Four Steps to Success in College and in Life
Step 1: Figure out what your dream job is.
Dream big.
Why not plan to become the curator of ancient art at the Met in
New York? Or to teach as a
college professor? Or own
your own CRM firm? You could
be the state archaeologist for Indiana!
Or is your dream outside of the field; do you want to be an
attorney? A book publisher? A
librarian? Having a goal
will help you focus you energy on what matters and separate distractions
from benefits. If in the end you
find you are unable to achieve your goal, you will still be a better
person and have accomplished more for having tried.
If you want to become the Director of
Archaeological Institute of America you are going to need an advanced
degree, either an MA or PhD.
To get into graduate school you need a high GPA.
To have high GPA you need to do well on that quiz or paper that
is due this week. Figure out
step by step what it will take to allow you to get your dream job.
When you exercise or take a walk or listen to music
or are falling asleep at night, imagine what it will be like on the
first day of your dream job.
When times get tough or distractions mount, imagining yourself achieving
your goal can help carry you though.
No matter how hard it gets, keep going. Succeeding in college is a little like pumping water with a hand pump. When you first start pumping the handle, no water comes out. Although you cannot see it, it is slowly working its way through the pipes to the surface. Eventually it will come gushing out with very little effort on your part. That is how knowledge works in your brain. You have to keep studying, or priming your cerebral pump, until finally it will all start to make sense and come together. Eventually you will find it much easier to write Latin sentences or solve calculus problems or figure out how to write well. If you give up and stop pumping, the water/knowledge that is half way to the surface will sink back down before you have seen any benefit from all the pumping/studying you have done.
