By definition, a student is “someone who is studying in order to enter a particular profession”. In other words, there is an end all to being a student. One point to another, a student traverses from a start to a finish. Students can see themselves just going through the process to get to where they need to be next: preschool to kindergarten to first grade and so forth until high school graduation day for some or graduate degree and further for others.
Being a student, in other words, is just crossing one bridge to get to the other side of yet another bridge. This is why perhaps some just stop crossing bridges. Some just arrive to the satisfaction of stopping once that diploma is officially given. It was that one bridge that no one else ever crossed or one solely envisioned to ever finish, and thus, crossing over to the other side was like getting to what looked like had the potential to keep going, but was nothing but a mirage, the end of the road for many.
Then, there are some who cut through that backdrop screen and although the other side may look bleak, hold faith in the power to create the rest of what is to follow. The last chapter of another one’s life could simply be just the middle of yours. You just have to be that student who wants more.
For students determined to go further to be able to do more, there are four essential reminders helpful to keep in mind in finishing what others may never venture or complete themself:
As a student
- Know your start to finish map as clearly as you can make it. Get a catalog and know what classes are offered each quarter/semester. Choose the minimum quarterly/semester amount of classes as a full-time student with a commitment to take one or two classes during summer. The more realistic and clearer the path, the more you are able to focus on your steps to get closer to the finish line with less unanticipated stumbles. Knowing how many laps you have to run will set a clear goal. It’s okay if you choose to take longer to finish the amount of laps to do. What shouldn’t be okay is taking longer because you didn’t know how many laps it would take to finish and now you are running laps to a point of exhaustion.
- Stick to the plan. If you haven’t chosen a major, choose one now (like, today) and say to yourself this is the major you will graduate with when you finish. Go back to Step 1 and manually write down on a clean, brand new sheet of paper, what your classes will be per quarter/semester, prioritizing classes to achieve your major first while simultaneously incorporating classes for graduation requirements. Look closely for shortcuts when possible. This means if you need a math class to graduate and you aim to graduate with a business major, take a class that covers both requirements- two birds down with one stone. When you’ve already committed to the plan, you now can search for the best and most effective way to finish.
- Aim for the best result. Your FINISHED, COMPLETED degree is what will matter above all else. You will not walk around telling people you were a straight-A dropout from college. Your well-earned degree is what you will want to see following all your grit and grind to the finish. So, aim for the best suggests you push yourself to get an “A” knowing that as your target. As I would tell my own children, even if you fall short, you won’t be far from your aim. You will have peace within knowing as long as you pass each class, you can check off each completed course with a “Finished!” and a big smile before moving forward. Take into account what GPA you will need to get into a department, if, for instance you aim to get into the business department to know your clear path getting in. I call this the “academic hustle”. Though ideal and should be the intent, take in deeply that an exceptional GPA doesn’t perform the brain surgery or exonerate the innocent. Know thyself from the given talents within. A grade says nothing about the struggles and challenges one goes through to achieve it.
- Finish. The race will feel like a sprint at times and other times a marathon. Other times, it will feel like both, happening concurrently, leaving you drained and exhausted by the end of the day or week. I ran into a high school classmate of mine in my last week attending class on college campus. He asked me how I was doing. My only honest to goodness answer I had that afternoon? “I feel so burnt out” and nothing more. He nodded with nothing else to return perhaps feeling that I had already ended the conversation. His dad was a professor at the college we were both attending. Mind you that he only had to pay a small portion of his tuition while I was taking out student loans and holding onto any grants I could receive, one semester after another until I finish. At my graduation, he came by to congratulate me. He had yet to finish. I was married with already two kids at that time.
From primary through secondary, I was a student until given that high school diploma. I cut through that “staged” screen of what perhaps could have been the end of my student days and dared to keep going further. Within months, I continued as a student on way to get my bachelor’s degree. Simultaneously, taking no summer breaks, I continued on as a student with the further dual goal to attain a teacher’s certificate.
You may or may not have had anytime to stop and smell the flowers at some major points in life as a student. So, the lemon tangerines what! (Yes. I made that expression up.) Now that you see your path, walk the pasture with grace and joy. Each step you take forward puts you closer to crossing that bridge. Have that visual as a focal point. Cross a bridge that few have thought to even walk across. Stop when YOU have achieved your goal as a student. The only bridges that will be of regret are the ones you wanted to cross, but didn’t.
Yes. More bridges mean a longer time to finish. However, less bridges mean a shorter journey. Shorter doesn’t equate to better if you never arrive to your complete destination.
See each bridge to cross as a lap to run. Within each lap, take strides one step at a time. Be robotic about your actions. Be that AI that has intelligibly figured out how to channel laughter with what humans would consider pain. Encode skipping and hopping in your steps instead of just heavily lifting those legs of yours as you move. Let your mindset be focused on the purpose of your steps, not the obstacles.
Anytime you feel like you are dragging, own it. Then, remember that you have the power of control to flip the switch to overdrive. This means, yes. You may, to denote the verb tense in the dictionary, “drive or work yourself to exhaustion”, but the moments where you are feeling let down and heavy is that moment to do the unthinkable, drive OVER those feelings. They are there to take you down so you don’t finish. They are part of fear. FEAR ubiquitously standing for, False Evidence Appearing Real, is just an internally mental tactic to get you to quit so you never get to the other side.
You’ve crossed bridges all your life. Perhaps the only difference is you have less running along with you now. Sometimes, you may be the only sole person trying to get to the other side. Sometimes, there is no moon reflecting light to what seems like a dim path across. Sometimes, the bridge may feel to wobble and any given moment, the thought of falling holds your heart, mind, body, and spirit hostage.
As I have told my youngest to go back into a bad dream to change the outcome, instead of having a nightmare wake you with terror, dare to go back and continue that dream, understanding that you actually control how you would like the dream to end.
Start. Stick. Aim. Finish.
