What you truly need to know before starting life as a Vandal
Myths permeate college campuses like poisonous clouds.
These clouds can be big, trapping communities like Greek Row in false public perception. They can also be small, obscuring college students’ paths and impeding them from thriving in the college arena.
It’s time to clear the air, starting with those small clouds in the periphery, one of which is the various myths about how to be successful in college.
Jake Smith
Attending class is a given. I’m not going to spend the next 486 words saying something students know. Having a job during the school year, as it turns out, doesn’t seem to be a given.
Many, but certainly not all students feel they have too much on their plate with classes and their personal lives. They get by on student loans and (if they’re lucky) money from their parents.
In approximately four years, that’s not going to pay off. Maintaining a job throughout a college career builds humility, respect and honesty. It teaches the student to manage their money and to earn something outside of the classroom.
Many jobs in the Moscow community are tailored for students. Managers will typically ask for the student’s schedule and work around it. There is no reason not to commit to a responsibility outside the classroom, even if it’s simply an extracurricular every other week.
On the other end of the spectrum, some students perceive college simply as a sequel to high school. Drifting in and out of classes, these students are the serial underachievers of any university. Often times, they talk about how easy their classes are and how they don’t have to try on tests or assignments.
The college environment isn’t supposed to be a cake walk. If a student is skating by, then he or she is not challenging him or herself. The halls of this university are painted with the figurative blood and sweat of diehard students who are passionate about pounding away at their craft.
UI is a forge where unmolded students relentlessly cast themselves into the fires of education, hoping to hammer themselves into sharp-witted weaponry.
Saying college is high school 2.0 is like proudly saying, “I’m mediocre, and I’m proud to remain that way.”
Get an internship. Pick up an extra book in all your supposed free time. Volunteer somewhere. Find a happy medium between “That test was easy. Why am I here?” and “I just want to sleep for a week instead of working on this project any longer.”
No two students are alike. Tackling an education requires different approaches. Knowing your limits and strengths is respectable.
Understanding those limits, and pushing them to the point where you’re uncomfortable is even more respectable. Personal growth flourishes in the face of great challenge.
There will be times when everything isn’t going to be alright. The myth here tends to be that failure is wrong. Compounded by years of Common Core education, failure is seen as a deficient quality in the student.
People fail. People do things incorrectly and get knocked down. A paper turns out to be garbage. People stutter and anxiously stumble through speeches in class. Doing this is good. Screwing up is great, because next time it’ll be better.
College is about seeing and shattering personal barriers. Find a job, attend class, think about stuff outside class and make yourself (safely) uncomfortable. Forget the myths and dedicate yourself to being the best you.
Jake Smith can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @notjakesmith