How to get a 4.00 CGPA (Part 1)

Finally, after 3.5 years I achieved what I sought out to achieve during my first year in IIUM. My mentor asked me what my goal in terms of GPA was and I said without thinking too much 4.00. He told me to be realistic and I told him that I will prove him wrong (paveolitely, I hope :D) 

FYI: that lecturer became one of my favourite lecturer and mentor hokay...

Anyway, back to why I am writing this post. Someone, an acquaintance asked me how I did it.. To be frank, I seriously do not know any answer to that. People think I have some sort of trade secret in the education department. 

So i told hubby what this person requested for. And i said what do i say? He replied, don't say don't have anything... blah blah blah don't give him the crap that you don't have any tips. so i replied something I hope will help him. 

But tonight, I am thinking really hard in terms of advising my juniors and future juniors in taking charge of your education in your own hands. here comes the hard stuff:

1) You fail, fail, fail and fail.

Rule number one. A genius is never born a genius. No matter how the nurture-nature debate keeps on fighting for whose is more influential than the other, I am gonna side the nurture part on this. 

I have so many times, I lost count and people don't even know it. In primary school, I was almost always the last in class. When I moved to Malaysia, I was the last in my class to learn to read the quran and not even properly. Then, I moved to a new school, had to retake an entire year and failed a few subjects along the way. 

I was born an average, or maybe below an average and I still am. 

I failed and failed and failed until I hid rock-bottom and refused to take another failure in my life. That's when I decided to become better. 

2) Share with others

Once I decided what I wanted, I wanted to prove myself and achieve all the As I can grab, I began teaching others. It started in SMA Kota Tinggi, one of the longest high school I have been in (approximately 3 years). I would go to the blackboard and start teaching the only form five class in the entire student body. I will teach all subjects and my classmates would listen. When teachers cant attend and teach, I would be the replacement and I didn't mind it at all.

'Jangan lokek ilmu'.

3) Pray with your heart

There really wasn't anything special that I did. I couldn't tell you something extraordinary like praying tahajjud every single night or reading some sort of surah to help me become who I am.. I didnt have any of it. I am sorry to disappoint. But one thing that I did, every time (mostly) in the final sujud of each prayer I'd chant the same thing to Allah s.w.t 

'Ya Allah, berikan lah aku kepandaian yang tidak dimiliki orang lain dan biarlah aku senang faham dan hafal apa yang aku pelajari..'

It did become a habit. 

My other habit you should know is I read Surah Waqiah once a day. 

The truth is, I try to be close to Allah. Sometimes I did, most times I didn't. Sometimes there was a high, sometimes it was too low and sucks the spirit out of me. During those times, I would skip the above mentioned tips.

4) Be consistent 

Screw this. In my final semester, I wasn't THAT consistent. I had lots on my plate. 

Go to work.

Go to sleep.

Classes and daily discussions.

Job interviews.

House hunting.

Programs.

Research Project.

Rest.

Repeat.

Plus, with the new kulliyah structure, focusing more on written assessments rather than midterms and quizzes,  I thought I was screwed. 

But, being consistent with your study revision and assignments actually helps MOST of the time. 

Have a study schedule, stick to it, stop procrastinating and delay delay gratification! 

5) Know yourself.

Can you study while listening to rock/pop?

Can you sleep in class while processing info in class?

Can you simplify what you learnt and explain it to a 4 year old?

Yes, yes, and yes.

I actually loveee studying while listening to my favourite songs. Some people cannot. I actually do sleep in class during my high school years. One time I was sleeping in class (probably, drooling) my ustadz woke one of my friends up but then he said 'maryam takpe, the rest of us ... come on ..'

He actually gave me a pass and I slept during his class.  Funny! 

The point is, you should know things about yourself. Go out and experiment. Know which study technique that enables you to get good grades that you desire.

Some people need to draw, others need to talk about what they learnt. Some may need to write long notes and short notes and mindmaps. Usually, I buat notes but since I dont have time I just do a simple mindmap so I can reflect on the BIG picture and then connect the dots.

I also read a lot... I read mindlessly sometimes while sometimes I tend to focus real hard on the words. 

And I DONT. I repeat I DONT READ or study late at night or before exams. I dont and it's never been my style. 

So, establish your style of learning that works the best for you and work from there. 

Here are some tips I can think of now. Watch out for Part 2 when I add something I could have missed here. 

:)