As someone who
has made academia a life-long career and is now an educator myself, one of my
biggest joys is seeing my graduating seniors, many of whom I’ve gotten to know over the years, leave university life and move out into the world as young adults. In
my many hours in the classroom as a professor, I’ve come to observe that students fall into three types: 1) survival
2) strategic and 3) stimulated. “Survival students” do the bare minimum to
get that passing grade in the course, while “strategic students” study what
they will only be tested on or calculate how well they need to do on an exam in
order to get the desired grade. It’s the last group, the “stimulated students,”
who embody the pure enjoyment and passion of knowledge, regardless of the
grade.
I believe what positions
the stimulated students over the other two are the important life skills they acquire
in the classroom that give them the advantage for success later in life. So
what exactly makes the best students succeed in life after school? Below are
four personal insights that I’ve observed in the classroom what I deem to be the
most important lessons you can ever learn from school that directly impact your
performance later in life.
1) Pursue Your Passion, Not Points
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where
there were only walls.” Joseph Campbell
Let’s face it, a
major concern for students and their parents are grades. As an educator, I’m
the first to agree that grades are important, however, what I unfortunately see
are students who sacrifice their pursuit of passion for grades. While getting a
high GPA will certainly improve your chances to enter into a top college or
graduate school, most educators can tell you that there’s more to learning than
just getting the best grades. Students, who are deeply passionate and inspired
to learn, often are the same ones who find stimulation and satisfaction in
their career. As I often tell my own students, “The more you find your passion for learning, the greater your passion
will be for living!”
2) Failure is a Valuable Lesson
"You will at some point
fall and when you do, remember this: There is no such thing as failure. Failure
is really life trying to move us in another direction...Learn from every
mistake. They're there to force you into being more of who you are." Oprah
Winfrey
It’s inevitable
that at some point in your academic life you’ll fail a quiz, an exam or,
regretfully, even the course itself. While failure is never easy, it does make
us avoid complacency and instill humility. Yes, your ego might get bruised from
getting that failing grade–and trust me, I’ve given them out to students–but
the deeper lesson is how not to let one poor grade affect your attitude or
performance in the course or dampen your dreams of the future.
Whether you
strike out at bat when you’re 9, fail an exam when you’re 19, get rejected from
a dream job at 29, or divorced at 39, don’t let these obstacles in life crush
your spirit to achieve your deeper dreams and aspirations. Here’s a great tip. If
you can learn to cope with failure in school, I guarantee that you’ll be able
to handle and persevere through any crisis later on in life. As some of the most successful people in
life will agree–failure is inevitable, but never an option to quit pursuing
your dreams!
3) Stay Curious & Think Big
“So that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes,
we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more
important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I
reflect on that fact, I look up – many people feel small because they’re small
and the Universe is big – but I feel big, because my atoms came from those
stars.” Neil deGrasse Tyson
If there’s one
thing I tell my seniors, it’s that learning doesn’t end at graduation. I
strongly believe that a valuable tool students can use for success in the world
is to stay curious and always try to see the bigger picture of life. One of the
most wonderful attributes I see in my brightest students is their ability to
take material acquired in the class and connect it into the larger world. This
is why the tests I give to my students are never multiple choice or true/false.
I personally find that students retain the information on a topic more readily
when they’re capable of explaining how it might apply into their own life. This
is when genuine learning occurs.
The exact same
principle can be said for life beyond the classroom. When you continue to embody
a deep curiosity about the world and view how your actions connect with the larger
picture, you will inevitably find a greater inspiration and satisfaction in
anything you do in life. When you know
that you and the universe, in actuality, are one and the same, you will never think
small and nothing will ever seem petty in your life!
4) Honesty and Integrity Count
"Success
is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become." Jim
Rohn
Sadly, this is a
lesson that I’ve had the misfortune to teach on a few occasions to my students,
caught cheating on an exam or copying another paper. While the desire to get a
high grade on an exam or in the course is certainly a goal of many students,
whenever you compromise your integrity and values to reach that end you ultimately
wind up failing to learn the greater lesson. No matter how intelligent,
charismatic, or popular you become, if you sacrifice your core integrity and
values along the way, can you truly be successful? I’ll admit that no actual
course can ever teach you to be true to your beliefs and help you maintain an
internal moral compass. The lesson to practice honesty and integrity, however, is
always available to you, which I believe can begin in the classroom.
While
maintaining a good GPA and deciding on the right major in college are
important, what matters in the end is what inspires, motivates, and challenges
you to grow as a human being. Lastly, the closing remark that makes the
greatest impact on my students is, “It’s
not what you remember on the final exam that matters, but how you apply what
you learn to achieve the happiness you deserve in life. If you do so, you will
always get an ‘A’ in the most important course of all–your life!”
If you enjoyed this article, discover more related pieces, videos, and links in my "GRADUATION & INSPIRATION" issue of the Dr. Jay Kumar newsletter
Happy
Graduation!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
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