Do you know that attending University broadens your life experience? Then this article is for you.
Who Are You, Really?
Succeeding in college is rather like succeeding in life. It’s really much more about you than it is about college. So
the most important place to start is to consider why you’re here, what matters to you, and what you expect to get
out of it. Even if you have already thought about these questions, it’s good to reaffirm your commitment to your plan
as we begin to consider what’s really involved in being a college student.
What’s Your Plan?
Take a few minutes and write down short answers to the questions in Activity 1. Be honest with yourself, and
write down what you really feel. You are not writing for an instructor here, not what you think someone expects
to hear, and you are not being graded on your answers!
How long do you anticipate being in college?
How many courses will you need to take per term to finish college in your planned time period?
What do you anticipate will be the most difficult part of completing college?
Are you confident you will be able to overcome any possible difficulties in completing college?
These are important questions to think about for the simple reason that students who have a clear plan and who are
prepared to overcome possible obstacles that may arise along the way are much more likely to succeed in college.
In other words, just thinking in a positive way about your future can help that future come true!
What Matters to You?
The word values refers to things that matter to a person. What makes you feel good? What things would you be
doing if you had all the time, money, and opportunities in the world? Questions like these help us define our own
values. Every individual has his or her own values.
Thinking about your own values can help you know what you want from life and from college. Take a moment
and consider the list of things in Activity 2 that are valued by some people. For each value, rate how important
that thing is to you.
Thinking Ahead to a Major and Career
If you’ve just begun college, should you already know what career you seek in the future and what courses you
should take or what you should major in? Good question!
Some students say they have known from a very early age what they want to do after college, and choose the college
That is best for that plan, never waver from the plan and choose each course with the one goal in mind, and then
enter their chosen career after college or graduate school. At the other extreme, some students have only a vague
sense of direction before beginning college, take a wide variety of courses, and select a major only when they reach
the point that they must major in something (or perhaps change majors multiple times), and then after college
choose to work in an entirely different field.
Some students choose to major in an academic subject simply because they enjoy that subject, never concerned
with what kind of job they may get afterwards. The traditional idea of the liberal arts education is that you can go
to college not to prepare for a specific career but to become a well-educated person who is then in a better position
to work in any number of careers.
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