Although the first three weeks seem to have slid by, don’t let the daily and weekly routine of classes and homework get in the way of the main purpose of coming to UT: an education to further your overall goals in life.
Actually getting something out of college cannot be the sole responsibility of your professors, advisers or friends.
Those people are all very important parts that can help students get something out of college, but the ones that ultimately have all the power are students themselves.
The individual student has the responsibility to make the most out of their college career.
A resume doesn’t just become full of things that make a future employer want to hire a someone.
Similarly, receiving an A in class does not happen automatically. There needs to be some work and effort put into a class in order to get that A.
It’s the student’s responsibility through each intersection they cross on the roads of college to decide what path they will take.
This means grades, friends, where students decide to hang out on the weekend, which clubs a student joins and which sports are played are all choices students must make themselves.
This year, preliminary enrollment numbers show that UT has once again increased the overall size of the student body.
This not only causes a strain in housing (which we have seen as students continue to be housed in the Howard Johnson) but also classes.
Class is where education happens. What about the student to faculty ratio? This is a point that UT prides itself on.
UT’s first-year core curricula also had to be expanded, and this causes some stress in that area, as well.
Multiple classes were added, but adjunct faculty were placed in the available spots.
This is by no means a bad thing, since sometimes adjuncts have more real-life experience.
However, this is not true of all of them.
Therefore, the initial impressions of a class for some incoming freshmen may be tainted compared to the classes taken in the previous semesters.
This is why it’s very important for the new students to understand that their education is in their control.
The university does have its obligation to provide the tools necessary to allow the student to make the most out of your education.
UT definitely has a student to faculty ratio which is more appealing than some of the larger public universities.
This is a tool for students to use in making the most out of their education.
Some professors are awesome and others are not, depending on who judges them.
But, regardless of how good or bad a professor is, it is still the obligation of the individual student to make the most they can out of a class.
Take what is given.
The opportunity is there to succeed.
If the student body, faculty, or administration don’t take action to further the educational benefits of university, students cannot let this from stopping them from pursuing their individual goals.
It’s your education; it’s your future.
If you haven’t started to make the investment in your future, you have to start now.