Cum Laude

Today’s article is dedicated to all students that are believers at all levels in life. Be it elementary school, high school, certificate, diploma, undergrad, masters, PhD, etc. There’s a tendency—a bad tendency—that I have observed in my academic journey. It always boggled my mind: why did the believers in most classes perform poorly?

In high school, the most spiritually loud boys tended to perform below average. There were other believers, but because of their low volume, they were not considered passionate about God’s agenda, though they were, subtly.

Automatically, all eyes were on those who read the Bible all the time, prayed during break time and lunch time, fasted almost every day of the week … and though these things aren’t bad, I found myself caught in the middle. My faith-mates were ‘ashaming’ the Almighty God that we served. What happened to ‘heads and not tails!’

We were mocked. That we were tails instead of heads. I was disappointed. It was like someone hating an entire ethnicity of people because of what one person from that ethnicity did. In random conversations, I was muted whenever we were thrown in one whole basket …

“You christian boys over pray and yet perform poor academically…”

Sadly, I never topped my class at any one time, even if I’d be among the top ten. It was disheartening. Observing the top three in my stream—that happened to bear the creme de la creme— I didn’t like their lifestyle. They had the least friends, they were always on time, they were not stylish, they were always in the library, they were simply too serious! One of them was once shamed in front of the entire school. He’d been caught dodging assembly while reading in a latrine. A latrine! Ew!…

Even if I didn’t love their lifestyle, I didn’t roister at the fact that the loud believers were underperforming in class.

Personally, I took it personally … (pun intended)

I told God to change this narrative. I believed for the day He’d surely make me witness His power in the academia world of a believer, just like we’ve seen His power elsewhere.

* * *

Lilian is my big sister from another mother. I met her while she pursued her Masters degree in food science at the University of Pretoria late 2020.

We stayed close and prayed for different issues along the way.

Quickly, the two years elapsed. Her Masters degree wound up late last year. It was time for her to return to Uganda. That was the first trial. If I remember, Lily had taken a long time without coming home. And as she did the covid test on 4th December that qualified her to jump on the plane, it came out positive.

She cried, being told she wouldn’t be travelling.

“Nonsense.” I said “All authority was given to Christ. And Christ dwells in you. Decree what you want and it shall be. By faith, frame your world. Airports favor you. Everything favors your travelling home. You’ll come home.”

I want to spare you the rest of the conversations that bore scripture and ‘canceling’. We had a big family reunion coming up and it was going to be the first time I meet Lily face to face. She had to be home! She simply replied with an ‘amen’ to my text.

This was about 2pm. I as well had just come out an exam when she had texted on a family WhatsApp group. After my response, I returned to reading for the next.

Hours passed, and the following day came. On the chat, she had responded at about 12am. She was posting tearing emojis. Her text exclaimed, “GUYS, I AM COMING HOME!”

She uploaded a PDF of a document showing that she was negative.

I don’t remember if she hopped from hospital to hospital. Or if she convinced the same doctors to do the same check. All I know is, she was homebound.

In a few hours, she was on a speed train to the airport, and that’s how she left South Africa. That event was such a milestone. And we kept looking back at it when more challenges came up.

Fast forward … It was 8th April 2022. Lily put in a prayer request. Her Masters thesis had been submitted on time, but she hadn’t received any results yet. Graduation was due within a few weeks. She needed results to apply for her PhD. On 12th, her supervisor forwarded a provisional letter that she’d use to apply.

Ten days later, Lily returned with an update. Her salutation was the same premium tears like those from December 4th. Apparently, her thesis results were forwarded. Out of the three supervisors, one had given her an unreasonable mark. The other two gave her marks higher than 80.

This was because of a grudge that supervisor had. It was politically petty. The dean and faculty heads had to be involved. She requested for a remark. This only meant Lily wasn’t going to graduate this April.

The tribe retaliated. The biggest sibling said that if the enemy raises a flood, God would raise the standard. I only said no weapon formed against her would prosper. We prayed for the issue!

I reminded Lily, that the same God that got her on that plane will get her into that graduation tent. Wait. The tents work only in Uganda. Other countries have halls 😄.

Time took its usual cycle… bringing us June 30th. It was a very normal day but Lily came crying again. I was about to wonder what it was this time, but O it was good news. Indeed, the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much! This was her text;

“Guys 😭😭😭😭 here comes my testimony…. I am graduating Cum Laude…😎😭😭😭🙌🏻 still can’t believe it….The faculty took my best 2 marks and scrapped the 60% off!”

Yes! We all splashed confetti all around on her behalf. We blessed God in thanksgiving, but we waited for the brave soul that would acknowledge the elephant in the room…

The other PhD holding sibling asked “What is Cum Laude?”

Lily typed “— first class!”

We jubilated even the more … now that we understood the term. Her form stated ‘with Distinction’. I did extra research about that, and a statement said, ‘all distinctions are first classes, but not all first classes are distinctions.’ A distinction is where someone has 75%+ marks in all subjects. For a first class, someone can have some marks lower than 70% but above 60%.

This concretes the theory that Lily’s distinction was Cum Laude. When Lily’s CGPA is rounded off, it’d bring a fat 4.0, which was the highest, as her university uses the 4.0 scale and not the 5.0 one…

…and last Thursday, we had the privilege to watch Lily graduate with honors on YouTube while in SA.

She found an extra document in her report called the academic honorary colours. It is the excellent academic achievement award given to the most outstanding student. She didn’t see it coming! It is quite funny as she’d been given a coat of many colors by prophecy as well.

Lily is my prayer answered. On top of her hardworking, I saw God perform a miracle, where indeed, a believer can be the head and not the tail in academia! Lily is well on her way to acquire her PhD, and she’s only 26.

Did I mention that she was on a MasterCard scholarship? This was an answered prayer too. She’s studied for free since her bachelor’s at this University of Pretoria!

As I observed her life carefully, God opened my eyes to see how He was answering that prayer in my life too. I as well graduated with a distinction in my architecture diploma in 2017. Because it was in Uganda, where a diploma isn’t considered a powerful document by society, I didn’t entreat it the way I must have.

Mom only told me, “I want a bachelor’s…”

So in 2019, I embarked on that journey of the undergraduate. Of the five years, my diploma favored me a subtraction. My entry was second year instead of first, and it’s been well since then.

When the pandemic hit, university shut down. Our nature of institution has students from allover the country who couldn’t afford gadgets such as laptops to enable them carry on with online study. As I applied for university in 2014, I had hoped to have a degree straight away. Getting a two year diploma discouraged me. Now the pandemic was slowing down my progress, but God is He that quickens. He restores the years the cankerworm ate.

As I speak, I’ve caught up and are in year four. In year 3, semester 1 however, something preposterous happened. As I copied the exam time table, I placed a course unit in the afternoon yet it was scheduled for 9am. That day, I read to the maximum, having no idea that my colleagues were finishing the final exam of that semester.

I showed up at 2pm. It was odd! I was late and yet I couldn’t see any of my colleagues! Something was off! I couldn’t find them in any classroom. I called one. He was at a party…

“Arnold the exam is starting!” I shouted.

“What exam! The last was today’s morning!”

My phone fell through my hand! Everything was spinning. I’d remember all those voices that laughed at the believers who over prayed and yet underperformed in high school. An exam coordinator laughed at me. He mocked saying I have no friends.

“Couldn’t they call you seeing you’re not present!”

I couldn’t blame them. That morning was rather different. My classmates used two rooms and each of the occupants thought I was in the other room. I didn’t cry. But I was very depressed. ‘How could not anyone mention that the exam was in the morning? How could you have let me copy the wrong time God?’

One scripture do I recall weeping through. In my head, I said, “I wonder how this will work together for my good.”

I then walked the entire university praying, having no energy to return home, as I’d have been asked why I was back so early.

The results of that course unit returned last July. We had done some coursework in groups and weirdly, people from the same group had got the same exact mark. The students speculated that the lady didn’t mark the exam. My group mates had scored 70 each. God nudged me to check for my results online.

They were not reflecting.

This necessitated that I go to the exams office to crosscheck with the results officer. It was hard getting her, so I prepared to resit the exam. The day I had gone to borrow notes to start reading was when God fully nudged me to my discomfort to go check my results.

I gave in. This time round, the officer was present and so she checked with me. It took sometime finding the documents of that lecturer’s records.

I was sweating!

Do you know what it takes to show up in a room and demand for marks of a paper you didn’t sit!

Faith!

Lo, there my name was! My heart’s pump changed gears! The lady scrolled the list to the left as she sought my mark to the extreme right! My eyes were zooming in like an android’s only to find an…

“84%. You have an 84 for this exam!” The officer said.

WHAT IN THE—!😳🤔🙌

Okay, I know God does miracles, but this was way beyond what I was expecting. An A!!!! For missing! I was exploding with confetti inside, while the lady uploaded the mark. When I left the office, I was overwhelmed. I was confused! Very confused! Talk about Him doing exceedingly abundantly above what you can ask or think…!

I haven’t recovered yet. If I didn’t fear God before, I fear Him do now!

The last testimony I’d like to share is in regards to academic finances. On 5th September, I was starting my exams. I had only half of my tuition in cash. I prayed so much that I know God would not have failed to provide! It had never happened before in history—I sitting exams without tuition clearing.

I was devastated. I know they always kick students out who haven’t cleared their dues. I felt like God had pushed me to the limits. For day one’s exam, I rushed through the exam as quickly as I could so that if I was told to get out, I’d be 90 % through with the exam.

In came a well-suited man checking for school fees defaulters. You’d hear careful whispers that haunted… I rushed to add more answers. The man checked for payment slips and I do not know what happened when he reached me.

He checked those behind me and then skipped me and went on out!

I was awestruck! God winked at me from across the room.

This happened again. I was seated in between two colleagues. Another examinee came and checked both their slips but didn’t bother asking mine!

God winked again!

Yesterday, during my final theory exam, a lady checked this aspect vigorously. I remembered what God had done the other days. The lady checked up to five students and got tired. She never reached me.

In all this, God was showing me His other side of Him. Just like He says ‘come buy without money’, He proved that I’d do exams without ‘money’. But I was still sour. It was too much risk. Yet I did every exam.

Does that mean I’ll always default? No! It was God’s doing this time, for me to learn that His ways are higher than mine. He told me my prayer was that I completed tuition before exams. His strategy and answer was that I complete the exams even without the tuition!

O the things He won’t do for you! He’s proven Himself in my academics. He will in yours too… And He will prove Himself in every other area of your life in ways you never knew. In your finances, in your relationships, in your career and in your life. He’ll make you a head! He’ll do this by such awesome deeds as I have described!

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1 Chronicles 16:8-9 Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!