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Advice from Weiss 11/12

Max Brown
The Commuter

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Q: Besides trying to do well on my tests and papers, what else can I do to be a success at college?

A: Ahh, the question every faculty member wishes to be asked, yearns to be asked, and I get to answer it. I knew this career would pay off, some day.

A quote that’s most commonly attributed to filmmaker Woody Allen (but who knows) is “80 percent of success is showing up.” Now I don’t know if the exact number is 80 percent, but I’m sure it’s a big number. I think students pass classes, employees get promotions, lovers win the hearts of their beloved and politicians get elected president of the United States by showing up more than anyone else. Students who show up consistently know things that other students do not know and I don’t just mean about the subject of the class. Students who show up learn the teacher’s style and preferences. They understand the emphasis of the class, from this teacher’s unique perception and knowledge base. These students also know about any small change that’s made in class, like a shift in an assignment, or the due date of an assignment, for instance.

There’s one more very important advantage students who show up for class have over students who don’t: The teacher knows them and has reason to believe in them. Teachers, like anyone, are far more likely to
be responsive to the people they know and trust than they are going to be to those they don’t know well enough to trust. So, if you need some special help, or consideration, you are far more likely to get that help from a teacher that knows you from your participation in class, as opposed to a teacher that doesn’t know you from Adam … For instance, one of the most common reasons for missing class (and, therefore, need to take a test or turn in an assignment at an alternative time) is that a grandparent has died. Teachers hear this from students a lot, and mostly, it’s true. But when any human being hears the same reason a lot, they do begin to question the validity of it, particularly if the person asking for special consideration hasn’t been to class very often to begin with. I mean, who are YOU going to believe, when it’s your turn to be the teacher, or the business owner, or the president – someone who’s been there seven out of 14 times, or someone who’s been there every time?

In my experience, there is a tie for “second biggest key to success in college.” The tie is between “homework” and “sleep.” We talk about this as being “the Communication Age,” and we see the truth of this in classrooms every day. Teachers don’t just expect students to show up, they expect them to speak up. They expect students to communicate and participate. You can’t participate if you don’t have some information. Well, you can, you just can’t do so with any credibility or success. And this expectation of knowledgeable participation doesn’t stop with school. It’s in the world of work, the world of government, the world of community involvement and pretty much every other aspect of life. We never get away from “doing our homework” anymore. Needing to have information as we come through the door is a part of everyone’s life. It’s just the age we live in.

Getting some sleep, unfortunately, is just as important as doing your homework. I say “unfortunately,” because these two factors are often competing for our time. We have all experienced those late night sessions of writing a paper or reading three chapters, of pulling an “all-nighter” in order to be ready for class in the morning. And maybe we do well with that paper, or those three chapters. But typically, we then fall apart, or just let go where our other classes and responsibilities are concerned, on that day at least.

Somehow, some way, you have to plan for sleep as well as homework. One of the most helpful statements I’ve heard on the topic was made by one of our Study Skills teachers. She said, “Don’t take your homework home!” Her point is that a college that has a learning center, a library, and a disabilities learning lab, has plenty of help for you to get your work done in a timely way, and not risk the kinds of personal conflicts, family conflicts, social conflicts, and sleep loss that can come from trying to do homework at home. If we arrive home, with homework already taken care of, it may be a little later than we would otherwise get there, but we can then give our “other life” our full attention, we can actually pay attention to our own energy level and do a better job of getting the rest every body needs.

So, showing up is important, but if you haven’t had some sleep, you probably won’t have the energy needed to pay attention and learn, much less participate. And, successful participation in class is dependent on having some information, on having done some homework on the subject at hand.

There are many other factors in being a success at college, so I will do a “Part Two” column next week. For years now I have been collecting comments and suggestions, from faculty and students, on how to succeed in school. I’ll share several more next week.

Comment

Question: what mental health services are offered at the college? How many counselors on staff are trained to deal with these issues in our student body and staff?

— Jamison Lee · Nov 16, 10:21 AM · #

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