A Successful Journey Marred With Unexpected Regressions

The innate aspiration of any Senior High School graduate is to gain admission into a tertiary institution, whilst others are fixated at a particular institution and program with unshakable zeal and conviction others just want to be in any institution and ready for any program ranging from medicine to dondology and enjoy the euphoria, the familial and the self fulfillment that come with it.

It's undebatable that a chunk of SHS graduates have a special crave for the health related institutions and programs, spanning from Health Records Management to Medicine due to the respect society bestow on health workers, the general and envious demeanor of the health workers and above all the exaggerated media propaganda that seek to portray that health workers have the best condition of service than other public servants, though this assertion is a total fallacy without any shred of truth.

The ecstasy start with the purchase of the admission form is followed by uneasy calmness of waiting for the interview list to be released, the sweet and hopeful nervousness is aggravated by periodic false information by rumor mongers which makes the few months look like years, then finally the list surfaces, the inertia is now directed on books and weird current affairs which is complicated with period ministerial reshuffle, the D-day (interview day) comes with it own conditions such as :diaphoresis, tachycardia, tremens, selective amnesia, illusions, delusion, and interview induced diarrhoea among others.

The admission induced "hypomania" continues to become worse after the interview whilst waiting for the list of qualified people fueled by intermittent information from family and friends that without protocol you are 90% not likely to get admission. All these are strongly climax with a powerful orgasmic feeling when the list is published with their name present.

REGRESSION GALORE

The pride, euphoria, and self agarandisement dramatically ends when one gets to campus within just one week. It was not surprising to me when during the middle of first semester 2014 a first year colleague confided in me that he wanted to quit due to the unbearable acclimatization related problems, frustration and depression.

1. In some schools you have to go and look for your own accommodation with its accompanied troubles and exorbitant charges from the landlords. Most schools with accommodation, the seniors become thin god to the freshmen and women and make their stay unbearable in the name of unsustainable crude culture.

2. Extra financial burden of having to pay unbudgeted dues and the frustration that comes with the alien registration process.

3. The most annoying part is the series of meeting organized by various groups who wants to announce their presence to the freshmen and women. This ranges from association right to department and management.

4. Some low self esteem individuals who with unrecognized positions would visit the classroom every morning to advise Freshmen and women so that their presence can be felt, it is nauseating as it also deepens the sense of regression.

5. CGPA brouhaha, this is where the depression of already traumatized Freshmen and women are unnecessarily exacerbated by senior colleagues and tutors alike, painting the false picture as if those who progressed to the next class are all genius. This is where I term it as a failure of social support system. The gloomy picture painted engulfs the spirit and soul of these innocent chaps and induce phobia among them, it goes ahead to create artificial lower self esteem.

THE WAY FORWARD

1. Authorities should construct more hostel facilities to accommodate students, private hostel developers should be spoken to to standardize the rent fees and same communicated to students if possible before their arrival to spur them the headache of suffering from the wrath of landlords.

2. All levies should be communicated to students before their arrival to ameliorate their financial hardship and help them to spend within their budget.

3. Associations, religious groups, SRC, departments, program heads, and management should help freshmen and women to integrate very well on campus instead of frustrating them with multiples of unnecessary meetings that has the tendency to fuel their depression.

4. Low self - esteem opportunistic individuals should be barred from propagating their self - selling agenda every morning in the classrooms of freshers to the detriment of the promising freshmen and women.

5. Management, tutors, SRC and senior colleagues alike should deliberately demystify the issue of CGPA to help Freshers to positively appreciate it very well rather unnecessarily threatening them with it and creating a monster out of just a simple thing. What one man can do another man can do and do it best. We owe it a responsibility to provide them with a robust social support system and establish a healthy intercourse with them and not unnecessary and unhealthy antagonism.

LONG LIVE HEALTH TUTORS

LONG LIVE STUDENTS

LONG LIVE OUR MOTHER LAND GHANA

SHAIBU ISSIFU

(OHSAG GENERAL SECRETARY)

COHK, KINTAMPO

0548437494

[email protected]