An instruction for college students
Students go to college to study and the way they study will determine their future and who they will be. What fields of study they select will determine their future career and how much time they are willing to put in the efforts will determine how well they will be when they go to work. Everything they do in college helps develop their habit and their character in life. Studying requires dedication, punctuality, and self-discipline. It is a challenge that all students must face in their quest to be an educated person.
As college students, you will find that the only way to achieve success is by constantly challenging yourself. The common way is to set goal and force yourself to make progress toward that goal. I often tell my students that by doing that they are not only building their character, but it will also help them to find different ways of doing things. A lot of students do not like to work hard, they do not like to challenge themselves to reach their full potential. They rather be enjoying their time in college with friends, more time in coffee shops, movies, parties, away from their parents' supervision and with no responsibility. As students, all are the same in college but in just few short years, there will be a difference between a graduate and a dropout; a graduate with good job and a graduate with no job. There will be a big difference between someone with good career, good position, good salary and someone struggle to find job, frustrate with life, and with no hope of the future.
If you take a look at where you were a year ago and where you are now, you may see your progress or the lack of it. If you have learned something or gain some experiences, then you have made some progress. Even when you did not succeed, at least you learn a lesson. Sometime not getting what you want is a wonderful lesson because when you realize that you have made a mistake, you should take immediate action to correct it and learn from it. Nobody say college is easy; every student will face different challenges to get where they want to be. College study requires more strength and more determination than you can imagine but in the end, you will realize your full potential. Sometime it may seem difficult in the beginning, but every journey starts with the first step and the first step is always the most difficult. When first year students come to my software engineering class at CMU, they often complain that it has so much material, so many readings assignments, and too much homework. By the time they reach the third year, they often tell me that they really appreciate it because it helps them build a good study habit and prepare them to deal with more materials, more homework, and more readings in advanced courses. The same thing often happen in the first year C++ programming class when more than half of the class often fail the first test. Some are upset and tell me that my programming exercise is too difficult and I give more exercises than other professors (For the 16 week class, students must do 20 programming exercises) but by the time they reach third year, they often tell me that the hard work in first year helps them to do well in advanced courses. By that time I explain my logic: “Programming is not difficult but requires you to think and build a habit and the only way to develop a good habit is to do more programming until it becomes a natural thing, just like reading or writing. If you think back when you are in elementary school and start to read, it was difficult as you must spell one word at a time until you can read the whole sentence. Programming is the same, it you only do few programming exercises per class then it would take much longer for you to develop the habit. I want to see my students do well by the time they reach third year because the third year is usually the most difficult year in software engineering program. If they do not master the entire fundamental such as programming and understand the development process well, they will have difficult time in architecture, design and integration courses.
I often encourage students by telling them that most people learn more from failures than successes. It is failure that is shaping their character and the tolerance that they have when it comes to facing other difficulties later in life. If a student sets goals, and achieves them every time without any difficulty, then he never understand that there is a different part of life that is painful and full of turmoil. Without an understanding of the things that set everything off balance then there will never be an understanding of what life is. As students mature and realize what helps them to grow mentally, emotionally, intellectually etc. they will understand that every time they push themselves hard, and every time they do the works, they are increasing their chances of reaching the goals that they want. It takes some sacrifices to get the reward but in the end it worth it. I tell students: “If you cannot solve the simple programming exercise, how could you solve more difficult thing later at work? If you cannot solve something at work then how could you solve something more difficult in life? If you do not challenge yourselves now, when will you? School is the place where you learn and develop your character. It is acceptable to make mistakes in school because you will learn from them. It is not acceptable to make mistake in life because you may not have another chance. You must consider that every great achievement requires a little inspiration but a lot of perspirations. If you do not put in the effort now, when will you?
As students go through college, they learn about knowledge, but they also learn self-respect, respect for others, respect the elderly, respect parents and teachers and be responsible for all of their actions. They learn ethics, moral, and be a responsible citizen of the society. Without proper education, many people are living an irresponsible lives. They take what they can get without thinking about the consequences. They do what they please without care about others who may get hurt. Sometime they let a small dispute injure a great friendship or relationship. They live careless lives and never think about the people who care for them. I have seen students wasting money of their parents without understand that their parents have to work very hard for it. In this material world, people often forget about the true values and let things happen without regret or even reflect on their actions. Today many students are often busy with mobile phones, chat rooms, websites, computer games and without these devices, many get lost and do not know what to do. I often ask students to reserve some time alone every day, without any interference just to keep their mind quiet then reflect on their lives. Sometime silence is the best answer because if they live a good, honorable life then when they get older and think back, they will be able to enjoy it a second time.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
