for every science student. Although, it will take sometime, probably a month or so, to comprehend these books but once understood, this knowledge can pave the way for quick understanding of science textbooks. Once, you start enjoying a textbook, no one can stop you from becoming expert in your field.

Now, know the definition of syllabus: Syllabus is the MINIMUM REQUIREMENT to get degree. See, I have capitalized the MINIMUM REQUIREMENT. Yes, it is the minimum. it is not all that will help you become successful in your profession and life. Syllabus is designed with the view of entire population of students and it can never be customized to meet the specific needs of each student. No syllabus in the world can teach the soft skills like honesty, integrity, discipline, networking, finding jobs, launching careers. Also, syllabus can never tell you how to and when to talk to someone for seeking help. For these things to learn, you need to network with "gurus" of your field; talk to them and seek advice. Also, develop habit of reading books outside of your profession. (I will share my reading list in another article on linkedIn).

Know the purpose of profession. Profession in the modern times serves two purposes; Social Recognition and Financial Independence and that's it. Also, know that you are first a human being and thereafter, doctor, engineer, pharmacist etc. For becoming human being, one must strive to read and comprehend the collective wisdom of centuries. As per my understanding so far, there are four sources of wisdom; [In urdu, all start with meem i.e., mutalia (reading), mushahida (observation), mukalma (dialogue) and muraqaba (meditation)] So, a student must spend majority of his/her time in reading, observing, dialogue and meditation. Once, you are done with achieving the purpose of your profession, you must strive hard for becoming human being.

I often interview students when they arrive freshly in graduate school and ask them this question: "what do you want to do in life". They answer, I want to become this and that to serve the humanity. I reply, don't burden yourself. You don't need to serve the humanity, first serve yourself and become independent in your life, you will do a great service for the humanity as you will be removing a dependent from society and will free the society of your burden. Serving yourself means to spend your time wisely and excel in your profession. One of my favorite saying is from persian language that says " Kasbay kamal kun k azizay jahaan shavi". It is translated as " seek excellence in your profession so as you be cherished by the world". World needs people who are true to their task and are striving day and night to solve the problems rather than becoming one.