Read, dummy!

Having spent several years in the "real world," I have come to truly appreciate the value of education, and more importantly, the work needed to acquire it. If I have observed anything in my return to IU last semester, it is the fact that many students could care less about their education and, consequently, their futures.\nClass attendance seems to have improved since I first matriculated to IU, but those who come now seem less prepared. So many of my professors stood at the front of the class like Ben Stein in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" asking, "Anyone...Anyone?" -- begging people to contribute to their own education. You could hear a fly fart in many of my classes. \nOne such class of mine was up in arms the other day. We had a test soon approaching, and all of a sudden people were complaining that they didn't understand what was going on. Like every professor I have ever met, ours has office hours and has offered to make appointments to work with students who have conflicting schedules. During EVERY lecture, he asks if anyone has any questions. And now, well into the material, after several lectures of deafening silence: "Umm...I don't get this."\nGet this: pick up your damn book and read it! If your notes and your book don't help you, see the professor. (You'd be amazed how helpful a person who has written extensively on the subject you're studying can be.) If for some reason that does not work, you can find someone in every department who is willing to tutor, but chances are you probably know someone who majors in that area.\nToo often, students come to college only because they are expected to and/or they want to party. They wake up, very abruptly, to the reality that college is not high school. Simple memorization no longer suffices, nor is it usually possible to ace a class without picking up the reading. News Flash: the professors actually expect us to work outside of class and think!\nThe goal of higher education is not simply to land a good job -- which it may, or may not do -- but to assist you in becoming a better person. I know enough college grads to know you can get through school with minimal personal investment or self-improvement. Sure, you made some friends, drank a lot and had tons of sex. And as fun as all these things are, when you get out, you will enter a world with a piece of paper in your hand and lots of stories about what you used to do -- and the world could care less. Now what? You will be free to continue the friendships, booze and sex, but you will be a shallow person with no real life -- essentially an overgrown teenager.\nIf you have never taken the time to develop interests other than XBOX, Reality TV or where the next party is, you will forever lack depth and discernable personality. You will limit yourself personally and professionally, setting yourself up for a mid-life crisis by age 30 without a clue as to who you are or what you believe. It is almost a moral imperative to have fun at college, and lots of it, but it is vital to understand why you are really here. \nSolutions? Prepare for every class -- the cool electives and the boring required -- and ask questions if you get confused. Offer ideas in class discussions and listen to those around you. Your understanding of the world around you will invariably increase, probably exponentially. As a truly educated person, not just someone with a degree, you will be much more prepared for success than someone who goes through the routine to get by. In doing these things, you won't regret college as a waste of time and money -- as so many of your predecessors do.