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Blog Entry: #106

Should I Drop Out Of College?
Possibly, but you MUST READ THIS FIRST!
by Joe DePalma

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“In the end, all you have is what you did.”
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When your time on this earth has expired and your candle burns out and a new door opens, all you have is what you did—the obstacles you've overcome, the experiences you've enjoyed, and the stories you've told. Our lives will be judged by the struggles we turn into triumphs while resisting fright, anger, weakness, and the idea of failure.

College is an historic chapter in the book that will someday be your entire life's story. If you quit college you'll find it very easy to quit other endeavors in your future. The words, “I quit,” and “This isn't worth it,” will be like a bad melody that is spellbound in your head. Only it won't be just a melody: it can become a theme for your life.

College doesn't portray an accurate picture of what the world is actually like. Most students casually assume that everyone in the world is as privileged as they are because nearly everyone else on the planet is out of their sight, which puts 99.999 percent of the people in the world out of most students' thoughts.

Since the beginning of your schooling, you have heard that all mankind is created equal, but that's not 100 percent factual. Through blind and innocent arrogance, most students ignore the very fundamental activities they can do that others cannot. At least once, every college student should volunteer to assist in a local Special Olympics. This will give every student a reality check that will feel like a slap in the face from the God of “Fairness.” Simply watching young Charlie run around the track with every fiber of his being even though the race is over and he's lost will redefine any theory of mankind being created equal.

If you still doubt your advantages, go over to Charlie and tell him you think that he has the same opportunities to live, love, and learn that you have. Could you do it? Well, that's basically what you're doing when you ignore your advantages and drop out of college. You see, Charlie will be secretly dreaming about complete independence and limitless education for his entire life. However, that dream will mostly die still inside his heart because he will never be given the chance that you are throwing away if you drop out of college.

Instead of recognizing their privileges, most college students spend their time complaining about petty little self-induced annoyances. Some students moan about being overweight or in poor shape as they continue to overfeed themselves, while others rage on and on about silly gossip or poor relationships. The endless whining of most college students concerning situations that are completely under their control (waiting till the last minute to do a term paper, receiving poor grades on tests they were totally unprepared for, being fined because they missed a payment deadline) is nothing unusual. Some college students even groan at the rain for getting them wet when they forget their umbrella. If students could just take a step back and see how stupid they sound, maybe they could focus more attention on their limitless potential and stop whimpering about the one little rain cloud in their otherwise beautifully sunny sky.

College is a four to six-year microcosm of life. Essentially, the amount of growth and knowledge you leave college with is in direct relation to what you put into it. If you're at the point of dropping out, there's a good chance you were never really in college to begin with. You may have gone to class and paid your tuition, but any fool can do that. What you have to do is make yourself a college student first and everything else second. You must let go of whatever is holding you back and save yourself by saving your college career.

College is the foundation that you're going to build the rest of your life upon. If you compromise that now, you'll spend a lifetime searching for an absolution that will never come. You may even end up becoming successful after you drop out, but you'll never shake the feeling that if you had only stayed in school and put forth the proper effort, your star could be shining twice as brightly.

If you're on the edge of dropping out of college, try taking your mind off the entire scope of college and concentrate strictly on what will happen tomorrow. Don't ever look past tomorrow and start worrying about future classes or professors. Your entire college career depends on how well you do tomorrow. Do your work today and go to class tomorrow. The longer you repeat this cycle the more energy you will gain, and that will make college seem progressively easier and turn your dropping-out notions into a distant memory. Therefore, the hardest day is the first because everything seems so immense and complicated; plus you haven't built any energy to back you up yet.

At first, college seems enormous and intimidating, but it gets very small very fast. Your eyes can simply deceive you. Your college only appears big because it is larger than what you are accustomed to. Remember how large your high school seemed at first? As you got to know it better it began to shrink right before your eyes. The same thing will happen to your college experience. Don't give up on it!

Your college years are a platform for you to prove exactly what you are made of to yourself and to the world around you. All in all, college will not be easy, but when it is over, you will be glad for the difficulty. It's just like the butterfly that needs the struggle of breaking through its cocoon to strengthen its wings so it can fly. The same holds true for you as you fight through higher education to be able to fly when your time arrives. Remember, when your life is all said and done, all you have is what you did - and college is a huge did!

* Should I Drop Out Of College - ACTION STEP *

List your three main reasons for potentially dropping out of college.

1)_______________________________________________________

2)_______________________________________________________

3)_______________________________________________________

Now, bring this list to your student advisor and then to your parents and openly discuss your options with them. If you are thinking of dropping out, you need to be honest with yourself and explore the reasons why you are thinking about it with your school and your parents.

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