Independence is important to all students. Living here in Manhattan and being away from home can be so liberating for so many students. But when one moves away just to drink and party rather than attend class and do the homework, it’s easy forget that independence also comes with responsibility. Attending class and doing the work necessary to pass is extremely important, especially when someone, the student or not, is paying for that education.
There is a large population of K-State students that are paying for their own education. Whether that means taking out federal loans or private loans, inevitably the students who use loans for their education will have to pay them back and then some. However, there are students who are fortunate in that they don’t have to worry about financing their higher education. Someone, family or not, is shelling out the money for costs associated with college life. In those cases students may not even have to worry about repaying the accumulated debt. There are also students here on scholarships; Someone put their own money into a fund in order for a student, that fits their criteria, to receive that scholarship. Even if students are personally not worried about money for their tuition, someone is.
It’s important to look at one’s education as an investment – similar to a house or a car. Someone has to pay for it, whether we as students realize it or not. And because one’s education should be viewed as an investment, it should be taken seriously. Students should take initiative to get good grades, attend class and study hard.
Upon coming to Manhattan, some students may become so overwhelmed with being away from their families that they quickly forget that their education is important. What you do every day in the classroom here at K-State can directly correlate with success or failure upon leaving this university.
When students are no longer under the watch of their parents or families, some get caught up in the whirlwind of the party scene. They attend parties every weekend, get drunk, stumble home and, while they regret the decision by the morning, do it all over again the next night. The weekend passes quickly when one is drunk, hungover or a combination thereof. In my opinion, the weekend should be used for students to get caught up on sleep or homework.
When the week approaches, students tend to forget that a degree is the reason they are here. But when the reality of Sunday night rolls around, when deadlines have been missed and when students are in a panic, they make excuses to professors and teachers to try to make up for the missed assignments. It’s not the professor’s fault that the student was too drunk or too hungover to take the initiative to make sure their school work got done.
My advice? Don’t get caught up in the whirlwind of back-to-school parties. Start the semester strong and remain consistent in that throughout the remainder of the four months. Remember that this is an investment in your education, in your future. You are the one who decides to put in the work to succeed or fail in the courses you take. Keep that in mind as courses continue to get more difficult as the semester progresses. Remember that it is your own choice how much or how little you study, but those choices will have ramifications when it comes to your final grade, which in turns reflects on your transcripts and will affect on your future career.
Every decision has consequences. I respect some students’ decision to go out and party, get drunk and do it all over again seven nights a week. Just don’t complain when your grades start to fall or you are removed from the university. Your education is an investment; treat it as one.
Jakki Thompson is a junior in journalism and mass communications and American Ethnic Studies. Please send all comments to edge@kstatecollegian.com.