HOW TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE READY FOR HIGHER INSTITUTION

King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylon in one of his conversations on education with his Chief of Staff gave us a clue on how prepared a higher institution prospective student should be. He said,

“young [people] without any PHYSICAL DEFECT... SHOWING APTITUDE for every KIND OF LEARNING, well INFORMED, quick to UNDERSTAND, and QUALIFIED to SERVE in king’s palace.”
(Source: Holy Bible: Book of Daniel1:4)

In order to know if you are ready for higher institution and if you will achieve the very best both academically and educationally, you must follow king Nebuchadnezzar's views on that aspects.

• PHYSICAL DEFECT: how is your health?

The very first thing the king talked about is health. By physical defect don’t think it is all about disability. Health statistics shows that every human being is disabling either physically or mentally/psychologically. We are all the same only that the conditions of some are better than the other.
In academic world, physical health challenges are probably not the greatest human problems, as we have seen around the world with physical challenged personalities performing excellently in academics, sports, politics and some professional services. Most physical challenges don’t actually disable people, but they only appropriate people for some careers.
There is one kind of health challenges that do disable human being completely, and that is mental or psychological health challenge. This kind of health problem has to do with brain, mind and spirit which all together make up cognitive domain. Cognition is said to be “the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge through thought, experience, and the sense.”
More than any challenge, psychological problem will do more damage in education than physical one. One way of acquiring knowledge in higher institution is to memorize facts. So you need healthy brain to get the best academically from any higher institution.
If you think you have a little problem memorizing things, I advise you either (go for memory development training), and read books on memory development like Speed Memory by Tony Buzan, or you go for courses that are not 100% about memorizing facts. Nevertheless, don’t because of this quit. Go ahead; memory also develops with time.

• SHOWING APTITUDE FOR EVERY KIND OF LEARNING: How curious are you when it comes to knowledge?

Knowledge is not a stationary entity that one can just pick up and go their way. Neither is knowledge limited to a particular field of study. Knowledge is like air; you find it everywhere. And only the curious people can find it.
To get the best from any higher institution you must be ready to acquire knowledge, not only about your chosen course, but about anything. This is why it’s called higher education. The course you will study or that you are studying may not be the knowledge that will make you important in the society or that will qualify you for a job. But if that knowledge qualifies you, you will still need knowledge for growth. There is knowledge for a job, there is knowledge for growth_ you need the two.
Moreover, whether college or polytechnic or university, they mean the same thing_ institutions of higher education. The word ‘university’ is derived from the word ‘universe’ which is also derived from a Latin word ‘universus’ which means ‘combined into one.’
Therefore, according to this meaning, a higher institution graduate is expected, as a person, to have gotten a piece of relevant information to give on every aspect of his or her society_ not necessary in full details.This is true. It happened to me.
Immediately I graduated, and was still waiting for NYSC service, I applied for an interview in a school. The interview questions went out of my studied field into politics, geography and some general knowledge which I never committed to mind. Of course, I didn’t do well.
So be ready for all kind of learning and knowledge. You see, higher institution is not an island of knowledge and virtues; instead it is an archive of knowledge and virtues, and can only benefit those who can search them out. Curiosity will help you here.

• WELL INFORMED: How much do you know already?

How much do you know about the course you are going to higher institution to study? How much do you know about your environment and its happenings? How much do you know about the school you are going to for studying? How much do you know about yourself?

NOTE:
In regard to course: higher institution generally builds on the little you already know. This will help you catch up better.
In regard to environment: lecturers like to make references and instances from the society to help students understand better.
In regard to school: there are limitations to knowledge or courses offer in all higher institution. There are language institutions, science institutions, business institutions, etc. Know the one you want.
In regard to yourself: know your strength and your weaknesses. It will help you. Read Tim Lahaye’ book Why You Act The Way You Do

This book is all about relevant information you need to get the very best from any higher institution around the world.
If you are well informed about all these before going to higher institution, learning anything will be easier.

• QUICK TO UNDERSTAND: how sagacious are you?

This is probably where you should start working on about yourself now. This attribute will determine a lot of thing about your time and how much you will know.If you are quick to understand, you will acquire more knowledge in a little time. It will also help you in answering questions.
Generally, lecturers are in habit of giving little and expect much. In such case you need understanding to cope. This will cover a lot of ground for you in higher institution where you are expected to know something about everything.

• QUALIFIED TO SERVE IN KING’S PALACE: Are you self-controlled and disciplined?

Actually I don’t think the king referred to this as a qualification for studying in higher institution, but more than that I think he talked about some virtues that could qualify someone to serve in palace. These would include: self-discipline, self-control, accountability, good attitude, good sense of dressing and talking, diligence, creativity, etc.
In the real sense, these and many more are some of the things that will help you get the best from any higher institution, and will also qualify you for a job when you are through with your study.

(An extract from The Secrets of Getting the Very Best from any Higher Institution by Life Pyramids Orientation Centre).