Being prepared
A student wrote to me: “I just start college this year, I need some advises to help me succeed in my education, build a good career that will make my parents proud, and contribute to my country.”
Answer: I have written many advises in my blog, please review them. To first year students, preparation is the most important thing that you can do. Preparation is the character of a successful person in any field. As you move from one year to the next; from college to industry, you will find that the most successful people always spend more time in preparation than the average person. These people are thoroughly prepared in every detail much more than other people who work in the same occupation.
Being prepared is ready before something happen. It is the act of actively anticipate what may happen and having a plan
for it. What do you need to prepare for? You need to prepare for the worst thing that could happen. Things may not happen as you expected. Things could sidetrack you from achieving your goals. As first year students, you need to ask yourself, what are the worst possible things that can happen? And then have plans to guard against them.
College students are often attracted by entertainment activities. Many consider college is the time to be independent from parents where they can enjoy things that they were not allow to do previously. They should know that they do not go to college to enjoy things. They go to college to be educated. So my advice is be prepared to study hard. Instead of waiting for professors assign things, you should come to class fully prepare by reading materials before the class. By understand the materials, you can listen to the professors lecture, ask questions to clarify your understanding and make your class an active learning class rather than a passive one. You should not just learn from textbooks but also from other sources. You should check out the internet, e-books, technical tutorials websites, Wikipedia etc. By proactive learning you will learn more than just listen to what your professors teach in class. You should expand your knowledge by reading more about the industry trends so you know what the future market will be and be prepared for it.
A successful college education requires at least four years of hard work. You cannot be a success without commitment and preparation. People get good jobs because they have been prepared through their hard work in college. They know what it takes to succeed. They know what it takes to get a good jobs and they are prepared for it. Many students go to college but do not succeed because they are not prepared. They let things slip by without any concern until it is too late. Today, too many students consider college as a big party where they can sleep late, skip classes, play videogames all night and go to parties every weekend. They never realize that time goes fast when they waste their potential on trivial things.
As a college student, you are taking important steps toward what you want to do in life. Of course, some of you may not yet sure of what this might be but you must understand the possibilities and the choices in front of you. Do not select anything that you are not interested in. Do not select any field of study that you do not like. You must prepare your future so you do not have to go from one boring job to another boring job. By having prepared, you can determine your future to do what you want. A college education can take you into a career that you really care about because the choice is yours. Think of how many people do not have these choices? Think of how many of your friends in high school that could not go to college? Go to college is a special thing and a college education can help you make the most out of your life.
As student, you must keep yourself busy. If school works are not busy enough, find an alternative way to learn more. Read as much as possible, learn as much as possible since your mind is still fresh during this time of life. Refuse to participate in extra activities that may deviate you from your study goals. Do not wait for things to happen, make things happen. Set your career goals, plan your study schedule of what to do every week. Even your plan maybe the same every week but it is a good habit to plan and follow it. No matter how many times you have made the same plan, you should review your plan weekly to identify how well you follow it or diverse from it. Put it in writing and keep it in front of your desk so you will remember. Today with smart phone, put your schedule there to remind you of what you need to do. Sometime, just fail to do one critical activity can lead to bad consequence or put you in bad situation.
As you moving toward your study goals, the planning and preparation, the following your plan consistently will help you to be more responsible and build your character. Life is a journey that you must plan for, not just in school but also during work and everything that you do. By being prepared you are ready to confront anything that come against your goals. By being prepared, you will do well.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
