Best and Simplest Way to Survive as a Student in a College in Africa

Know how best and easiest it is to survive as a student in an African college. Learn the most practical tips to make money, budgeting, and improve your academic performance.

As the economy in African continent keeps fluctuating and causing inflation, it as well makes it hard for college student to survive. In Africa today, many countries have undergo protest just to see if the government will make it a bit simple for people living there to survive

Surviving in college may be the most difficult thing to ever imagine, especially within the African continent with limited resources. Thankfully, with the right strategies and mindset, one can make their college experience manageable and enjoyable. This guide offers students practical tips and insights on how to be triumphant in college in Africa.

Just stay calm and enjoy your reading as well as understanding some fact to survive and the real approach to follow. You have to:

Understanding the College Environment in Africa

Though, it is not all countries in Africa that is facing this challenges, African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, etc, have face a series of challenges, both form terrorist and as well the government, the government in Nigeria have been promising the students many thing, and yet, none has been done.

I am a students graduated in Nigerian college, I know what I passed through right from level 100 till 400, to learn a skill is so challenging. To be frank, nothing is simple in Nigeria. I always respect anyone that go through this same phase of life as a students and an independent person.

The African college environment differs greatly from nation to institution. Following are the common challenges and opportunities:

Challenges Faced by the African Student

There are a number of problems faced by the African student, which can impact on his studies. Let us break down those challenges to really simple terminologies:.

Financial Constraints

Tuition Fees: It is highly difficult to pay for college. The fees for attending classes can run very high, and not everyone gets scholarships or financial aid to help to pay for these classes. Some student because of hunger and other factors can make them use their school fees and hoping to replace it later. With this, a lot of students have been dropping out of college while some just stay without paying their tuition fee.

Accommodation: The college is located at a place where accommodation, both in terms of availability and cost, becomes very difficult to find. Many times, there is not enough space within the dorms, due to which students often seek other accommodation, which becomes burdensome. Sometimes, the school dorms is not conducive because of some smelling waste product and how they manage the environment. If a sickle cell person lives in this kind of environment, the person is expected to be visiting hospital often, the school hospital might not cure the person well based on the fact they want to maintain and save some money for their personal interest. It is so frustrating.

Daily Expenses: Added to the tuition and accommodation, students have to spend money on food, transportation, and other sundry items. All these expenses run into a lot of money and prove to be an expensive affair. Scarce Means. When I remember those days of my stay in the hostel, I always give God praise for sustaining me from sickness and diseases. I saw many things when I was in hostel, in my hostel then, they don’t allow cooking and to buy a plate of food was just for the able. What we do survive from was Garri, it was the only savior even now. Thanks to garri for saving my life then. It is not a joking things, it a hell.

Library facility: Most college libraries have insufficient books. Purchasing textbooks can also be very costly, thereby making the students unable to acquire materials needed for learning. I will not go deep in expressing what we undergo then via library. In my school, we had a very good library and a nice setup, but if you don’t eat, were is the strength to go to library and a lot of thing will stop you from going there. You have to sign many thing and the distance to the library, was not giving.

Internet provision: There is not always reliable internet provided that can enable students to do online homework or researches. Not all schools have good internet connection. My school was not a better environment to have a good network connection. We that stayed in the hostel face the worst part of poor connection and to do online assignments then, I have to be connected to iPhone because iPhone has a good bandwidth no matter the environment.

Learning Materials: Other important items such as scientific apparatus and study aids may be outmoded or in short supply, engendering learning. Someone like me that studied computer science, I have limited access to school systems. Most times, we don’t even used it to learn, even the technician was a problem to us, I believe you will understand how technicians were problems to us. Some don’t even know what they are doing. Let me not go far.

What we have up there is just about the school. If I should move to Peer or Social Pressures, If you don’t have money as a students, don’t lack knowledge. Even with your knowledge, try and find possible means to generate money for your self to avoid shege.

One of the best students in my school told me what the dumbest students in our set then said to him, I was a kind of smiling and crying at the same time. You know there are sometimes the people that knows how to read and write, in fact, people that has knowledge use to behave. They will not show you what they wrote so that they will still overwhelm the less knowledge privilege. Lolz. So, the guy told him that; “It is not who sabi book always make it in life”. Don’t mind the pidgin, I just want to be real and put it exactly as the person said. To make it brief, there are also some Peer challenges that every students face, like;

Family Expectations: A number of students do seem to suffer from immense pressure applied by their families to work hard at school and to take responsibility for their young brothers and sisters. But, I didn’t face this kind challenge, because I choose to go to school and no one expect anything from me. I sponsored my tuition and other bills with a little support from my mom, which I can never fail to pay back. We that doesn’t have Father, we only depend on God and our Mother prayers. I see this stage a lesson to me.

Social Life: Maintaining a social life and keeping up with academic work can be stressful. To be able to do both effectively is tiring. There are many challenges that students from Africa face which I won’t go further, like Academic Responsibilities, Lecture Frustration, Even lecturers, will threatened you with carry over or repeat.

Notwithstanding, the challenges, there are manifold opportunities for personal and academic growth for students, but lets go to the business of this article.

Best Ways of Making Money as a Student in Africa

One of the best ways to have financial stability while studying is to find means of earning some money. Here are some of the best and most straightforward ways:

1. Freelancing

The freelancing flexibility allows one to have a decent earning income. Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer—these are some of the places to begin.

Popular Freelance Jobs

Writing and Editing: Content creation, academic writing, and proofreading.
Graphic Design: Logos, poster, and digital art designs.
Tutoring: Provide additional academic support in your strong subjects.
Programming: Website, app, and software development for clients.
Social Media Management: Running social media accounts on behalf of business enterprises
Virtual Assistance: Administrative support rendered remotely.

2. Part-Time Jobs
Part-time jobs will give you a stable source of income and nice work experience. Get them on campus or off campus.

Common Part-Time Jobs

Retail: Stores or supermarkets.
Hospitality: Working in a cafe, restaurant or hotel.
Campus Jobs: Library assistant, research assistant and administrative jobs.
Laundry Services: Doing laundry and ironing for other students or faculty.
Event Staffing: Any kind of job during an event, like a wedding or a conference, or even parties.

3. Entailing Airdropping
Airdropping is when free cryptocurrency or tokens are received by recipients from various blockchain projects. In order to participate in airdrops, students may be asked to do the easiest tasks, like following a project on social media, joining their communities, or doing other simplest tasks for obtaining digital assets. Some popular airdrop Include Harmstar, Tapswap, notcoin, etc. Or you can check here for guide on blockchain

If can analyze the market structure, you can as well involve in crypto trading, and Forex trading to foot your bills while studying

4. Building Online Awareness and Turning it to Cash
Building an online presence pays off in multiple streams.

5. Building a Facebook Page and Turning it to Cash

Building a community: Open a Facebook page on a niche topic you’re enthusiastic about.
Monetization: Use Facebook’s monetization tools—In-Stream Ads and Fan Subscriptions—to enable revenue generation from your content as an influencer.

6. Content Creation

YouTuber: Make videos about the things you are into and monetize them using ads, sponsorships, and merchandise.
Instagrammer: Share engaging content and then partner with brands in sponsored posts.

7. Start a Personal Blog
Blogging is such a venture where one can share knowledge and experience while at the same time, or one can benefit from ad running, sponsored posts, or affiliate marketing.

Steps to Start Blogging

Choose a Niche: This means deciding on a topic in which one has passion and experience.
Setting Up Your Blog: There are free platforms which can be used, like WordPress and Blogger.
Quality Content: This is writing informative and engaging posts to get readers. Monetize: Use Google AdSense, ezioc or other ads publishers, and also affiliate marketing, and sponsored content for income generation.

8. Online Tasks
Engaging in online tasks would complement other sources of income.

Online Tasks Websites

Owodaily: This website gives one the opportunity to engage in tasks, like answering surveys, sharing on social media, and downloading apps in return for earning.
Swagbucks: Get rewards for videos, surveys, and online shopping.
Amazon Mechanical Turk: Do small tasks like data entry, transcribe, tag images, and get paid for them.

9. Budgeting and Financial Management
If you want to survive the college years, then you must manage your finances well.

Crafting a Budget: A smartly planned budget accounts for all your income and expenses, and keeps you within your means.

Budgeting Tips: Keep Track of Your Expenses: Observe where your money is going through applications or spreadsheets.

Prioritize Your Needs Over Your Wants: Your spending should focus on needs, especially tuition, rent, and food.

Save for a Rainy Day: Put away a certain percentage of your income for emergency purposes.

10. How to Take Advantage of Student Discounts
Many businesses will give students discounts on merchandise. These savings can be used on necessary items.

Finding Discounts: Public Transport: Lower fares for students.

Retail Stores: Discounts on clothings, books, and electronics.

Online Services: Discounts on software, streaming, and learning tool subscriptions.

It takes financial management, resourcefulness, and academic dedication to survive as a student in some college in Africa. From the opportunities availed to the listed practical tips, you can sail through your college years.

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