As a teacher, I'm continuously noticing trends in my students' writing: in the topics they choose, the way they say things, and in what they say. One trend I've seen a lot of this summer goes something like this... "I am just here for the degree," OR "I can make it through four years and get that degree," OR "If you get the academic part done, then you can have fun." I'm always a little disheartened by comments like these because college isn't just about rushing through the "academic part" or about getting the degree; rather, it's about learning and growing. That degree will be meaningless to you if you didn't learn anything in the process of getting it, if you just skirted through school, trying to do as little as possible and still pass. You know that old joke, "You know what they call the person who graduates last in his/her medical school class? Doctor." I don't think you want to be the last in your class. Actually, I know each of you at this point in the semester, and I know you don't.
My first question is, then, how do you plan to live in the HERE and NOW and get the MOST out of your academic experience?? How will you find meaning and purpose in your core classes, even if they seem unrelated to your major? You chose to come to a 4-year university for a liberal arts education, after all; how will you take advantage of that, and how will that benefit you in the long run? How will you challenge yourself to learn and grow--academically-- every day?
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For the second part of this blog entry, read and respond to 3 other students' blogs (any post).
