DESIDERATA

So as for you, the only reason why you are still alive because it is illegal to kill you! You give me the impression that, your absence in this life would affect not even a single thing. Why do you think that anything anyone does better is than yours? Yes you! You are the one I’m referring to. You saw your course mate vying for JCR presidency in Mensah Sarbah Hall and you thought contending for such positions was a thing for extremely intelligent people. Yes, of course leaders ought to be intelligent; but that is not my headache is. My problem is how you always belittle yourself and give others the chance to make you feel inferior.

When I was young, I used to think that anyone wearing glasses was a very intelligent person, who could in fact give you the solution to a mathematical equation on the spot. Today I know better. I know that, it is neither in strength, nor in age, appearance or wealth that true capacity always lies. Standing at a distance, you will always think you cannot do what others do. I preach this message to let you know that, looking down on yourself is a disgrace to your personality and makes you a liability to this world. Last week you lost a chance to do an exchange programme abroad just because you were so timid to stand up for the whole class to see you when the Head of Department came to mention your name in class. You got to know later about this and wept all day.

Sometimes we lose focus of our dreams just because of what someone says and we soon forget that certainly not everyone would like our dream. Well, I understand that you’ve made some efforts in the past to achieve a thing or two, but it failed because you lacked confidence. Marcus Garvey said: “Without confidence you lost the battle before you even started.”

You are in level 300; in case you’ve forgotten, let me remind you. And let me remind you also that you’ve never done any vacation attachment neither have you served on any board, nor joined any committee. You have been asked to lead group prayers at your church on several occasions but you declined with the reason that you did not think you had the skill to do it. Sometimes, I’m tempted to ask how you entered this university.

Sad is the day for any man when he becomes absolutely satisfied with the life he is living, when he knows that there is a lot to be achieved and that he has not utilized his potential. The Apostle Paul even after all the achievement he had attained said in Philippians that  he doesn’t consider himself to have gotten there, but one thing he does is that he press on towards the goal forgetting about the past. If you choose to continue this way you are telling the world that you belong to the temperament type: “I can’t do it” but I am here to give you a new a manner of life; “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

Emancipate yourself from the philosophy that holds you inferior to all manner of people. Never allow anyone to laud over. I urge you to be ambitious and let out your full potentials. Give yourself a new vision and don’t let it die! Someday, you will come to understand what Helen Keller meant when she said; “You people pity blind people, but I pity a man without a vision.”

As you journey through this university, always remember that you are not in competition with any student; you are neither inferior nor superior, you are simply you and that YOU is unique. All the best!!!

THE ADDICTION

What has been invented by a 23 year old former student of Harvard University? What has been able to amass over 30 million registered members? Where can you post free classifieds, give gifts, develop your own application or graffiti? What comes into mind when I say “write on the wall”? What is the second only to MySpace in terms of registered membership? OK. Obvious answer. FACEBOOK!

Facebook has become a toast of students today especially those of the Universities. What exactly has facebook done to keep attracting all closer and closer to its concept? What are the benefits it offers and what are its implications? Is it really addictive? For those of you facebook lovers this is a must read piece.

Facebook’s aim is to connect students all over the world. Originally, facebook was developed to connect students at Harvard who offered similar courses or had something in common. Today students in over 300,000 registered institutions can sign up to catch up with friends, family and acquaintances all over the world.

However, there remains a growing concern on how addictive facebook could actually be. In lecture halls, in rooms, at meetings or even on streets around campus, fingers are quickly scaling phones and laptops with simultaneously glued eyes. Once in a while, you will see a student burst out in thunderous laughter or mild giggle. At another time, when you are seriously trying to engage in rote learning (chew and pour), a roommate of yours makes a comment such as “ei girls are wicked” stimulating your anticipated curiosity.

What is the most intriguing thing about facebook? Is the excitement one feels when one meets a friend one has not met in ages or it is the ability to add celebrities, which you have always dreamed of as a friend? Could it be crazy pictures your friends always tag you in or maybe it is the hidden motive of meeting the girl or guy of your dreams online? For me, it is that paradoxical moment when a person makes a page-long statement and gets less than 20 comments but when someone writes “Aba!” and there are over a thousand comments wanting to know what happened. After studying trends, I have come to this conclusion: to meaningfully enjoy facebook, post the most captivating comments; not necessarily the longest ones.

On the positive side, facebook helps several people to constantly de-stress, reconnects long-lost friends and relatives and you can be sure to get the latest news by simply staying online the whole day. I personally know people who are dating people they met on facebook and some who have got job appointments online. So when it comes to the benefits facebook offers, we might probably never run out.

However, the obvious yet unnoticed effects are what may be of a bother to us. In the USA, for example, a female employee was sacked because her boss realized she spent most of her time facebooking instead of working. In Islamabad, the Islamic lawyers’ Union has called on ISPs to ban access to facebook because of a competition that invites other users to caricature the Prophet Mohammed, an act they deemed blasphemous.

Here at the Universities, students are spending more time facebooking than ever, which is very detrimental to their academic life. Consequently, we will see falling academic records and the resultant effect that could have on our economy. Costs involved are also worth noting. If you are not browsing for free, then you know what I am talking about. The amount of credit you would spend facebooking in a week could buy lunch. Try it and see. Also, after a hard day’s round of lectures, facebooking which is supposed to de-stress rather ends up robbing you of good rest and sleep which also takes its toll on your health. But thanks to regulated use of most of us, we do not often experience these negative effects.

It remains that facebook will continue to increase in numerical terms and even this inspirational article cannot stop that. The only advice for I have for you facebook lovers is that when facebooking, don’t forget to use it for something useful like grabbing (just kidding) and checking out the most useful literature to your course of study. And please don’t get addicted. I’m signing out!!