Day +425 : A success without effort? (2)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

I always achieved the first few positions in the school exam throughout my study and successfully graduated with first class honour in electronic and computer engineering. Many people in the kampong including some of my family members think that I am a genius, but what they don’t know is the amount of effort that I put into learning. So my niece also has the mindset, “you are different, that is why you can make it.”

I told her how I studied C++ programming. When I was doing my industrial training as a requirement for my degree course, I got a C++ programming book and studied it line by line, word by word to make sure that I don't miss anything. I call this "carpet reading" - borrowing the term "carpet bombing(地毯式轰炸)" in war. In addition to this, I never failed trying a single programming example in the book. If I failed to understand any part of the book, I would ponder over them until I believed I had understood them thoroughly.

Apart from persistency in study, I was also very self-disciplined. I could sleep at 8:30pm and wake up at 4:00am to study when exam was approaching. When I heard the alarm ringing in the early morning, I would spring up from the bed without wasting a single second, and then wash my face with cool water to chase away the sleepiness. The quiet and cool morning was the perfect time to study :-)

Not many people are geniuses and you don’t have to be a genius to be successful. Hardworking and self-discipline should be the real key to success.

I hope my niece and many other students could understand this principle.

See you next post :-)