Being a “good student” is challenging, and it is always a work in progress. Students often hear their school teachers and private tutors telling them they have to work on several areas to improve on themselves but it’s truly difficult to figure out how changes can be made. Apart from being obedient and hardworking, there are some other things that students need to keep in mind and follow in order to be good students.
THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE
“But desire for knowledge, like thirst of the riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it”
-Laurence Sterne
Knowledge is a wealth that can be shared but the one who gives never loses out on anything. Students need to understand that to seek knowledge, the first step to take is know what you do not know. Have conversations with your tuition teacher and revisit old topics to seek out logic gaps; you will find many of them! When you realise your weaknesses, you will then know the kind of steps that need to be taken to rectify the problems that you can identified.
CURIOSITY
Curiosity is a spark that every child should have within him or herself. It is the gateway to unlocking one’s potential and it is the best way to seek knowledge from every learning opportunity. When you are inquisitive and when you choose to question everything, you are being told, it enables you to learn with depth. One should ensure that the flame of curiosity is never extinguished!
DROP YOUR EGO
Ego has an inversely proportional relationship with knowledge. The more egoistic you are, the bigger the barrier you build for yourself in your brain. This disables you from gaining knowledge because you automatically display yourself as someone who know everything and dislike being told by someone else on what to do.
It destroys you from within, and when you are egoistic individual, others’ success becomes hard to accept for you and you will not be able to appreciate the small things. You will lose learning opportunities; you would not be able to grow or thrive. Hence, learn to let go of every bit of ego. Learn to say more of “we” instead of “I”, admit when you don’t know something, and learn to take ownership for your mistakes.
RESPECT YOUR TEACHERS
One of the most fundamental principles that elders in Asian society insist us to follow is, to respect our teachers. It is of particular importance and takes precedence over stellar grades. When a student bows down to the knowledge of his tutor and offers respect for the all that he gains, it goes to show that the student is humble and grounded.
YOU CAN LEARN FROM EVERYONE
There is no hard and fast rule about whom you can learn from; everyone who teaches you something new is your teacher. When you come to this realisation, you will be kinder and much more compassionate towards everyone around you. With this mentality, you will seek out learning opportunities from every situation, which means you will be learning constantly. There is never an end to education and learning!
IN A NUTSHELL
Being an excellent student is not about beavering away day and night and achieving stellar grades. It’s about being a compassionate individual, who acknowledges his ignorance and flaws, takes ownership for his mistakes and works with persistence to become a better version of himself.
Students need to uninhibitedly ask questions and seek answers from their tutors in every opportunity possible. Every student today will the tomorrow’s future, which is precisely why education has a huge role to play in maintaining the integrity of the social fabric in a community. Healthy understanding and integration of communities builds a strong nation eventually!