Utilize college to help validate values, convictions

Recently I waited in my car parked on the Baylor campus for one of my sons to conclude his practice time for the Cotton Palace Pageant.

Watching students jog rhythmically down, the walks, observing happy couples stroll hand in hand, and listening to the merriment that young people evoke as they greet or call to one another, caused me to reflect on a time some 25 years ago when I was in college on the campus of a large southwestern university.

The scene produced nostalgic feelings that can only come to someone who attended a college or university where students are permitted to grow and develop during this important time of life.

Personally, I believe college days are one of the most wonderful opportunities that a young person in our society can have. During this transitional life period deep responsibilities and cares are delayed while the educational process is preparing them for a fuller more fruitful life. The four years provide time for choices, decisions and a ripening of values and beliefs.

I also thought about the many rites of passage that occur during a typical four-year stay on a college campus.

• Many students meet their mates during this time.
• Most students decide on their vocation.
• Lasting friendships are formed.
• Many change socially, mentally and spiritually.

Most students move from this adolescent period, when they are still dependent on their parents, to young adulthood prepared to begin earning a living and beginning their own family. If they decide to continue for an advanced degree, they find the next educational phase more difficult, less carefree, and lacking in the fun and social elements of the undergraduate time.

I see so many students today who are getting ready to start college almost totally devoid of the process of this serious and expensive proposition. Unfortunately the model which many of these young people use as a college picture comes from a national lampoon movie portraying hilarious fun and frivolity. But the lampoon leaves out the essential elements of a college education.

Speaking as one who learned the hard way, and who almost became a college dropout, let me comment on some of the things which I found to be important for adjustment and success.

• Develop proper eating and sleeping habits. These habits should have been formed at home, but if they have not become a regular part of your life, then this is certainly the time to develop these crucial habits.

Eating regular and well-balanced meals provides the necessary fuel for the rigorous demands of the educational process. Find a roommate who will go to bed at a reasonable hour free from the distraction of late night phone calls and loud music.

• Establish friendships with upper classmen who are successful students. Use them as a role model. A “big” brother in the fraternity or upper classman in one’s major field of study often serves this role well and can be invaluable in helping a freshman “learn the ropes” for first year survival.

Next week we will continue a discussion of college days and talk about study habits, places to study, and keeping family values in place.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1985