Would you focus 100% on your studies, to seal a 1st class degree? Or would you ADD extracurricular activities, and risk missing a sure 1st class? I did the latter and narrowly missed 1st class. But my achievements since then prove I did the right thing. Here’s my story…

Meeting An Old School Mate Who Felt I Did It Wrong

We both graduated from University of Ibadan, in 1992. We had not seen each other since 2005.

During our discussion he recalled that I’d maintained a 1st class Cumulative Grade Point Average (C.G.P.A) right from our first to 3rd year. But he felt my extracurricular activities made me narrowly miss graduating with a 1st class in Agricultural Extension (which would have been a first for the department).

I recalled that I finished with a C.G.P.A of 5.9. First class was 6.0. It was indeed a narrow miss.

He referred to a club I’d joined – the Student’s Farm Research Foundation (SFRF) – in annoyance

To him, that club prevented me from clinching a first class degree. Apparently, from what he said, some of my classmates with whom he’d spoken also felt so.

On my part, I simply smiled and changed the subject.

I doubted I could change his mind. And I was also amused by his inability to see the bigger picture.

But that was understandable. He had become an academic. He naturally still thought in such terms.

I had chosen not to take up the offer of graduate assistantship sent to me by the university, as the best graduating student. (Instead, I accepted Guinness Nigeria’s invitation to become a Graduate Management Trainee/Brewer.)

My experiences have shown me many great benefits of engaging in such extracurricular activities!

I explain below…using 3 main activities I engaged in while on campus

Extracurricular No. 1: Playing Competitive University Handball

The first day I joined the university team in training as a freshman, I won a shirt on the team (NB: I began playing state level competitive handball in my teens, while in secondary school in Kwara state).

NB: In a future article, I’ll elaborate on many benefits university sports persons enjoy (e.g FREE accommodation EVERY year), which make engaging in sports worthwhile. But you must have the discipline to combine it with your studies.

In my final year (1992) I captained both the Independence Hall and University teams. The former I led to win the Inter-Halls Handball competition, while the latter I led, in a severe bashing at the West African Universities Games preliminaries. A bitter-sweet ending for me!

However, despite my heavy involvement in sports, I still graduated top of my class.

Interestingly, I would get an award from the University Sports Council, and my hall of residence in 1992.

Now, my course of study was for for 5 years. I played Handball right from my first year (1987) to my final year (1992) year. Yet, all through to 1989 (my 3rd year), I kept my C.G.P.A in first class range.

So I think it’s safe to say sports did not really prevent me from doing well with my studies.

Extracurricular No, 2: As a Member of Students Farm Research Foundation(SFRF)

In my 3rd year (1989), I joined the Student’s Farm Research Foundation (SFRF) – an innovative, self-funding farm research oriented student group in the University of Ibadan.

Most members were Veterinary Medicine majors. Only about 3 of us were studying Agriculture. Every day, we did practical livestock (poultry, rabbits etc) management – including feeding, feed formulation/ compounding, disease prevention and control.

In my 4th year (1990), I was elected “Sales Coordinator”. I was 20. My job involved purchasing feed ingredients and compounding formulated rations for pullets, layers, broilers, cockerels, and rabbits produced (for sales income) on the SFRF farm. I still remember getting my uncle to teach me how to keep track of money I spent using a simple book keeping notebook.

Here’s why I remain grateful till today, that I got that involved in SFRF:

My successes today derive from that exposure – none of which I could have gotten in class, or by studying alone. It was practical and very relevant for me as an Agricultural professional!

One Example:

In 2002, while speaking with some farm owners in Lagos, I discovered they lacked proper feed formulation knowledge and know-how. This made their feeding costs high.

So I decided to write my now popular Practical Feed Formulation Handbook and offer it for sale with practical training to farmers. (See a one chapter PDF preview: http://tinyurl.com/ffhbprv)

2 years later, in 2004, I developed my Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ software to accompany the handbook following requests by buyers of the handbook, for a faster and less tasking means of doing the Pearson Computation described in it

Recall my friend said SFRF was responsible for my failure to get 1st class?

Well, maybe. Or maybe not.

The above example however shows that the name recognition and sales I’m getting for my expertise in feed formulation has more than made up for those lost C.G.P.A points!

Extracurricular No. 3: As President of Readers’ Club

Looking back, I think this 3rd extracurricular was the one that really led me to “choke” on my work load.

I quickly earned a number of nicknames from my freshman days.

When results of first year exams came out, colleagues noticed that Matriculation Number 52xx3, repeatedly came out tops in key subjects, with scores often in the 70s to late 80s.

They got curious, and soon found it was mine. From then on, many good naturedly began calling me “Iwe” (Yoruba for “book”) and “Material” (short for “First Class Material).

They did not stop there.

Right through our second year, they would check the results once they were pasted on notice boards, and come to inform me of my scores. Indeed at a point, I did not have to bother going to check when results came out. Someone would just say “Hey material…you scored …%!”

It was great to be on campus in those days. There was so much goodwill amongst the students.

My”book worm”  reputation was to later get me into “trouble” of sorts…

In my fourth or final year, I got nominated by classmates to be the pioneer president of a “Readers’ Club launched in the department.

But I knew I already had my hands full with sports, and SFRF.

Try as I could, no one was prepared to pass me over. It seemed they felt my nicknames of “Iwe” and “Material” made me perfect for the job.

So I found myself having to arrange meetings, excursions, and do a variety of other tasks.

That Was When I Began to Feel the Pressure…

My study routine, developed from my first year, began to suffer e.g. I began getting to my room too tired to wake up and study from midnight till 4.00a.m, before hitting the tracks by 5.00a.m.

When the final C.G.P.A was announced, I had no regrets. Instead I let others lament on my behalf

I felt I’d gotten the best of all the worlds I’d been in while on campus.

The merit award from the sports council, and my hall of residence, made me feel I’d achieved a decent balance in my university education.

My Extracurricular Experiences Have REPEATEDLY Helped Me Succeed in Various Ways in Life!

I’ve since discovered over more than 2 decades, that I was right!

My sporting background has continued to help me deliver seemingly superhuman work related performances to the amazement of many older/younger persons.

To succeed in competitive sports mental and physical stamina are things you MUST develop. Add to that a rock hard never-say-die mentality, in the face of pain, difficulty, or any other form of adversity.

I’ve explained in several articles on fitness (like this one) that stamina will help one excel in life.

Stamina – both physical and mental – enables me – seemingly effortlessly – churn out articles/reports, create Excel software, and complete web marketing projects, to meet deadlines.

I’ve also given examples above, of how my SFRF experience provided the basis for developing what is today my most popular, and profitable range of farm business products and services.

If you’ve been reading this blog, you should by now have deduced that my SFRF exposure equipped me to write the 4,000 word agribusiness paper I got paid for in December 2013.

And if all goes well, there’s yet another potential benefit of my SFRF exposure headed my way!

Just today, I emailed the final version of a proposal about entering my Ration Formulator™ for an international competition.

When I clicked “send”, my head felt HOT from over 2 weeks of carefully crafting answers to the questions in the “brief” document provided!

It required most responses pegged to 150/200 words. They wanted no long stories…like this article…LOL! But I got it done :-))

In giving my answers, I made a point of stating that my SFRF experience helped me create the handbook and software innovation.

The proposals will be reviewed and selected by an “expert jury”, and contracts will be awarded to the 20 highest-scoring applicants, who will also be invited to a cross-learning workshop etc.

I gave it my best shot. Who knows…my proposal could just get chosen!

Final Words: The Right Extracurricular Activities Can Make Giving Up a Few C.G.P.A Points Worthwhile

The truth – no matter what anyone chooses to believe – is that over 80% of my increasingly popular software and handbook feed formulation solutions did NOT come from my classroom exposure.

Instead, they came directly from the 3 years I spent as a VERY active member of SFRF.

Indeed, no one has ever asked me about my C.G.P.A score since I graduated!

And that’s why I’d advise my child, ANY DAY, to give up a few C.G.P.A points, if it’s unavoidable, to acquire such life changing extracurricular experiences!