Dealing with Raised Expectations

Dealing with Raised Expectations Hey guys, This is something that I feel needs to be explicitly expressed to incoming freshmen and freshmen who are already here, and that is that coasting will not get you by at  a major university. By this I mean that you have to step your game up. A lot of times when students make the transition from high school to college, the transfer of work ethic doesnt always go along with the change in levels of education. In high school, many a smart kid could get by or even excel with his or her  smarts alone, but what I am trying to convey to you is that in college that is not going to be the case. To those of you who have already thought about or made preparations to improve upon this aspect of your academic life, I applaud you. However, to  those of you who have not yet given a thought to the idea of raising your own academic standards, let me offer you a tale of caution. Earlier today I was in a history discussion that was being overviewed by the classs professor. In this class full of kids who were the highest of achievers in high school, in this class full of non-freshmen, we were berated by our professor for what she called a lackadaisical effort in class. She said that due to our poor effort we had failed to understand and  create the stimulating environment that a discussion class is supposed to promote. And she was right, there were kids who hadnt done any of the readings, there were kids who hadnt brought any of the course materials, and there were kids who didnt even make an attempt to contribute to the discussion at all. Now, my aim for this post is not to bash anyone; rather, it is to motivate students considering coming to this amazing university. Yes, it is a great accomplishment to be accepted to Illinois;  it is one of the top public universities in the nation. However, you should not be satisfied with simply getting into college. College can be the first step of  many in building the foundation for a successful career and a stepping stone in a life-long pursuit of knowledge, but only if you take advantage of the  opportunity. Because that is what college is, an opportunity. Every day you are here you have to have the will, the determination, and the drive to do better than you did the day before. You have already earned the chance to come here, so once you are here, you have to earn the right  to stay here. An education like this is not an inherent privilege; you have to prove that you deserve to be here every day. I understand that this may sound a little harsh, but you must understand how fortunate you are to be able to receive an education like this, and to do anything but your best to excel would be a great disservice to yourself. Good luck everyone. Until next time, Kenny Kenny Class of 2016 I’m in the Creative Writing program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I’m originally from Tampa, Florida, but I’ve been calling Illinois my home since 1998. I’ve lived all over the Northwest suburbs, from Palatine to Lakemoor to where I currently live back home, Mundelein.