Use your time in campus to build worthwhile relationships

This week I was going through people’s WhatsApp status updates and one update really got me thinking. It was my classmate’s, and it read, “I wish all my friends good life and success. Otherwise, how will our kids get connections later in life? Be happy when your colleagues do well.”

That post brought me into self-talk and meditation of my values and what I really think of my colleagues; both on and off campus.

In high school, topping the class felt so good. Hearing one’s name mentioned in the dean’s list when exam results were being released really boosted one’s ego and self-image.

However, upon joining campus, somebody told me that that marked the end of academic competition and the start of building on one’s skills and making good connections.

That is my point, comrades. You see, you almost certainly need your college mates, especially your classmates in future, if not now. Now that you are in college or on campus, seek to help your colleagues in any noble way. Campus is not a place where you can afford to choose your friends on the basis of their class or performance.

One could be lacking something outwardly but so rich inside. That roommate that you shun could be seeing an opportunity that fits you, but since you are not even talking to them, or because you despise them blatantly, they also resort to keep quiet about it.

The classmate that you ignore could be having a super connection that could catapult you to where your mind can’t reach as at now.

Learn to talk to people. Be good to your classmates. Be interested in your friends. You never know where an opportunity could be lying in wait, for a knock.

Even the little act of helping your friend with a notebook, notes or even a pen could play a vital role in shaping your career path. We almost all tend to remember those who have been good to us, and should we be blessed in any way, they are among the first people we remember. 

And, do not limit your circle of friends to your fellow students only. Be good to your lecturers. As a matter of fact, we have good and friendly lecturers who can spare time to chat with you, on sensible matters.

Greet them when you find them in the corridors and on the stairs- wherever the place. I was listening to an interview on radio and the interviewee was saying that it was his lecturer who advised him to try out a certain writing competition. Upon trying, the guy emerged on the top.

With that came a job. A job which he could not have got that easily was it not for his good rapport with his lecturer.

Even if these relationships may not work out for you now or for you, they could help your relative in future.