As I defined in The Academic god, hard work simply means working hard; while diligence is working hard in the right direction. The major difference between the two ‘synonyms’ is the direction factor which hard work might lack.
Every student goes to class. Most students have class notes. Several students have textbooks and other relevant materials for their courses. Many students go to tutorials. Most students have photocopies of past questions (PQ). No student never reads at all throughout the semester. All students prepare for their exams one way or the other. All students go to the examination hall hoping to do well, somehow. All students hope to see a nice pass when the results are released. But not all students pass, several fail. So the question is why do all students sow but not all reap?
It is simply because most students are hard working, and only a few are diligent.
Diligence is sensible perspiration. It is optimum dissipation of energy with cerebral application. Diligence is working smart; hard work is working hard. That is why the results are never a true reflection of who worked hardest! The As are not given to those who read most; the Fs are not given to those who read least.
Round 1- Direction
The first thing that differentiates a diligent student from a hard working one is vision. Vision serves as a guide to those who have it, bringing about a sense of direction. Hard working students concentrate more on their ability than how they apply their ability. They put in all their energy, particularly aiming at nothing; and that is what they get at the end of the day. But when a hard working student adds to his hard work, vision, he shoots high to the sky.
I was once so upset with a classmate when I found out she really never had clearly defined goals. My sermon on this fell on deaf ears. Pity, she said it was like counting one’s chick before they hatch. It pained me particularly because I knew how much she was putting into her academics. We read in the place in the nights in part 3 and she never closed her books before me. I understand she was using me as a source of inspiration on the stage, but she refused to do what I was doing back stage. She would stay in the colds of the night, reading hard, but aiming at nothing. To say the least, her hard work did not improve her performance considerably as much as it would have if she had a target.
It is so good to have academically better students as your mentors. But what you have to learn from them transcends where they read, how long they read, when they read, how they read and all worth not. What you need to know are the fundamental principles they use which you would adopt to suit your personality and nature. Success is personal, same pattern might not work for you! That is why you are a protégé, not a clone.
Round 2- Individuality
Deji Omitogun graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University with a First Class in Management & Accounting. He was also a chartered accountant well before he graduated. But while we were roommates in Part 1, Deji was consistently in bed by 10.00pm, when I was probably just getting ready to go and do my study till the early hours of the next day.
Diligence is defining yourself and working the best way that suits you. “Suits you” does not necessarily mean convenience; it means the best way you work by nature. Thomas Edison could work on for days taking only occasional naps on his office sofa but Albert Einstein would work best after nine solid hours of sleep. A diligent student works most when he works best. He has taken time to discover his best time to read, his best place to read, his best way to read and he sticks to it. A diligent student is not found amidst an ‘undefined’ crowd, he is an individual.
Some students trace their class-bests to the reading rooms, probably to simulate them- hard work! For some, rather than concentrate on the lecturer in the class, they keep watch on the class-bests to see if their secret is in how they listen in class- hard work! Some still, without an obvious need, collect the notes of the class-bests to see if that’s where the mystery lies. Again, that is vain hard work! These steps might give up some tips though, but what is a spoon of sand from the seashore. Diligence is sitting down the class-bests and asking them, “How do you do it?” From whatever they say, you can point out some fundamentals which you can now personalize. You make those fundamentals the bedrock upon which you build, you own way. This does not leave room for laziness as diligence is by standard, thorough, in fact, very thorough.
Round 3- The Mirror Check
On the average every lady has a mirror, at least, in her room. “Why”, an average guy wonders? Ladies generally, do a self-check before leaving the home and as occasion permits outside, a re-check might just be a much-needed miracle. These checks help a lady to assess her dressing and more importantly, her make-up. She needs to see if the eye-liner is perfectly curved. She needs to be sure the powder is evenly lavished on her face. She’s got to ascertain the mascara is at its best. She has to verify the lip stick is just fine. She has to be certain her hair is still gorgeous, and so on.
These checks enable the lady to do the proper adjustments and if time permits, she will ensure everything is perfect before she leaves home. This helps the lady to walk head-up she is when she goes out. Such a lady will ignore every condescending look or remark because she just checked the mirror. On the contrary, a lady who couldn’t check the mirror before leaving the home suspects every look and remark, however nice.
Hard working students just dress up; diligent students ensure they check the mirror after dressing up. A diligent student appraises what he has achieved after every reading session because that is what counts. But a hard working student is more concerned about how long he has spent reading and how far he has gone in the topics. A diligent student stops once in a while and asks himself, “What can I deduce from what I’ve been reading?” He browses past questions to fetch to fetch questions that bother on the topic he is studying. He sees himself as in the exam hall, plays the role of the examiner and scores himself in the most stringent manner. This helps him to see himself clearly as the examiner would have seen him. With this he can tell what to adjust, where and how. Failing many times time on your own during a self-check prevents you from failing in the hands of your examiner.
Round 4- Representation
One other thing that differentiates geniuses from average students is knowledge representation in the brain. Representation in the brain could be memorization or cramming. Cramming is an attempt to commit something to memory without understanding it. A diligent student is too thorough to be a crammer; but a hard working student is too hasty not to. The thoroughness of a diligent student makes him go beyond reading to understanding and from understanding to memorization. Hard working students are always in a car race. What matters more to them is ‘how far’, not ‘how well’.
Memorization is often confused with cramming just as diligence is often confused with hard work. A crammer does not seek to understand what his book is saying, he just wants to have it ‘upstairs’. On the other hand, memorization is built on a proper understanding of the subject matter. Cramming is usually forced! It is utilizing the brain under duress. Memorization on the other hand, comes natural. It comes in place, having spent enough time to study again and again to the point of understanding.
A hard working student successfully crams the formula, but he cannot solve a problem with it in the exam hall because he does not even understand the formula. A diligent student however can solve all the problems because even if he forgets the formula, he can derive it.
Knowledge is not glued to the brain, it is stored in it. This is why the manner of storage (representation) is of high importance. Cramming makes the hard worker’s brain a jumble of data while memorization stores information in an orderly manner. Because forgetting is a natural phenomenon to both geniuses and dullards; remembering is easier for diligent students than for crammers. Or who will find a dress she bought last year faster: the lady with a neatly arranged wardrobe, or the one that heaps unfolded clothes haphazardly?
