The Mind Arise Network

08/04/2022

29/08/2016

That belief that you can only do and succeed in one thing is only true about you to the degree to which you believe it. We have all been programmed to "focus" on one thing, one area, one profession, one career etc; so if you are a doctor the society expects you to only attend to patients, if you are a scientist, you must be in the classroom or laboratory.

The multi-dimensional nature of man debunks this man-made belief. The complexity of the human brain (mind) gives it enormois capacity to learn many things, acquire several skills and excel in them all.

So who says you can not be a software designer if you are a biomedical scientist, or a business consultant if you are a medical doctor, or a fashion designer if you are a nurse, or a successful entrepreneur regardless of what academic certificate you hold?

Re-think your life, there is absolutely nothing you cannot learn, master and excel in...if you choose to!

09/08/2016

You need to stop defining your success by what you have and start defining it by what you have done. You have been successful after you made that call, wrote that application letter, set up that business, read that book, made that trip, enrolled on that program, changed that habit, learned that new skill. You have been successful after you have done what you set out to do regardless of what others have done!

That means, if you set out to read an inspiring book and you did, you have been no less successful than the person who set out to buy a car and who did. The success is in the materialization of the intention, not in the size, value, or societal glamour in it.

Therefore success must be personal, not general or societal.

When you define success this way it is powerfully liberating. First, it frees you from the feeling that you are not successful. Second, you can then rejoice with all men who have succeeded at whatever they set out to do knowing that you are no less successful.

Free yourself from the shackles of success imposed upon you by the society, your friends, your parents, your pastor, your spouse and/yourself. When society sees a nice car, a beautiful house, a good job, all the big 'haves', it is defined as success, but you do not have to live by that definition.

Set realistic 'to dos' for yourself every day, month or year and when you do them congratulate yourself for being successful. As you move on this way, you will experience incremental capacity to move on to bigger successes.

Have a successful day!

30/07/2016

We are trying to undertake a project geared towards improving teaching, study and assessment; so there are posers to which we would like you to freely answer or comment on or discuss. Your comments, answers or discussion would be highly appreciated.

1. As a student in general (and as a medical or para-medical science student in particular), what is the greatest challenge you have in your studies? For example is it the way lecture is delivered, the personality or style of the lecturer, the complexity of the subject, lack of practicals, lack of lecture notes or textbooks, the teaching environment, lack of motvation produced by perceived poor job prospects etc etc? It may be none of these examples, kindly identify yours.

2. What is that thing, that factor, that you could say if you have it you will ABSOLUTELY excel in your studies? It may be more than one.

3. How do you think technology can help your study? Now you don't have to know which technology exists or if it is even possible. For instance, it might be something as funny as saying a flash drive that contains all textbooks plugged into my brain. Just think and come up with anything REGARDLESS of how funny or unreasonable it is.

Please freely express your thoughts.
Thank you.

12/01/2016

WHY YOU ARE NOT DOING WELL IN PHYSIOLOGY (AND OTHER LIFE SCIENCES) AND HOW TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES IN 2016

Several studies have examined the reasons why Physiology, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Medical laboratory Science, Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacology, and other Life Science courses appear difficult for students to learn. The results are simple. The solutions even appear simpler.

3 bases for poor performance:

1. The nature of the subject: Physiology and Life sciences are high volume subjects
2. The nature of the student: Motivation, career destination, previous knowledge
3. The nature of the teaching: The facts vendor or the teacher that helps students to learn

Unfortunately you can only control factor 2; factors 1 and 3 are outside the immediate control of the student. Fortunately however, studies have shown that the major contributing factors are 1 and 2, and that if factor 2 is properly adjusted, other factors then fall into place to make the student successful.

3 bases for good performance

1. Accept that Physiology and other Life Sciences are deep and wide and require the knowledge of how (causality) AND inter-relationships between systems, concepts, topics and phenomena. ALWAYS look for the how and model of inter-relationships.
2. Accept that if you study well and perform well, your excellence would be rewarded now and in future with a great career; Physiology related or Physiology unrelated. Do not worry about the future out there, the future is the present that you are going through. Be motivated to do well.
3. Wisely understand what your INDIVIDUAL course instructor wants. And give him/her. How do you know what your instructor wants? Simple: ask! Ask him/her what he would expect you to know and how to answer his/her examination questions. From Experience, the great majority of teachers are just satisfied that you give them whatever they have given you in class as lectures or lecture notes (Given). A few may want you to demonstrate ability to synthesize knowledge and knowledge of extra details not given in class (Ungiven).

So what should you do? Read FROM THE GIVEN TO THE UNGIVEN. Master (read and understand, don’t just memorize facts!) the materials or lectures given you FIRST AND FOREMOST, then expand on them. And when you answer test or examination questions, give the given first, you may then add the ungiven.

3 practical strategies

1. Read in short bursts of time REGULARLY. 30 minutes-1hour daily. Find time between lectures.
2. Find the big picture (overview) of what you are reading, reproduce a draft of the material and its summary and ACTIVELY memorize.
3. Practice recollection OFTEN. Use a discussion group, test yourself, get a friend to test you, attempt past questions, teach a friend, attempt review questions in your textbooks or lecture notes etc.
If you follow these, you will have an outstanding 2016.

Ayodele Oyadeyi

You can leave comments, questions and suggestions

The platform for emerging minds who are radically pushing the boundaries of age, gender, geography and social class to live one purposeful, fulfilled life!

28/12/2015

Hello students, colleagues, friends, visitors and well wishers on this page,

In the last few months I have pondered on what to do about this page; having left the position that made me create and use this platform as a medium of unofficial communication. (In one of my posts, I had explained my dilemma and how it came about). I had announced some months back that I was going to close and summarily end the page, but ironically the number of "likes" kept increasing. I have just being uncomfortable with a page that has over 500 active and passive "subscribers", and where posts have at times been seen by over 800 people.

In recent times I have seen, with huge concern, the confusion, the lack of clarity, the lack of information, the lack of motivation, the lack of a passion to excel, the hopelessness, the dejection, the sense of uselessness, and the seeming endlessness of it all, among students and graduates of Physiology in particular, Basic Medical Sciences and youths in general.

I have been inundated with many questions, pleas and requests.

There is a need for some of us who have navigated the road successfully to give back to the system. There is a need to give direction, clarity, purpose, understanding, encouragement, hope and belief to those coming after us. it is now my view that the end of an office does not have to be the end of altruistic service to the academic community, and to the next generation of students, professionals and younger minds.

I am not an old person. I am young in body and soul. And I firmly belong to this generation next. However, some of us have been privileged to have known, seen, done, and experienced things, people and places that have shaped our lives positively. Providence has also given us the power to communicate, to craft words and nuances to deliver powerful messages. It is now our responsibility, indeed a sacred duty to bring all of these together to midwife a generation.

There are so many things you can do, so many places you can get to, and so many routes you can take to get there.

If only you knew, if only you had the right information, if only you were properly advised, if only you were mentored, if only you were encouraged, if only you were coached, if only you had the right connection, if only...

To this end, this page has undergone a metamorphosis into a discussion platform, an idea-exchange hub, a coaching centre, a mentorship avenue, an information street, an opportunities avenue, a classroom, a vision-sharpening lane, and much more.

The purpose is a more successful you! The motivation is a need to give back to the society. The target picture is a borderless association of young minds who are pushing the boundaries and limits of success in whatever and wherever they are.

Please share this on your facebook wall, and encourage interested people to like the page.

We shall take off first week in January with the amazing stories of young people who passed through our department and others who did not, and who are doing absolutely inspiring things with their lives regardless of discipline, age or class of degree.

Yes we can. Get fired up.
And let's do it!

13/08/2015

I, Ayodele Oyadeyi, am happy to announce to you that I formally hand over headship of the department to Dr Ajayi A.F tomorrow 14th August, 2015.He and the department have my best wishes as always.
And this notice marks the official end of this page. Thank you all.

02/08/2015

Good day all.
I write this as Ayodele Oyadeyi, not as the Head of department, Physiology, as I formally hand over headship tomorrow Monday, 2nd August.

I must thank you all for your support, understanding, belief and most importantly your cooperation in the past 2 years. We could not have done anything without your active cooperation.

Importantly and unfortunately, I must inform you that this Facebook platform will have to close. You may not be able to receive information and updates here from this week. When this page was opened, I made an inadvertent error of opening it as a page of mine, not as a separate Facebook user entity. Old-school me did not know till few days ago. Therefore it would be impossible for the new Head of department, if he or she wishes to continue with the page, to have access without my permission or without going through my personal Facebook account. You will all agree this is inappropriate to say the least.

I apologize for the inconveniences. However, it is my belief that the new administration will open a new, independent page to facilitate rapid communication and feedback.

Once again, I thank you all, it has been a pleasure being the chief servant of the department, please accept the assurances of my highest esteem and best wishes.

Ayodele Oyadeyi.

11/12/2014

At a recent departmental meeting, it was noted that:
1. Some courses were not taught to the details specified in the course content while some (e.g the "advanced" prefixed courses of 500 level) were taught off track completely.
2. Many instructors came to class once, twice or three times to "finish" a whole course regardless of the volume or units attached to such courses. And some instructors would keep students waiting for 1 hour before they finally call off the lecture.
3. Students are often called upon to do menial duties such as fetching water, cleaning offices etc, sometimes they are called from their hostels, and at odd times such as weekends, and kept around the department, under questionable reasons, for hours!
4. Students, generally do not complain about poor lectures, harrassment, or other anomalies either because they are afraid of victimization or they also do not like to be engaged with serious academic work
5. "Carry over" or "spill over" students do not attend lectures, and they expect what they call "waiver" or that they will be passed one way or another regardless of their performances.

Recognizing that students are the focus of our employment, and the need to prioritize qualitative training for them in a free and fair environment, we decided that:

1. An internal, self-assessment of teaching is necessary. We have developed a mechanism for this. In addition, a curriculum review exercise is in progress.
2. Students should be encouraged to speak up about any perceived or real injustice, unfairness, inadequate or poor teaching, etc. E-mails can be sent to: [email protected]
3. The position of the department is that there is nothing called "waiver"; all courses registered for must be passed, and the same standards of attendance and grades that apply to regular students will apply to "carry over" or "spill over" students.

The above is for your information and guidance.

11/12/2014

Lectures start Monday 15th December, 2014, NOT January 2015
Let's go there!

11/12/2014

Prions are proteins that misfold and trigger their neighbors to do the same, a process that has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's. Once the proteins start misfolding and clumping together, scientists believed there was nothing the cell could do to reverse the process. A new study in the journal eLife contradicts this finding. Scientists at the University of Arizona exposed yeast cells with prions (pictured: left) to a temperature of 104F, which activated a heat stress response. This response lead to the prions changing back into their normally folded form (pictured: right, red). If this protein refolding can be induced in human cells, it may be useful to pursue as potential treatments for neurodegenerative disease and artificially induce this stress response.

Read more: bit.ly/12uDCUR
Journal article: Spatial quality control bypasses cell-based limitations on proteostasis to promote prion curing. eLife, 2014. doi: 10.7554/eLife.04288
Image credit: Serio laboratory/ University of Arizona molecular and cellular biology