Alfanla Muhammad-Nasir Taiye, apart from graduating as the first Best student from the Department of Physiotherapy and the Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, has a broad and refreshing outlook on life in general.
By Kolo Dorathy.
Alfanla Muhammad-Nasir Taiye from Ilorin, Kwara state is a recent graduate of the Department of Physiotherapy, University of Ilorin. He is the pioneer best-graduating student of the faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences and the only graduate with distinction from the faculty for the 2022/2023 academic session.
During an interview with a pressman, he recalled how he has been the best in his department since his first year in the university “I have always topped my class right from my first year. And I just recently got to know that I am the only student graduating with a distinction in the class. Also, because the faculty and the departments in it are quite new, only the Physiotherapy Department of the faculty has a graduating class for this year, so that sums it up.”
Responding to the question on how was able to achieve the meritorious accomplishment, Muhammad-Nasir appreciated the grace that came his way as he said was not the one who studied the hardest, not the most intelligent or some kind of genius “It was just a combination of Grace, Effort, Dedication, Patience and Perseverance.” He said.
“I would also add that I wasn’t really set on becoming the best-graduating student of the department or even the faculty. The reason why I had studied hard in my first year was because I hoped to switch from Physiotherapy to Medicine after my first year. It was after my first year that I got to know that I could not make a transition from one professional course to another. Becoming the class scholar after my first year and even the more competitive second year was what reshaped my mindset and propelled me to go even harder. Everything became easier and more natural as time passed.” He added.
The physiotherapist, despite being a huge believer in learning from other people’s experiences, explained how he was able to stand out academically despite being from the first set of students in the department who had neither predecessors nor past questions “During my preclinical years, when we studied Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, I studied the past questions as much as possible and I also relied on orientations from my predecessors. Things changed when I progressed into Clinicals, my class is the pioneer class and we had no idea of how the clinical questions would be set. So, it made it even more important to read wholesomely, and by that I mean I studied the lecture materials extensively and understood them deeply.” He also said, “I’m not a fan of studying beyond the lecture materials because I don’t think any lecturer would ask questions beyond the scope of what has been taught. I would also say I attended classes and studied the lecturer’s style of teaching really well, that kind of gave me a sense of direction. But I still studied wholesomely and didn’t leave anything to chance or pure luck.”
However, Muhammad-Nasir’s extraordinary success wasn’t without obstacles as he recounted some of his challenges such as how people always expect him to be outstanding and other things. He said, “My biggest challenge was coping with and managing other people’s expectations of me. From the moment I became a class scholar, I became aware that people began to see me differently and think of me in a certain kind of way. As the pioneer set, much was already expected of us and as the class scholar, it was natural for the lecturers to have high expectations of me and sometimes, I can actually sense when they think I have performed below the expectations they have of me.”
“I managed all that by reminding myself that I am human. I am also a great believer in my efforts. I am very straightforward with myself and other people, I am also not ashamed of admitting that I don’t know something when I don’t.
As a devout Muslim, I don’t believe anybody should be hyper-fixated on becoming the best by all means and at all costs. Because when you do that, you begin to lose sight of the more important things and might actually end up not becoming the best.
So, I just focused on putting in my absolute best.” He emphasized.
Revealing his motivations, the scholar noted that success is addictive because his mindset made him stuck to working tireless to keep the remarkable streak “There were other perks to it, like the respect and recognition I got from my peers and lecturers and the prize money the school pays to scholars but it was majorly because of the fact that success is addictive.
Once you become known for excellence, it only makes sense to hold unto it.”
Speaking of extra-curricular activities, the best-graduating student noted that he spent his first 2 years of studentship memorizing the Qur’an, then proceeded to be the pioneer chairman of the departmental Health team in March 2022, which paved the way towards the structuring of the departmental student body and made everything else fell into place. He was also involved in the activities of the National Association of Physiotherapy Students (NAPS), before becoming the Editor-in-Chief of the editorial board of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) in the College of Health Sciences in his final year.
While responding to questions on striking a balance between academics and extracurricular activities, Muhammad-Nasir shared his strategies, one of which is doing a little of everything every day without losing sight of the more important things.
“I made sure that I got my priorities straight. For the most part of a semester, I would study for 4 hours every day and would spend the rest of the day attending lectures and clinicals and participating in extracurricular activities. But close to and during exams, I typically would reduce the time spent on extracurriculars and focus solely on my academics -which is my primary assignment by the way.” He discussed.
“I also made sure that I always compensated for the times I wasn’t able to study for as long as I should.
It’s also key to realize that one does not have to be involved in every single thing. I have severally declined some responsibilities so that I can focus on what matters the most.” He added.
The best-graduating student also contributed to the mentorship of his juniors by making himself approachable and available to everyone and helping them by giving orientations at the beginning of every session, focusing on the class scholars and encouraging them to increase their efforts.
Talking about his success, he defined success as being content and happy with the results of whatever you’re doing. “Success is beyond material things,” he said. He further appreciated the impacts his parents and siblings made towards his reverberating attainment through their encouragement and absence of pressure on him.
While advising the entire undergraduate students, he emphasised holding tight to God as a pivotal means of attaining success. He also urged them to know themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, and not to allow many activities to take up their time, especially if they are the type who struggles with multitasking.
“It is also very important to have the right mindset and remain consistent. Show up every day, and you can increase the time you spend studying over time. It is very key to limit your decision fatigue so you don’t end up procrastinating.”
“Decide beforehand when, where and what to study. Be very disciplined and diligent. Make no excuses for yourself. Work smartly, move with the right people, attend classes, interact with your peers and everything will be fine.” He admonished.
In his parting words, he expressed his keen interest in Public Health and his intention to pursue it as his post-graduate goals. He also shared his vision to impact society positively, as he has a bucket list of visions to bring to reality.