Why Exam Week is the Best Thing for a College Freshman

I had an idea pop into my head this past week. I should let you know that I am in the midst of exam week here at UNCC. Here's my idea. Exam week is the best thing that can happen to any freshman college student. Exam week can help the student that has studied hard all semester and is sure to get straight A's, while also being able to help the student that has slacked off during the semester and is uncertain what his/her final grade is going to be. Let me explain.

I'll start off with the extremely studious student. Everyone knows or has known someone like this. I can think of a few off the top of my head. They are the type of student that stays up late most every night of the semester doing homework or studying. They study when they get bored and when they don't have to. This is the student that does the reading, not the night before class, but the week before class, and then also the night before class. This student emails the teacher for extra help even they are the one that need it the least. You probably never see this student because they are usually at the library, but you won't be able to find them because they are always on the top floor where nobody goes. This is the type of person you want to get put with in a group project if you arent interested in doing any work and getting a good grade. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I'm thinking of extremes here. There are many students out there that have many of these qualities. 

Then I will take the exact opposite of the student above. This is the student you literally see everywhere. You see them at every sporting event, every social event, every time you go to eat, no matter which one of the twenty you have to choose between. This student doesn't do the reading the night before class, and they also don't do it the week before class. They just don't do it. This person might email the teacher the night before the exam and ask if they can have a study guide for the exam. This student has a billion best friends. So many, that you wonder if they ever get any school work done. This student never says no if asked to go out and do something. This is the type of person that you don't want to be put in a group with if you expect each member to do equal work. Again, I am exaggerating, but there are many people out there that have quite a few of these traits. 

So how can exams week help both of these students. Simple, so they can be like the other. The studious student has become too studious and needs to know that everything will be okay if they arent studying 24/7. Exam week should be so easy for them that they should realize that they can cut back on their studying during the week. Since exam week is so easy, it should also send a signal to them to not be so stressed out during the semester because nothing is ever going to be as stressful as exam week is. Exam week should be there to show the studious student that they can actually find out what fun things a college campus has to offer. These students should learn that breaking out of their shell is an okay thing to do. 

The slacker students should get a wake up call from exams week. This is probably the hardest week of their lives. Only getting a few hours of sleep not per night, but in the whole week, should show them that if they had studied during the semester, exam week would not be a living hell. They will probably see the extreme studious students celebrating over their 101 on their exam that had a max score of 100 and think that if they had just studied one more night per week, they too might be getting not a ridiculous 101, but an A or B. Exam week should be there for these freshman students to show them that if they don't get it together, their college career may have a limited time left in it. 

The slacker students should strive to be more like the studious students, while the extreme student should strive to be more like a slacker. The latter sounds crazy, but college is not just about studying, it's about making connections and getting to know people. The slackers are doing a very good job at this, but arent developing the academic skills to further them in life. 

If you were wondering, I fall somewhere in between the slacker and the extremely studious student, but think of myself to be closer to the side of the studious student. This week has shown me that studying course material over a longer period of time will leave more time for large projects and papers due at the end of the semester. 

Hard Decisions are What We Make of Them

Did you know I like numbers? If you know me, then you might be chuckling to yourself because the answer is an obvious yes. One of my football coaches wanted to get me a jersey with the number 3.14. Much to my mothers chagrin, but to me and my fathers delight, many dinner conversations revolved around math. I have a math brain, meaning I want to quantify decisions. I want to make each decision using math and logic. What happens when each choice has nearly the same quantitative score? This is the definition of a tough decision. Each choice is just as good as the other, but which one is the best? 

Making a tough decision is hard. Some major tough decisions include, where to go to college, what to major in, where to live after college, who to marry, to have a family or not. These all have a large influence on what our lives will be like. Naturally, we all want to make the best decision possible. We want to know which choice will lead to a better life. We tend to think that one path will make us happier and more successful. We think there is a right and wrong decision. I think that the rightness or wrongness of the decision is what we make of it. We can ultimately decide whether the decisions we make are good or bad. It is all a mindset.

I encountered the first, tough decision that would greatly affect my future this past May. Where to college. I had the decision narrowed down to four choices. Clemson, Appalachian State, UNC-Asheville, and UNC-Charlotte. Clemson was my first choice because I had been a huge fan since I was a kid. Clemson offered my preferred majors in Engineering and Mathematics. The only downside was that I didn't know anyone going, and the total out of state cost was around $40,000 per year. App state only offered Mathematics, but I knew many people going. App state was also located in a small town that resembled the one I grew up in. Asheville also only offered Math, but was located 30 minutes from home meaning I could attend and potentially help coach the high school football team that I love and played for. I also received a large scholarship to attend Asheville. Charlotte offered Engineering and Math. I also had the potential to room with two good friends that I grew up with and went to church with. No matter which school I decided to attend, the decision would have been a good one. This is what makes hard decisions so tough to make. There is no one choice that is better than the others. 

As you can see, I decided to attend to Charlotte. I thought I had made the wrong decision at first. I missed home, friends, and playing football. I sat in my dorm wishing I was throwing a football. The football team at Charlotte was unexciting, while the team at Clemson was vying for a national championship. There wasn't any mountains in Charlotte, while App state and Asheville were both located in the mountains. I spent a lot time dwelling on what Charlotte didn't have and what the other places had. Only when I realized what Charlotte had to offer did I realize that I had made a good decision. Charlotte has a wonderful engineering program that I love. There is someone new to meet every day. I lived only a few miles from every restaurant imaginable. There was actually a lot of people at Charlotte that were like me. Football games were still fun to attend to hang out with friends. The point is that Charlotte didn't change at all to make my experience better. Charlotte had been offering the same things all year. The same people had been at Charlotte the whole time. What did change was mindset towards Charlotte. I decided that Charlotte was a great place and searched for the great things. I became a part of great and fun things, and what do you know, I'm loving every second of Charlotte. I put myself behind a decision. I decided that Charlotte was the best option. I created ways to make it great.

Yes, my life would have been much different If I had decided to attend a different college over Charlotte. But would it have been a better different? No one knows. I also would have been a different person. But a better different person? Again, no one knows. Life would have been what I made it. 

I have the right to make tough decisions. I am the one that ultimately decides what I can and cannot do in life. I can decide what to major in, where to live, who to marry, or to have a family. I could decide to hate the amount of work that engineering has. I could decide to live in Charlotte and focus on only the fact that there aren't any mountains. I could decide to marry a beautiful girl, but only focus on the things I don't like about her. I could decide to have kids and wish I had more time to watch football. I decide to do the opposite. I decided to focus on the amazing people and wonderful opportunities that engineering has. I will decide to live in Charlotte and focus on the fact that Charlotte has an endless amount of opportunities. I will decide to marry a beautiful girl and focus on the things that make her beautiful. I will decide to have kids and be thankful for the opportunity to teach them the game of football. 

Hard decisions are what we make of them. We should be thankful that we have the right to make hard decisions. We should be thankful that we can make our life what we want it to be. 

Climbing Mountains

What a beautiful view. I took this picture during a particularly warm spell in the middle of March, 2015. The view is from the top of the mountain that I live on, Miami Mountain, and overlooks the town that I grew up in, Black Mountain, NC. To the left, I-40 West heads into Asheville, while I-40 heads out east towards Old Fort to the right.

This photo means a lot to me. It is taken on top of the mountain that I grew up on. I explored and learned this mountain like the back of my hand for ten years. I spent many peaceful days blazing my own trails, countless difficult days building survival shelters, multiple exciting days exploring with friends, but never doing anything bad, and numerous relaxing days sleeping in a hammock. All of this on my mountain. An endless amount of memories come to mind when thinking of my mountain. Some great, such as the times that my dad and I would take my dog for a walk on a mile loop around the mountain. Others not so great, like the time I ran screaming down the mountain after my dog sniffed a yellow jackets nest with me standing right beside it. The memories could go on and on. Whenever I needed to get away I could walk to the top of the mountain with my Camelbak backpack on my back, loaded with water, a hammock, hammock straps, and two Fiber One Oats and Chocolate granola bars. I would spend hours just laying in my hammock de-stressing and thinking about how blessed I was to be living the life I lived. This mountain was the part of my childhood that I called home.

This mountain also overlooks the town that I love and grew up in. The town of Black Mountain is not much bigger than what you can see in the picture. It's small and that's the way I like it. I attended primary school just a mile east of the town, elementary school across the street from the primary school, middle school a few miles west down US Highway 70, and high school a mile from the middle school. All I knew about the town in primary school was that my friends and I lived and played little league baseball in it. I learned in elementary school that Super Bowl MVP winning quarterback, Brad Johnson, used to live in it. My fellow football teammates and I took the town by storm my 8th grade by going undefeated and winning the conference championship for the first time in 10 years. By the time high school rolled around I knew everyone and their mommas, where they lived, and who they dated. The same team that went undefeated in the 8th grade, had conference championship expectations and state title aspirations going into our senior year. Being in my third year of starting quarterback, I could not walk out the door without seeing someone I knew, or someone knowing who I was. I answered many questions before and during the season about how good our team could be. Turns out we were pretty darn good. We finished 12-1 as conference champions, beating our bigger crosstown rival whom we hadn't beaten in eight years. I was sad to graduate high school and leave my hometown because it had treated me so well for so long, but excited to explore new opportunities.

So here I sit. A 19 year old at a large college in a city without any mountains. In a week and a half I will be back home, just having completed my first semester of college. How do I want to feel on the drive home? Awake, to say the least. Exams week is not a week to catch up on any sleep. My destination will be a mountain, but I hope to already be on a mountain. I view each semester in college as climbing a mountain. Starting at the base of the mountain and staring up, and the beginning of a long semester, can both be daunting tasks. But as long as you stay on the trail, you will eventually find the top. It is very easy in both college and hiking a mountain to veer off course. If a hiker veers off the trail too far, he may not be able to find the trail again, ultimately becoming lost. However, it is good to explore a short distance off the trail to make the hike interesting. College also provides many distractions for students. It is good to get away from school and have fun, but fall too far behind in work, and it may be impossible to catch up and finish the semester. Right now, I am rounding the bend and have the top of the mountain in sight. Relaxation and a sense of accomplishment are only a few steps away. Final exams are this upcoming week. I ultimately hope to feel like I am on top of my mountain when I fill in my last bubble. I hope to be able to look down the mountain and into the valley and be proud of what I have accomplished. I hope to be able to look on the mountain and remember all of the memories, good and bad, that I experienced this semester. I've almost completed my hike and I cannot wait until I have reached the top. I'm just a small town kid climbing my own mountains in the big city.

The Path to Success is NOT Easy

Success. Everyone wants it. Not all have the work ethic to get it. Students often define success as graduating from school and receiving a piece of paper. All of these diplomas representing,"success", look the same except for the name. Many distinguish these diplomas from one another with the GPA associated with them. The higher the GPA associated with the diploma, the more successful that person was. This is an easy and fair way to compare diplomas. However, a better indicator of success lies in the the time and effort spent to receive that diploma. A GPA shows how successful a student WAS in school, while the time and effort spent to receive the diploma shows how successful WILL be in the future.

Some students can put forth very little effort and earn an A, while some students can study and work extremely hard and only earn a B. The, "smarter", students often score the highest on final exams. They are rewarded with pretty stickers and candy for good grades. Their parents and relatives smile and say how proud of them they are. The school system rewards the, "smart", students with special events, certificates, or by printing their name in the newspaper. These naturally smart students go through school without having to work all that hard. Good grades come naturally to them. Both the students born with God given ability and the students who have to work hard to earn the grade can graduate from high school and college, yet the students whom have worked their tails off for the past seventeen years have the advantage in the workplace. They have the perseverance and hard work ethic that the students who had their back rubbed all the way through school don't have.

There must be some way to instill a good work ethic in the students with God given ability. The North Carolina education system uses the AIG program to help the, "smart", students.
AIG, academically or intellectually gifted, is a program in the North Carolina public school system. Starting in the third grade students with exceptionally high End Of Grade test scores are given an IQ test to see how "smart" they are. If a student scores high enough, they will be admitted in to the AIG program. AIG students receive extra, more advanced, instruction outside of their normal classroom instruction. The AIG teacher pulls students from their normal classes once a week and teaches them advanced material on every subject. The program is supposed to give students that get bored easily in their normal classes a chance to work harder and learn at a faster pace.

This system should work perfectly for the naturally gifted students. Yet, many AIG students drop out of college after the first semester. The math program in North Carolina is a prime reason for this. The program lays out every single dad gum thing that each and every student should know at each grade level. Teachers receive a textbook that tells them what they have to teach each year and how they are supposed to teach it. It seems a little robotic to me. My dad, as an AIG teacher, is supposed to be there to teach extra, more exciting and challenging, math material. Ah, but it is a catch 22. Students must show their work on how they came to an answer. Sounds fair enough. But if there is an easier more efficient way of getting to this answer, their work is counted, "wrong", even though they got the right answer. My dad teaches his students these easier, more efficient ways to solve problems, but when his students go back to their normal classes they are not allowed to use their new and improved method. Yes, these new and improved methods that my dad teaches his students do not always explicitly show why the answer is what it is. But, most AIG students are able to understand why an answer is what it is rather quickly. The real world is about efficiency. Yet, we are teaching students that efficiency is not highly valued.

AIG students will still sit in class, excelling at everything they do because it easy. Few will actually be challenged. Many of my brilliant AIG friends will be come home and not return to college next semester because the work load of college was too much of a shock. The teachers are not at the root of the problem. They teach what they are trained to teach. The individuals that run the education department at the state level are at fault. Doing the same the thing over and over again and expecting better results is foolish. Somebody should tell this to our lawmakers. North Carolina is ranked near the bottom checking at an number 37 and number 47 in total spending on education. These numbers will stay steady unless something changes.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/why-writers-are-the-worst-procrastinators/283773/