Good evening from my house on Lightstreet,
Today was the first day of class for the third session of summer school. It is a tough road when one is cramming 14 weeks worth the work into 6. Furthermore, when you have two classes as well as other requirements, it is even more difficult. What I learned as I listened to my students today is a strong desire to succeed, and some idea of what that means. On the other hand this is the need to have strategies for achieving that success. That realization or plan is still up in the air, and not surprisingly.
I remember how much I hoped I would succeed the first time I went to college, but I had little idea of what it required and the amount of work I needed to do to be more than merely another one of the 35,000 students at Iowa State University back then, Of course as I look back I had little idea of why I was there except like many today, it seemed the only way to make something more of my life. So much has changed since then. The pressure and the “supposed need” to complete a college education has never been higher, nor has the cost. What I am not convinced of, is whether the investment into an undergraduate education can be recouped. I think it is dependent on much more than whether you graduate with the appropriate GPA, whether you have the appropriate major, or whether you understand the basic ideal of what it means to be truly educated. I wonder if the being a first generation college student merely ratchets up those concerns. As those who know me best understand, I too was that first generation college student. As I have noted before, while my parents did impress upon me the importance of a higher education, they did not really do much to prepare or support me. I do not say that begrudgingly, but merely as a statement of fact.
During the next few days, the whirlwind pace of the summer session will begin to become more apparent to the summer students. It will be a bit of a rude awakening, but regardless, it is there. In the next week, they will have a number of things to accomplish, including a number of genres and styles necessary to complete their writing assignments. They will be reading a number of different things. Both posted, as well as things that are in hard copy. There are different topics and different requirements. All of them require the student to think critically about the audience and purpose of that article. Even more they will have to begin to put together a sort of overview of what is being asked in the course.
All in all, the first day barely scratched the surface, but I was happy, at least generally speaking, with what I heard and observed in class today. It is after 10:30 and I have looked through email and such. Rachael and Jennifer, my great-niece and niece, respectively, will be leaving in the morning. It has been wonderful to have them here in my part of the world. The alarm is set for 3:45.
Thanks for reading.
Michael (aka: Dr. Martin)
thewritingprofessor55 
Hello Dr. Martin,
I can relate to the feelings of confusion about working towards an undergrad degree. Honestly, as I am attempting this part of my life, I am filled to the brim with anxiety and fear for what lies ahead. When I do have time for myself, I try not to let myself wonder if I made the right decision in my major, the right career path, or even if I am ready for what comes next. The fear of not knowing is what scares me most about my life. I have always known down to the smallest detail every situation or event that has happened in my life; my parents always pushed me to know everything no matter the circumstances. It was forced upon me that I had to go to college. I did not have a choice, it was either I go to college or I had to find another way to support myself. So obviously I chose college. Although your blog has me scratching my head and thinking, did I really need to put myself through this to have a degree that might not help me in the slightest. Do I know what it means to truly be educated? I am not sure I do now.
Thank you,
Danielle Meade
Hi Dr. Martin,
I can resonate with this blog post for many reasons. As a student pursuing an undergraduate degree, I am spending a lot of my time and money. The thought of “Is it going to be worth it?” has crossed my mind numerous times. I too am a first-generation college student, so I have not been able to get advice from my parents, or even my grandparents for that matter. During my last two years of high school, I started to think about what I might want to do after graduation. I had no clue what I would want to go to college for, but I felt a sort of pressure from society that there was no other option. I decided during my senior year that I was going to attend Mansfield University to pursue an undergraduate degree in Nursing. High school did not prepare me in any way to choose a career I would spend the rest of my working life doing, let alone how to succeed in the rigorous classes college would bring my way. The thought of not making it through nursing school is a terrifying thought that has occurred many times. All I want is to succeed in the path I chose to dedicate my life to. Being a first-generation college student has put a load of pressure on me, which I do not take lightly.
I have now completed two years of college, both of which have brought their own challenges. Even though I have faced many challenges during my two years in college, my willpower to succeed has far exceeded my fear of failure. I have developed such a passion for becoming a nurse, I have spent more time doing schoolwork than I have hanging out with friends in the past two years. This summer is now the second summer in a row I have spent taking summer classes. I have to say, summer classes have brought more stress into my life than I have experienced in a long time. Working hard on maintaining good grades in both my summer class, working at least 4 days a week, trying to get everything sorted out for the other job that I will be starting next week, along with staying mentally stable has been extremely hard to balance. I often wonder, “Why am I putting myself through this”? It can be very difficult to trust yourself and the decisions you are making when you know they will affect the rest of your life. I must remind myself almost daily that it will be worth it. My hard work and dedication to pursuing a degree and a higher level of education will not go to waste. When I am feeling stressed about the uncertainty of the future, I must remember to trust myself and everything will work out how it is supposed to. On days when I regret taking summer classes, I remind myself that excuses make today easy, but tomorrow hard, however, motivation makes today hard, and tomorrow easy. I am working hard now to finish my general education classes, and it will pay off. My course load will be significantly easier in the next two years because I am motivated now. Even though life is hard sometimes, better days are ahead.
This blog helped me redirect my way of thinking. I tend to focus on the negatives instead of the positives. I question myself and if I have made the right choices. After reading this blog and reflecting on my feelings, I am reminded that my hard work will pay off. It may not seem like it now, but in the future, I will look back and be happy that I made the choices I did. As long as I stay focused on my future and do my best in whatever I am doing, it will all be okay. I hope all who read this blog will come to understand that it is okay to be unsure sometimes, it is a part of life. Some things will not work out the way you planned, and it will feel like you wasted time, but everything works out exactly how it is supposed to.