Reginald Emukpoeruo, a 17-year-old student of Whitesands School, Lekki, who overcame the technical glitches disappointment at the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), to score 363 after scoring 141in the first sitting, has revealed his success secrets.
Reginald told BusinessDay that one of the secrets to his success was strict adherence to his reading routine daily.
“I would wake up at 6 am and do my morning prayers. I’d be done with this at about 7 am, then I would read till about 9 am. After that, I would make breakfast and eat.
“At about 10 am, I would get back to reading. I’d read till about 1 pm, then I would take a break. I’d then go and pray again till about 1:30. After that, I’d take a break till about 2 pm, then continue reading till about 4 pm. At this time, it would be time for class at Teesas,” he explained.
Read also: Meet Samara Ejekam, 19-yr-old with 333 score in UTME resit
Besides, he explained that as an online student, he would just log in.
“Our classes usually would end at 7:15 pm, then I would eat my dinner and take a break till about 8:30 pm.
“Then I would just read till I fell asleep, which was usually around 10 pm. This is just a rough estimate of what I did daily; it isn’t very accurate, the timings vary daily, and the amount of time I read a day may vary by about 2-3 hours. Some days were better than others. So on an average day, it was about six hours,” he noted.
The teenager, who aspires to study Mechatronics Engineering at Pan-Atlantic University, further revealed that he heavily reduced his screen time and the amount of times he played basketball.
“This made it possible for me to finish my textbooks in time for the examination. I also engaged myself in multiple textbooks. I did this for a couple of months,” Reginald stressed.
Moreover, he said, “I attended Teesas Learning Centre, which helped strengthen my reading habit and preparation.”
Read also: Meet Okoli Omagu, 15-year-old CKC-Abuja student who scored 352 in UTME
“Teesas Learning Centre offered exhaustive coverage of the syllabus. It helped me spot topics I didn’t even know I had issues with, and thanks to the great teachers there, I was able to master said topics,” he explained.
In addition, he explained that the weekly CBTs at the Teesas Learning Centre exposed him to tough questions which expanded his horizons and helped him practice in an environment that mimicked the actual UTME.
Speaking on his being a day student and his ability to cope with the challenges, he said, “Coping as a day student was not difficult as I do not live that far from my school. Traffic was just the major issue, so I just had to wake up earlier, but I was already used to it.”
Reginald emphasised his love for Robotics and Automation and Mechatronics, which, according to him, is the reason he wants to study the course, which he described as the best choice for him.
He said from his research the course is not very hard. However, with his score of 147 in the first sitting, he knew that his academic goal was jeopardised and his dream shattered.
Good enough, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board came up with a resit option to address the abysmal results recorded during the examination.
Read also: How Apampa, 16-yr-old Lagoon student scored 351 in UTME resit
In the rescheduled UTME, Reginald, with JAMB Registration Number 202550443003BA, rose to the occasion and maximised the opportunity with a total aggregate score of 363 out of the possible 400 marks obtainable.
The details of the rescheduled UTME result indicate English Language-79, Mathematics-92, Physics-98, and Chemistry-94.
He said his favourite subject in UTME is Physics, and that is the subject he recorded the highest score of 98 out of the possible 100 marks, losing just two marks.
However, when it comes to all the subjects he did in school, then it was Economics.
