Survival of the Fittest

One of my MBA students used to say this to me, 'Generally the students of the class think you give low marks. I think it is just because your standards are high.'

Well, that is my opening paragraph. By the time you finished reading it, I am sure that some of you have started to wonder whether you have made the right choice entering my class or not. If you believe in working hard, I assure you that you have. As a person, I believe it is not right to award impressive grades at the expense of quality. On the other hand, if the impressive grade is well deserved, there is no reason why I should not award it. When you begin your working journey, competitions will be very high and second chances are scarce. In order to succeed, you have to prove yourself. You have to create positive perceptions on yourself. You have to be strong and manage your time well. The most crucial thing is that you have to believe in yourself. Your experience in the university should help you to prepare for those times. Survival of the fittest, some people say. (The phrase 'survival of the fittest' means 'only the fittest organisms will prevail' - a view sometimes derided as Social Darwinism)

However I am not looking for perfection. What I am looking for are efforts in trying to be perfect. And I am looking at improvements. At the end of the day, I do not mind if my name kind of slipped your mind. But I hope you will remember some of the knowledge we shared, and pass it on...

P/s: Just so you know, that particular student got a very low mark for his mid-term exam, but he scored an A for his final grade. It is up to us to achieve the impossible. It has been said in the Noble Qur’an: ‘Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.’ [Ar-Ra`d: Verse 11].

“So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.” Christopher Reeve (Superman)

Is Your 'A' Worth It?

Over the years, I am often amazed on how students value their CGPAs more than the lessons they actually learn in class. Everyone wants to score an A. But an A means nothing when you cannot even apply some of the things that you learn in life or at work. Many students would study hard for exams by memorizing information. And so, most students actually managed to get good grades at the end of the semester. But I want you to answer this question...is your 'A' really worth it? Do you value the things that you have learned? Does the knowledge you gained after all these years somehow make you a better person? Or are you just like SpongeBob? Have you seen SpongeBob taking a shower? He actually ate a bar of soap and his body then expanded until it actually exploded. After that he was clean. That is what students normally do. They memorize the information in the texts and then they explode during the exams. They pour everything that they memorize on the answer scripts regardless of whether the information is relevant or not. But come next semester, they will forget almost everything. So what is the point of you spending hours after hours studying when the knowledge never benefit your future? I am not saying that 'A' is bad. But remember, all the 'A's on your transcripts should reflect who you are. The 'A's are not just for show. They spell a certain level of quality.