EDITORIAL
The transition from high school to college is a bewildering one. Teachers no longer babysit you through your time in school. They give out a syllabus with all the important information on it, and they expect you to read it and follow it. Your education is in your hands.
Most tests are given out over the course of a week, must be done on your own time and in a testing center. They expect you to complete course material in and out of the classroom, especially if it’s an eight week course. To make the most out of a college education, which can run from completely free with grants and scholarships to ruinously expensive, you must take responsibility for yourself and your actions.
If you want free college, work hard to keep your grades up and actively apply for scholarships. If you want your own money to go to good use, don’t blow off your work thinking you can make it up. Personal responsibility is one of the greatest lessons a student will learn while attending college. College really can seem like a trial by fire, and for many this is a lesson that will take time to set in. No one is responsible for your success more than you. No one can make you succeed.
Students are constantly told they must go to college to be successful, and while that is true for some, others take different roads. Certifications take time and money as well, and require just as much dedication. There really isn’t an “easy road” to take to success. We’re regaled with stories of professors not putting up with anything. Yet, some students forget they’re adults now, and continue to act out and disrupt class, not only ruining their own ability to learn but everyone around them too. These students won’t forget who ruined their class, which they pay for, when it comes to joining the workforce. They’ll remember how they disrupted class, so why wouldn’t they disrupt the office? Pass.
To succeed in college, students must learn to manage themselves and their time better. Unlike high school, it’s almost impossible to just set the cruise control and slide on by. Most professors don’t take late work, won’t remind you about your assignments and expect you to do plenty of learning outside of class too. You can’t rely on others to motivate you to work and learn. As a college student, you have more freedoms than ever. That means that instead of just waiting for things to happen, you have to make them happen. Instead of just chasing a good grade, college must be about actually absorbing the information you learn and applying it.
Here at Amarillo College, the school even has classes specifically tailored toward teaching freshmen how to study, use a syllabus and other important lessons for being successful in college. Those who don’t take it seriously always seem to be the same ones who complain about not knowing how to keep up in their classes. Academic integrity is a huge part of this. Getting caught cheating in college doesn’t just mean failing your classes, it now means expulsion and it goes on your academic record. Plus, you are cheating yourself out of an education, so you only hurt yourself.
The bottom line: take responsibility for yourself and for your education. What you get out of college will depend on what you are willing to put in.
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