College Lessons from a Civil Engineer

by Edward "TNO" Chikhwenda

Those moments are still fresh in my head. Fresh as the fresh man I was back in January 2011. I arrived on 9th January, 2011, it was a Sunday. A cruise down the Chichiri hostels extension block seemed to be the beginning of the sudden realization that it was time for the long awaited transition. I was finally going to be called a college student. Just after being dropped off at the hostels, my stomach started feeling queasy at the mere remembrance of the fact that I forgot to take a spoon. What if there was more I forgot? Was I ready to face college? Was I ready for the University of Malawi?

Well, 7 years later, I made it! I thank God for letting me complete my studies at the University of Malawi as a student in structural civil engineering. I can’t lie that it has not been nerve wrecking experience especially with the academic fracas that surrounds the learning institution that is The Polytechnic. To make it through the University of Malawi as I did is a result of sheer grace and nothing more that I can boast of my own abilities. I would, however, love to share some of the principles that helped me and guided me through the strongholds of college which I believe would be useful for anyone that is ready to start college, continue with it or finalize their courses at their respective institution of higher learning.

To my beloved first year students, I would firstly like to say congratulations! To make it to college is no easy feat. It simply means that God has blessed the labor of your hands and hard work in secondary school has finally paid off. Having made it to this stage, you must realize that there is so much that you do not know about college. Do not let people look down on you, but then again, do not let your achievements thus far get to your head. The first thing that you need to acknowledge is that the race for you has just begun. A wise athlete will not start by sprinting in a marathon.
Make sure that you do not get radically involved in new behaviors when you just join college. The first semester of first year is the time to gauge how well you cope with the new environment and so my piece of advice to you is that you should be more of an observer than a participant. Failure to perform well in the first semester of college can be the worst blow to your confidence. You can always pick yourself up and pull up your socks when you do but it is much easier to gain momentum when you start right. Being a “law-abiding” citizen as much as it looks un-cool could be the best thing you could ever do in first year. Do not cower to the peer pressure at this stage especially since no one really cares what decisions you make now.

The fresh start is the best opportunity to set a good foundation for the rest of your college years. On that note, I would advise that you should at this stage have a goal of the person you want to turn out to be by the time you finish your course of study.  If there is one thing I learned in structural civil engineering is that every structural member is designed to meet the functional requirements of the specification. The type of foundation, type of columns, beams and slabs with their respective dimensions and reinforcement details are determined by the serviceability loads and ultimate limit states. This simply means that when the architect designs the aesthetic appearance of a proposed building, the civil engineer will have to determine the strength of the materials to be used in order to make sure the building becomes a reality. In simple terms the higher the building, the deeper the foundation and so on.

When you know the type of person you want to be when you finish, you will know exactly what to invest your time in as you begin your first year in college. The major challenge for college students and not only first years is procrastination.

Procrastination is probably one of the first terms you will learn in your first year of communication studies. In order to beat this beast, my advice to you as a college student is that you should have an organized thought pattern. Like many other problems we deal with on a daily basis, it all starts in the mind. If you want to be the best mentally organized student on campus, a notepad will have to be your best friend. Learn to journal almost anything new you learn or anything you plan to do. Make use of your smart gadgets to make to-do lists and set appointments on your calendars and set your alarms. Taking these things seriously will ensure that you become effective in almost everything you do at college.

To my beloved continuing students and final year students, it doesn’t get easier for you. Every year that you add at the university comes with new challenges. You have already been through the corridors of university so by now you should know the strings. I personally believe that the only way to successfully sustain what God has given you is to remain in God. I know several people claim to “make it” without God but a true sense of making it only comes from the realization of your purpose at College. I never ever dreamt of becoming a civil engineer. I wanted to study medicine instead, but when I was selected to study at Polytechnic after several trials, I realized why God had located me there. When you realize why you have been selected to pursue a particular course at college from God, you will find every ounce of strength he will provide you with to complete your course successfully. To those who are still searching, do not give up. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” – Acts 17:26-27 (KJV Holy Bible).

Edward Chikhwenda is a fresh Civil Engineering graduate from the Polytechnic. He is passionate about youth development and ministry. He ministers through Christian Rapp under the name TNO and has one album titles Crazy for God. 

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