Living A First Class Life With A Third Class Degree 3 Chapter 2: Third Class Materials

academic examination is not a true test of one's entire

potential ability; it only favours those with great Eacademic strength. If academic is not one of your very strong points, you really should have prepared your mind afore-hand

for what to expect from the finals of your examination in school.

There is no problem believing G.o.d that a miracle which will

shoot up your G.P from where it used to be to the desired height

will happen after the final year examinations. However, if the

miracle does not happen as you desire it, you need not break your

neck mourning. Accept it in good faith.

At this juncture of your life, what you need to do is to sit down

and redefine your definition of success. What does it mean to be

successful?

Succeeding in school is not the same as succeeding in life;

likewise, failing out of school does not necessarily mean you

have failed in life. A pa.s.s mark in school does not guarantee a

pa.s.s mark in life, and a failure in the first does not also guarantee

a failure in the other. You may have pa.s.sed out with a third-cla.s.s

result now, but this does not make you a third-cla.s.s material for

life.

Every student is a first-cla.s.s material, only that the field in which

they excel differs. Those who excel in academic work are easily

noticed and awarded first-cla.s.s earlier than others. But this is not

to say others cannot excel in other fields.

You also can excel as a first-cla.s.s material in some other fields

other than academic. So, do not let anyone write you off as a

useless third-cla.s.s material. You carry some value. You have

some worth. You are important. You have in you what will make

other first-cla.s.s materials in the academic field bow down for

your ingenuity. G.o.d has ensured that, and it is left to you to

discover it.

Today in your school, those who have first-cla.s.s in academic

works are being celebrated. But time will tell. In not many days

from now, if you do what is expected of you, you also will be

celebrated as a first-cla.s.s material. It though may not be in the

academic field, it may be in the entertainment, medical,

pharmaceutical, production, sport, power, politics, or any other

sector. When the time comes, those who look down on you today
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for graduating with a third-cla.s.s will bless G.o.d for your life, and

will be proud to identify with you.

This is the sincere truth, making a first-cla.s.s in school is quite

different from making a first-cla.s.s in life. The former is easier

than the latter. All it takes to get a first-cla.s.s in school is being

smart enough to reproduce verbatim in the exam hall what your

lecturers told you in the lecture hall.

However, making a first-cla.s.s in life requires much more. It

takes more discipline, dedication, diligence, commitment, focus

and lots more to make a first-cla.s.s in the real examination of life.

This is why many who graduated with third-cla.s.s in school

always cross over the boundary to make first-cla.s.s in life before

their death and very few of those who graduated with first-cla.s.s

from the higher inst.i.tutions really have something significant to

offer their generation at the end of their life. They believe they

can always have it as easy as they had it in school. What a

mistake!

For you, all hope is not lost. You have the chance to prove the

school system wrong. So many others before you have proven

them wrong; therefore yours will not be the first. G.o.d has not

given any lecturer or school authority the divine mandate to

eternally place a never-do-well emblem or third-cla.s.s badge on

anybody. Your destiny is not in their hands; it is in your hands,

and it is not a third-cla.s.s destiny.

No man should be allowed to determine your eternal relevance in

the world just by a two-hour written or oral examination. You

may not do well in the school's examination but you can still do

well in G.o.d's final examination at the close of age - and that is all

that matters.

Your value is in what G.o.d thinks of you and not what someone

else thinks of you. Do not allow any lecturer to relegate you,

disregard your talents, and downgrade your gifting just by a

stroke of his red pen. You have a better destiny in life. You have a

greater purpose for which the creator sent you to the world, and

no man can hinder you from fulfilling that. Christ's red blood

speaks better things than your lecturer's red pen, no matter how

bold.

Whatever loss you have experienced academically you can gain

somewhere else. The problem is how to discover where. Once

you can discover where, the story of your life will change for the

better in no time.

EVERY DISAPPOINTMENT IS A BLESSING

Everyone is born naked, but no one is born empty. Understand

your worth in the eyes of G.o.d. You are precious. You are not a

failure. You have an intrinsic worth. You are worth far more than

your lecturers and examiners think you do. They have not yet

discovered the complete you; they only saw a little aspect of

your being - the academic side, and they rushed into conclusion

that you are not fit to be called a first cla.s.s material. It is now left

to you to discover that area of your life which they have failed to

see. If only you can see yourself in the light of G.o.d's perspective,

this will be a very easy task for you.

You have some unique qualities, latent abilities, undiscovered

potentials and buried talents which your academic pursuit has

made you unconsciously shut your eyes to before now. Who

knows, maybe it is for the sole purpose of this all-important

discovery that G.o.d had allowed your efforts in the study room to

yield such a low academic heat on the examination result board,

so as to make you focus on what He desires for your life without

any distraction of looking for a job with your first cla.s.s

certificate.

If you had done wonderfully well, or at least done better than a

third-cla.s.s, you really may not have picked up this book from the

bookshelf in the bookshop! You will be more concerned about

looking for a first cla.s.s job in a first cla.s.s company that pays a

first cla.s.s salary which befits a first cla.s.s student like you

because you have a first cla.s.s degree, and may never get to fulfil

the first cla.s.s destiny that G.o.d intends that you will be!

It does not matter how many times you have failed, academic or

otherwise, G.o.d's plan and destiny for you never changes. No

matter where you are in your journey in life. He can help you

become what you are destined to be.

You can be all that you want to be, with or without a first-cla.s.s.

The possession of it may be a plus, but if G.o.d is on your side, the

absence of it is not a minus. Let this be registered in your

subconscious mind, irrespective of your academic result, you are

part of the solution to the challenges of today's world. This is

hard to believe because of the prevalence circ.u.mstance, but it is

the sincere truth.

Do not settle for less. At a first thought, not having a first-cla.s.s

degree may look like an impediment to your success in life or a

clog in the wheel of your progress; but a second glance will make

you believe more in the saying that, 'every disappointment is a

blessing', depending on what angle you view it from.

We often perceive obstacles on our journey in life as blockades,

trying as much as we can to avoid them, rather than working our

way over and around them. Most times, we concentrate too much

on the obstacle that we end up missing out what G.o.d has for us on

the other side of the road.

This brings to mind the popular saying that "when G.o.d closes a

window somewhere, he opens a door somewhere else not too far

from the closed window, but most people keep groping around

the closed window that they never get to see the opened door".

You have stared too long at the closed window; look around for

the open door. There could be a hidden blessing in this

disappointment, search it out. Do not just see the thorns among

the roses; look for the roses among the thorns. This will help you

to turn every stumbling block into stepping stones.

BUILD UP YOUR CONFIDENCE

First things first; get your mind off the certificate in your hand. It

will not help you much except there is either a miracle, or your

parents are highly connected.

What you need now is to concentrate more on where you go from

here with or without this certificate, and not where you are now

because of it, or where you have been with it without any

success. Release yourself from the hold of the past, move out of

it and focus more on the future.

No doubt, the incident of the past few months that you saw your

final year results would have eroded your confidence in

yourself. This is normal, but you no longer should allow it any

more. This is because your level of confidence in your ability

will determine where you go from here.

Build up your confidence to face the future in order to get the

best from it. The fear of the future and the fear of failure will

hinder you from taking calculated risks in order to achieve better

things, and this will negatively affect you seriously.

It is a natural thing to start worrying about the future at a time

like this, but this will in no way help matters. In fact, you will

find others in your shoes doing a great deal of worrying and you

will feel very odd and out-of-place not partic.i.p.ating in it. It will

sound as though you are nonchalant and irresponsible if you do

not worry in a situation like this. But the truth is that the deed has

been done and worrying will be the last action to proffer a way

forward.

Do not give in to what others in your shoes will naturally do. You

may be tempted to, but resist it. Do not worry unnecessarily. Do

not resign to fate. If you can stay calm while there is chaos all

around you, then you probably stand a better chance of taking

charge and you will have complete control of the situation.

Rather than invest your time sitting idly and worrying about

what the future holds for someone like you, sit tight and take

your future in your hands, creating what you want out of it.

You no longer can fully depend on the society to help you. Those

who had better qualifications have not even been helped yet.

Numerous Second-cla.s.s-upper (2:1) graduates are still outside

there, combing the streets for the ideal job and they are yet to find

one. So you will be the last person the society is thinking about. If

your future must be bright, you will need to do the painting by

yourself for yourself.

The society has little or nothing good to offer you that will be of

benefit to your destiny. Whatever they offer you, they will take

back from you in some other forms. Nothing goes for nothing!

It is bad enough that you have made this mistake in time past.

You have relied on the academic community to treat you with

leniency and give you the result you desired. However, the

society has failed you by giving you only what you deserve.

The school disappointed you. Your lecturers frustrated you. The

examiners saddened you. The invigilators upset you. Your

cla.s.smates neglected you to your fate. Everybody was hard and

harsh on you. n.o.body gave you the chance to prove that you

could do better.

This is what is obtainable everywhere. It will be more disastrous

to fall into the same error again. This time, you may never

recover from it for life! Remember, "only fools repeat mistakes;

the wise learns from it".

Please, behave wisely. "Once beaten twice shy". This is the time

to take your future in your hands and twist it whichever way you

want. You may have been labelled a failure by everyone around

you. However, you are not yet what they call you until you admit

it. If you resign to fate and accept whatever little the world has to

offer you, you have already admitted you are a failure.

FORGET THE PAST

What has happened is nothing compared to what can still

happen. The past is too insignificant to affect the future

significantly. What matters is not what has gone behind but what

lies ahead. If you must make progress, you must shut the door on

what is behind and look ahead with antic.i.p.ation and hope for the

things the future holds.

This is fundamental; you will need to forget the past and

everything that is tied to it if you must move forward. If you do

not release yourself from the grip of the past, you will

continually live in it.

Only single-minded concentration on the future is essential in

running the race of life. G.o.d did not design man to always look

backwards in life; that is why He did not put any eye at the back

of our heads. He placed our two eyes in front so that man can

always look forward in order to go forward. No driver makes

continuous progress looking at the side mirror or the center

mirror which only view his rear. Every driver looks forward to

move forward; He only looks backward to move backward

(reverse).

So also everyone who wants to make progress must continually

look forward to go forward in life. If you continually look

backward at your third cla.s.s degree, you will only end up

moving backward. This is why you have to let go off the past

completely.

Letting go of the past may not always be an instant thing for

everyone. For some, it could be a step-by-step process through

which the mind is renewed. Whichever is yours, it is possible to

shut it behind you and continue with life. Learn all you need

from it, break out of its mould and move into the future G.o.d has

prepared for you.

There are four things you will need to consciously forget about

the past. They are:

1) PAST ERRORS

Everybody makes mistakes; Presidents, First Ladies,

Governors, Pastors, Politicians, Senators, Doctors, Engineers,

Lawyers, Judges, CEO's, even the best of the best. "n.o.body is

above mistakes", so goes the saying.

Everyone has, at one time or the other, took decisions which they

later regretted in life; but that was not the end of their career.

They moved beyond the mistake to make impact in their

generations. You also can move beyond this point of your life to

the point where you will fulfill destiny if you will put the past

behind you.

The great scientist, Thomas Edison failed the same experiment

one thousand times. What a record! If such happened in this

generation, it would have a whole page dedicated to it in the

latest edition of The Guinness Book of Records as the highest

number of failure recorded in a single experiment by an

individual. Dale Carnegie, a celebrated author and public

speaker confessed he had a folder on his table with the t.i.tle 'FTD'

- It stands for 'Foolish Things I Have Done.' In it he doc.u.mented

his stupid actions.

Everybody makes mistakes. Everyone does stupid and foolish

things once in a while. So everyone must be willing to forgive

himself, including you! Your ability to move forward in life will

be dependent on how much you are willing to bear the

consequences of your past mistakes, forgive yourself of the

stupid decisions, shut your eyes on the past, make necessary

corrections, and move forward with life.

Constantly and persistently looking back in life always ensures

your going in the same direction. Lock the door on your past

mistakes, throw the key away, and forget where you have thrown

it.

Wipe away your tears; no evil has befallen you. Let no one send

any condolence message to you. Quit the grief. Tear off the

sackcloth. Stop causing yourself needless pains. Wear a bright

smile. Look ahead into the future with great hope. Your future is

bright, and I can testify of it.

Begin to live a life free of guilt and self-condemnation. Do not

be reluctant to expect the best from the world because you are

created to have the very best it has to offer, irrespective of your

grade today, and that is the sincere truth.

You deserve the best of G.o.d. His best for you may not include

graduating with a first-cla.s.s degree from school, but His best

definitely include graduating with a first-cla.s.s in life, and that is

not debatable!

2) PAST INJURIES

Life is a battlefield, and one thing that cannot be avoided on the

battleground is injuries; every soldier is prepared ahead for it.

You may have experienced injuries and hurts on your campus

too, some of which may have contributed to your graduating

with a third cla.s.s grade - someone lied on you, a lecturer marked

you down, a cla.s.smate disappointed you, a friend betrayed you,

your parents denied you some funds, etc. Painful as these may

be, it is left to you to decide what your reactions to these hurts

will be.

In life, you may not be able to control the actions of others to

you, but you have complete control over your own reactions to

their actions. You can fold your hands, complain about their

actions, allow resentment and bitterness to build in you until it

turns to revenge. Alternatively, you can simply forgive them and

let go.

The latter is easier and more beneficial to you. Forgive all. If you

think someone else was responsible for your failure or

contributed in some degree to your catastrophe, please forgive

such. Refusal to forgive will create in you bitterness, resentment

and unforgiveness. These will rob you of your glorious future.

Forgiving others does not justify their actions, but it will free

your heart from bitterness, enabling you to concentrate on more

important things that will move your life forward.

3) PAST PROSPECTS

So many are still tied to the opportunities they lost in the past.

They live in a 'If l had known' world.

- If I had prepared better for the examination!

- If I had listened to my parent's advice!

- If I had changed my friends on time!

- If I had attended the tutorials!

- If I had read my books more!

- If I had done the a.s.signment!

- If I had not missed the test!

- If I had been closer to G.o.d!

- If I had known!

For how long will you continue to live your life on yesterday's

dream and possibilities? You need to s.h.i.+ne your eyes to the

realities of today and forget about what is gone behind. Too many

fresh graduates are still locked in the illusion of what could have

been in the past. They are so dissatisfied with life because they

had some great expectation that did not materialize.

Please note that it is a lie from the pit of h.e.l.l that the best

opportunities you can have in life are the ones you have messed

up in the past; never believe that. Better things still awaits you in

the future. All you need to do is look into the future with great

hopes, and you will see your desires materializing.

4) PAST EVILS

It is possible to reason that you are where you are because of

your past sins. You may think this is the reward of your past

record of insincerity;

- You cheated in the examination hall,

- You lied on a friend,

- You hurt someone physically,

- You made a stupid remark to someone close to you,

- You stole someone's belonging,

- You jilted your girlfriend,

- You were not faithful to G.o.d on campus,

- You joined the cult,

or because of a horrible sin you committed and you strongly

believe that G.o.d will never forgive you because of the

magnitude of the sin. It could be true, and it may not be!

Whether it is true or not, G.o.d is willing to forgive you any sin

you committed in the past if only you are willing to confess it

and forgive yourself first. It may not be very easy to forget them,

but it is quite easier to forgive yourself and move forward with

your life.

Do not let your life be tied down by anything that should have

gone with the past. Open a clean state and start a fresh life. Let

the scriptures be fulfilled in your life that says 'old things are

pa.s.sed away; behold, all things are become new'

The pain of every failure will only last for as long as you keep

refres.h.i.+ng your memory about it. The moment you decide to

shut the door on the past and throw it behind you, it is no longer

strong enough to afflict or haunt you.

BE CHEERFUL

It is really going to be pretty difficult to beam with smile

everywhere you go, especially when you know that everyone

around you know the grade you graduated with and will be

wondering why you are smiling sheepishly around, but the joy of

the Lord can illuminate your heart and brighten up your day so

much so that you will radiate His glory and glow like the early

morning sun every day, despite what the enemy thought he has

deprived you off.

You may not have better grades, better connection and better

opportunities, but with the peace of G.o.d, you sleep better. No

ha.s.sle, no headache, no fear of the future. This joy has nothing to

do with the fact that you have failed, but it is motivated by the

fact that G.o.d can turn every failure to success in no time.

Learn to always smile in the face of adversity. Let the peace of

G.o.d rule your heart. The Bible says this peace pa.s.ses all

understanding. If you allow it, it will take your mind off what you

are going through and make you focus on where you are going to.

It will create the joy of G.o.d in your heart. You will not be moved

or troubled. You may not have the degree needed, but you know

the one who can change every situation by one single decree.

It is this joy of the Lord which you radiate that others around you

will notice. If you really have this joy in your life - the joy that

comes from knowing the Lord - then you will be able to share it

with others around you with a beautiful contagious smile,

despite what you are going through.

This joy gives you strength, confidence, and a great hope for the

future! It will make you stand out from others in your shoes.