Passing at failing
Chapter 7
Before that first week of University, you might have a false confidence. You think, “I got this!” or “I’m going to own this.” Then, the first week starts and it quickly changes to “it got me!” and “It’s owning me!” I’m not saying this to frighten you away or just some strange kink that I might have, but to give you the calming realisation that you might fail an assignment at the start, but that’s ok. No, you’re not going to fail your course, but there may be surprise failures that will hit you early in your University time. I’ll give you some of my personal examples so you can understand how big they are and how easily you can recover from them. Please prepare for Uni. Be prepared.
First semester, first assignment and I was accused of cheating. I know. I was even more shocked. Not only was I accused of cheating but plagiarism. Growing up in Kenya, I don’t think I ever heard the term plagiarism. When we wrote essays in school, we did not reference either. So imagine my surprise during when the lecturer pulled me up to tell me that he felt I had cheated. This was because I had cited another piece of work in my essay but I didn’t know that I had to reference it, so it looked like I was trying to pass it off as my own. Luckily, it was a misunderstanding and I was able to learn from it.
I wish that was the only thing that I had to learn.
Something else you should know about life in Kenya is time is relative. I don’t mean that in a deep philosophical way like “What does time even mean?” It’s more of a literal way where if you say “be there at 10am” I might be there between 10.30 and 11…anytime over the next month. Ok, maybe not THAT bad, but you get the idea. Kenyan culture and time keeping just does not go together. Well, this is not the case overseas.
Knowing that about our relationship to time, you might not be surprised to know that when I was told to be at a meeting and showed up at the requested time, I was shocked to find the meeting had already started and I was “late”. How? I was there at the time suggested! It was a real wake up call that I needed to be at place earlier than the time requested so that I wouldn’t be late. However, when I arrived twenty minutes early to a similar meeting, I was told I was too early. I couldn’t win. Let me explain that better. You have a job interview at noon. Do not arrive there at 11.55 am. Too late. You were required to arrive earlier so the receptionist registers your details, looks through your ID etc. as the interviewers are ready to start the meeting at noon. Be there at least 15 minutes to time.
It was a steep learning curve, but I grew to understand that the life of a student, was structured out on a tight schedule of tutorials, group work, exams, meetings, as well as assignments, attendance, and everything contributes to your overall grade. Where do we find the time? You are going to have similar stumbling blocks in your first semester, but if you look at them as learning moments and grow from them, they will only add to your overall experience.
Just don’t make the same ones I did. I’ve given you the heads up on those ones.
