‘Asusu Igbo’ is one of the toughest courses I’ve had to deal with in school. Learning my mother tongue came with a lot of deriding jokes — most of which were directed at my parents for failing in their responsibilities. Eventually, I couldn’t care less about the course. Learning a new language should be taught with kindness, especially to those who are genuinely interested. I’m not alone in the struggle, so I asked fellow students at Nnamdi Azikiwe University to talk about the toughest course they’ve dealt with.
Confidence – I had no background knowledge about the course
The toughest course I encountered was architecture. I had no background knowledge in technical drawing in my secondary school. This made it difficult for me to understand what it was about.
The lecturer also contributed to the problem. He would teach for only 30 minutes and send us off with an assignment. Sometimes, he came to class only to sign attendance and give us an assignment. At other times, he didn’t come to class at all, yet he gave assignments.
When the exams came, I wasn’t given enough time to write what I knew. I did poorly.
Kamso – I didn’t understand the course material
In my first year, I registered for a language course: Introduction to Linguistics. I didn’t find it challenging. However, it was said that each year, the number of carryover students for the course surpassed that of the freshers. The course was taught by the former HOD — the only one she ever handled for year 1 students, so you can understand the importance of an A, B, or at least a C. Funnily enough, the ALMIGHTY course had just one study material — a book she wrote.
The first semester came and passed, I couldn’t thank God enough for seeing me through. Then came the second semester and I was like: “I thought I was done with you and your poo-poo theory and Noam Chomsky.”
The second semester was rush hour, and this was something I wasn’t used to. When exams came, I thought I could make things work like the previous semester. I got a summary to make things easier as I read.
Two days before the exam, I still couldn’t comprehend the content of the summary. My mind was blank and couldn’t function. I practically prayed and cried myself to sleep. I told God that I couldn’t carry over the course. It was too much of a headache. Scoring D was more than enough. Thankfully it was an afternoon paper. The vibes to read came to my rescue on the eve of the exam. I wrote and made a C.
Rosemary – I had a weird lecturer
I took a course from the Accounting department in my second year. My first time in the class was horrible. The lecturer spent most of his time reciting the names on the attendance sheet and memorizing at least five female names, which he tried to recall after class, not minding the fact that he came an hour late.
Whenever he decided to teach, he would read out directly from his textbook filled with inaccurate figures.
Also, you dare not put an ink to change the wrong figures.
Finally, in the exam hall, we saw the unexpected. Even his colleagues were like: “Just pen down something.This question is for Masters.” Fortunately, I made a pass.
Vera – There was a lot of unnecessary stress
The toughest course I’ve encountered so far was in my second year. The course, ‘The Literature of the Neoclassical period’, was handled by two female lecturers. At first, the course was quite interesting. There was a lot of poems, the lecturers’ notes and history of the period. It was engaging and fascinating.
Every student who took the course was supposed to have an individual presentation. Unfortunately, I missed mine due to an emergency at home. For a moment there, I lost interest in the course.
We were given a second chance to present right after the examination. Boom, my zeal for the course got rekindled. But one thing I hated and didn’t find helpful was the stress this brought.
The lecturers hyped the course and kept on telling students to read all the recommended texts — get familiar with the lines, poets’ biographies and their relation to the Neoclassical Period. We were told to do more research. This meant a lot of sleepless nights. Also, I had colleagues that I was teaching. All hands were on deck.
Most of my course mates got so addicted to reading, thanks to this course. On the D-day, we weren’t afraid because we had a hint on what the exam would look like, considering the lecturers involved. The disheartening bit of the entire thing was that we were allocated inadequate time to write the ones we knew to our satisfaction. I answered two out of the three compulsory questions. The presentation didn’t hold, and that was how I had a D in the course.
