I have spent a long time in the academic world, both as a student and as a teacher, and after 14 years in higher education working on various degrees (AAS, BA, MA, & PhD) and teaching in a variety of positions, I have come to learn some things about being a student and what it takes to succeed at the University level and beyond. So here are some of the things I have seen and think every high school-er about to enter into their post-secondary years should know (sorry, some of them you probably won't like).
Okay, so this is the one where I get to sound like an old lady and say something about how I just don't understand some clothing trends these days. The one I really don't get is always wearing sweats and pajamas everywhere. Seriously, how much harder is it to put on a pair of jeans, khakis or dress pants? Just a couple weeks ago, I saw a guy show up to an interview wearing gym shorts and a tattered t-shirt! Sorry kids, but gym clothes are meant for the gym and pajamas are meant for sleeping (and no sleeping in class does not count!).
Old lady rant aside, here is what we see as teachers: The student that walks into class wearing pjs, sweats and/or a sweatshirt (and often ear buds attached to an MP3 device) gives off the "I-don't-want-to-be-here" vibe. He looks like he thinks he has better things to do than waste his time in our class. This student gives off the impression that she does not think school is important and that she does not want to succeed in life. What kind of student is she going to be if she doesn't make enough time in the morning to get dressed? Is she going to turn in work late? Is he going to show up to class late? Is he going to be a successful student? It's amazing what pajama bottoms can say about someone.
First impressions do count and perception does matter! When I see this student come into my class, I immediately think that he or she is either going to cause problems and/or do poorly in the class, and unfortunately, I am very seldom proven wrong. Coming into the classroom with this kind of attitude shows disrespect towards your teacher and your fellow classmates. It is a signal that the student probably is not going to participate and he or she doesn't believe the class is important.
And it isn't just teachers, do you think your classmates will want to work with you if you have or portray this attitude? Do you think they will want you in their group on an important project? Or do you think they will choose the person who looks like they are ready and have it together for class?
University is also meant to prepare you for the real world, to give you the tools and provide you with the expectations that you would have when you are getting a job. That kid who showed up to an interview in gym clothes (and not for a job at a gym)? If he was interviewing with me, he would have no chance of getting the job. Now, I'm not saying you have to go to class every day in business attire, but at least have the decency to change out of your pajamas.
2. Late work is not acceptable.
Remember what I just said about university preparing you for the real world? How many of you think that a boss will allow you to miss your deadlines? Do you think if you continuously miss deadlines and turn in rushed work that you will still have a job? How many extensions do you think you should get before you get fired? If your company wants to be successful, then they need to get things done on time and done well, that is the bottom line. The same is true for higher education.
Late work, in my class and in the classes of most of the professors that I know as both teachers and colleagues, is not acceptable. There is a disturbing trend in many high schools where students are allowed to turn in work whenever they want and it can be as late as they want. This may work for high school, but it does not work in college. If you do not turn in your work on time you will be penalized. Some teachers are a little more lenient than others, only docking percentage points each day the work is late, but others just don't accept late work period, ever, which means you would get a 0.
In my teaching career, I have never had a student fail my classes because they didn't know the material. The only students to not pass my classes have done so because they did not turn in any work. They often knew the material and (when they came to class) would demonstrate that, but since they didn't do any of their homework and often missed exams and quizzes, they did not pass.
3. If you're not getting an A, go to class!
This brings me to my next point. Unless you can somehow get an A in a class without going, go to class! If you can't wake up early enough for an 8 am class, don't take one. The beautiful thing about university is that, for the most part, you have control of your schedule. You know yourself better than anyone, so arrange your schedule, as much as you can, to fit who you are.
Are you more alert and awake at night or do you have to go to work and school at the same time? Take night classes. Not your best during the morning? Don't take classes first thing in the morning. Love mornings? Then 8 am classes are right for you. Like to control your schedule and take control of your work and study? Try online. Do you work out, do you like to sleep in, are you sleepy in the middle of the afternoon? Think about those things before you register for your classes.
Granted, you may not always be able to get everything perfect and sometimes you will have to take that 8am required psych class, but some sacrifices must be made. (By the way, you don't usually get this much control over your schedule when you start working. Standard work day starts at 8, so you can always use these 8am courses to prepare you for that!)
Now to be honest, there are some classes where it is quite possible to pass and learn the material without going. I had one once where the teacher lectured by reading his notes verbatim from his Powerpoints and he posted all of the Powerpoints online and all the Powerpoint materials game straight from the book, so to be quite honest I took learning into my own hands and would read the book, read his notes and go to class for the tests. I got 100% in that class. That's the teachers fault for not designing an engaging classroom environment. But if you can get 100% in a class without going, then okay. (*Teachers: if your students can pass your class, like in my example, you are doing a disservice to them and should consider re-working your class).
4. It is important to learn to balance school, work and socialization.
Along with going to class and doing your work comes the juggling act of balancing school, work an socialization. This is a juggling act that continues through life (work, family, social life, etc. Currently, I am juggling 3 jobs, PhD studies, a 2-year old, and the rest of my family and friends) so the sooner you figure it out the more prepared you will be to handle life.
Every semester I hear my students complain about how hard it is to work full time and take 18-20 credits and try and have a life. Why are you doing that to your self? I know that it is basically impossible to go to school these days without working at the same time, due to unreasonable costs of school, but nothing says you have to go to school full time and work full time. If you have to work full time, cut down on school. Consider going to part-time (you can still qualify for loans on part-time) or taking the minimum number of credits necessary to maintain full time status (that is usually between 12-16 depending on university).If you have to go to school full time, for scholarships or whatever the reason may be, consider working only part time so that you can be free to spend time with family and friends.
You do need to have a social life or you will go crazy. As the famous saying goes: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy (if you haven't heard that one, ask your parents). But it is true, many students go through mental and emotional breakdowns in college because they feel they have to do it all. Don't do that to yourself. Find the right balance of work, school and socializing that allows you to do your best in school and work and still have a life.
If you can't arrange your life as mentioned above, you may want to consider taking some time off to just work and save money so that when you do go to school you can focus on your studies.
(All colleges and universities have counselors just for talking about these issues. If you are struggling with maintaining this balance and it is affecting your health, please find a counselor or someone you can trust to talk to right away!)
5. Take responsibility for your grades (yourself and your life).
Finding that balance also means taking responsibility for your grades, life and self. It is very rare that you find a teacher who is just mean, vindictive and only wants to give bad grades or is unfair (I actually had one once, she would mark the exact same answer wrong for some people and right for others and would give final grades that weren't based on the semester work, yeah that's not cool, but it is very, very rare). If you have a teacher that you can prove is doing something like that, bring the evidence to your guidance counselor and talk to them about it.
Other than that, learn to accept that what you put into your school work is what you will get out of it. Like I mentioned before, for those students that didn't complete their work in my classes, I'm sorry, and I don't care how much you don't like it, if you don't do the work you can't get the grade. You are responsible for completing your work ontime.
Remember that juggling act I talked about? For the rest of your life you are going to have to learn how to work and function in a world that requires you to meet deadlines at work despite the fact that you might be going through a divorce or being experiencing hardships. When things go bad in life, you can't just abandon your responsibilities. If you choose not to prioritize school because you have other things going on, that is fine, you should absolutely do that, but that might mean accepting the consequences of those actions and not getting the best grades.
I've been there, I've had to make those decisions. There came a point in my PhD career where I had to decide to prioritize my family instead of school and that meant missing classes, doing extra work to make up for those misses and getting a lower grade than I may have originally wanted, but my family came first, so I accepted the consequences that came with that decision. These decisions will be with you for the rest of your life, what and how you choose to prioritize your life will ultimately define you as a person, as will how you handle and accept the consequences that might come with those decisions.
Are you going to be a person who accepts responsibility for your actions and recover from failure by working hard and making up for your mistakes? Or, are you going to blame everyone else for your failures and wallow in self-pity? You get to decide.
6. Your grades aren't always the most important thing.
That brings me to my next point: Grades aren't the most important thing. Okay, yes you do need to maintain a certain GPA average for scholarships, grants, job prospects and other things, but that doesn't mean you have to be a straight A student (Or even a B student all the time). When you are making decisions about your priorities, part of what comes along with that is accepting a lower grade...But that is okay!
My second year of my PhD program, I made the mistake of working too much and taking too many classes. I took a full load of PhD classes and was also working 35 hours a week at different jobs. What a mistake! I was so stressed out that my marriage got rocky, we didn't have time for each other, I was too busy doing class work to be a good teacher and too busy teaching to be a good student.
That semester I got my lowest grade for my course work in my PhD studies (which was a B, but as a PhD student I wasn't allowed to get grades lower than a B to stay in the program), but guess what? I didn't die and the world didn't end! (Thank goodness, I would hate to think that I actually had enough power to control the end of the world, that is too much responsibility!) I moved on and actually became a more relaxed stress free student.
I realized it was not in my best interest to work that much, nor in my best interest to take that many classes. So, I took slightly lower grades than would have been my ideal and the next year I decreased my course work and work load so that I could manage life. Grades were no longer the most important thing. I did the work I needed to be proud of what I did and maintain my required GPA, but started putting other things first (that all important balance, see points above).
7. Be proactive, not reactive.
Now, if you really are having a very hard time with balance (after you see a counselor), talk to someone and try to find solutions. The best employees are those who think outside the box, rely on their resources to help solve problems and then notify their bosses of problems and situtations they may be encountering when trying to complete their work in advance. Well, that is the same for students. The best students are those who are proactive, not reactive.
I don't know a single good teacher, or good boss, that isn't ready and willing to help a student figure out this magical balancing act of life, if they come to them before it becomes a big issue. One of my biggest pet peeves is receiving an email at 11:55pm the night an assignment is due (by midnight) that says some form of: "Professor, i can't get the assignment thing to work and can't get my work done", or having a student miss 2 weeks of school and then come to me and tell me about his problems expecting me to do something about, when there has been zero communication.
Staying on top of your work means identifying problems that may cause you difficulty and then finding ways to get around them before they become an issue. If you have a death in the family, tell your teacher before you leave to deal with that loss (we are very understanding, see my next point). If you can't keep up with your work, talk to your teacher before you turn in late assignments. You know their policies on work from the first day, it is always in your syllabus for class, so learn to plan accordingly.
Back to this preparing for life thing...Your boss will be more than willing to work with you if you talk to them about your problems with a task or personal issues you might be having, before they start affecting your work. If you have a personal crisis and just don't show up to work for 2 weeks, they will probably think you quit. Communication with your teachers and supervisors is key to healthy work relationships. Actually, it is key to every relationship; us it to your advantage.
8. Teachers are your friends not your enemies.
That's right, we actually want to help you! We are your friends and mentors, not the evil dragon that is trying to destroy your life, contrary to popular belief. (Okay, to be fair, some teachers are out to destroy your life, but most of us aren't, don't judge the rest of us on a few bad experiences). We actually want you to come talk to us, to use us as resources to help you manage life, to correct misunderstandings and to ensure your success. We have office hours for a reason (it's not just because we have to).
I can tell you exactly how many students have voluntarily chosen to come to my office or meet with me during online office hours in the last 7 years since I've been a teacher: 10. That's right, out of over 400 students that I have taught, 10 have come to my office hours for help. And while those are my numbers, I have had many other colleagues that have said the same thing.
Generally, when a teacher tells you that they are available whenever you need to meet during the week and has office hours and is willing to Skype conference or even phone conference if you can't make it to their office, they mean it! We want to help you succeed, but we are unfortunately not mind readers and we cannot help you if you do not tell us you are struggling and take the first step to come to us for help. If you don't want help, we can't give it to you.
Back to responsibility, it is your responsibility to come to us and tell us you are struggling before it becomes a big issue and there is nothing we can do about it. Come to us after you fail your first test, not at the end of the semester when you have failed every test; we can't do anything at that point, because you have not proven to us that you truly desired to learn the material by being proactive.
9. Learn to cite your sources.
In North American schools, plagiarism is a big issue and in order to avoid all of the consequences that come with that (anything from academic probation to expulsion) you need to learn to cite your sources. There are many ways to do this (Chicago, APA, MLA) and you may have to learn them all to satisfy the various subjects you will study, but knowing how to do this will save you a lot of headache. There are dozens of online resources to help you learn how to deal with the different formats. Don't wait until your last semester to learn these either, start citing your sources from day 1. You will ultimately do better work and impress your teachers!
10. Not everyone has to go to university
Let me be clear: Everyone should have the opportunity to go to university if they want, but that does not mean that every one has to go. Some people should not be in university. I have seen many students already who seem like they are just going through the motions of something they have to do rather than something they want to do. They are clearly not invested in their work, do the minimum required to get by and find no joy in attending classes. If you are one of those people, you might want to take a close look at what you want to do with life.
The world is full of people who have not gone to university and are still extremely happy and successful (successful does not necessarily mean rich and famous, by the way). Additionally, we need plumbers, electricians, car mechanics, waiters, good sales associates, hair stylists or surf shop owners and these jobs don't necessarily require you to have a university degree. (That does not mean these people are uneducated, it just means that they don't necessarily have to waste time and money getting a degree to do what they love). I have lots of people in my own family that are beautifully happy being car mechanics and hair stylists, raising families and living life, never thinking about going to university.
Before going to university think about these things: What do you love? What do you want your life to be like? Can you afford to go to university and not have to work full time and got to school full time, like I discussed above? Where are your passions? A wise professor once told one of my classes that there is a difference between a job and a vocation. A job is a thing you do just to get you to the next step. A vocation is the thing you do because you love to do it! We should all strive to find our vocations in life and to look for what truly makes us happy, instead of what will make a lot of money or give notority (unless those are the things that truly make you happy, but they usually aren't)
Take time to figure out what you love and go after it. Sometimes it takes a while and some experimentation to really figure out what that is. So don't feel you have to go to university right away even. Take time to work, explore job possibilities, and find your passion. University is a big time and money commitment and you want to make sure that you will be happy with your choice to go there and with your work potential afterwards.
As the school year is heading in to it's final semester, I challenge seniors (and those in college that are struggling) to really consider your options before deciding to go to university. Do you have something you are passionate about that will get you through the next 4 years of study? Can you afford to go to school and do well, which may mean you can't work? Do your job prospects afterwards allow you to pay off your student loan debt that you will undoubtedly incur? Will you be truly happy at university or should you consider other professions and go to a trade school?
Then once you make the decision to go to university (or not) own it! Take the responsibility for your lives and your careers, make good choices and learn from the bad ones. You are responsible for the outcome of your life, no one else.
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