On doing your best
Before we get to the meat of today, want to share something for families about move-in, which will take place tomorrow through Sunday. Per an email sent to resident students last night, we are monitoring for the possibility of inclement weather during our move-in process. Please plan accordingly and know that we may need to suspend move-in activities during periods of severe weather.
We’re getting so close to the start of school, so I want to say a few words about academics and grades. I am an academic adviser, and one of the things I hear from time to time from my advisees and other students who find their way to me is that they are upset about their grade in a particular class.
In those moments, when a student tells me they are getting a less-than-optimal grade in their [insert academic subject] class, I ask them to reflect on how they got here. I ask them to think about questions like these:
Did I follow the syllabus exactly, or did I turn in papers late, have too many absences, not turn in homework, etc.?
Did I do the reading for class and come prepared every time, or did I procrastinate and skip on preparation?
At the first sign of trouble, did I go to my faculty member’s office hours for help?
Did I avail myself of the free tutoring from the Bio Center, Chemistry Center, Math and Stats Center, or Writing Center and/or did I seek out free peer tutoring or academic coaching from the Learning Assistance Center? Or did I go it alone?
Did I spend too much time socializing and not enough studying?
Did I study in a time and place that was free of distraction/optimized my ability to focus and concentrate?
Did I get enough sleep, or have I been burning the midnight oil?
etc. etc. etc.
I then tell the student that if they can see places they could have done better, they know what to do next time to improve their performance. BUT, if they sincerely made a great effort and did everything within their control to help them learn the material, maybe that class just represents a superhard subject for them, and they grade they got represents their best effort; in that case, move on with your head held high.
A lot of our students were so high achieving in high school that they got As in most or all of their subjects, and many arrive expecting that trend to continue. But the paths can diverge in college: students who were great at all subjects in high school may only be great in their strongest areas, and merely good in others. So help your student normalize the idea that “doing your best” in college does not necessarily equate to “getting an A.” It might be getting a B or a C, etc.
The important part is to do your best to set yourself up for success: take advantage of faculty office hours, free tutoring and other supports, and the basics like a solid place to study, adequate sleep, and so forth. Then, no matter your grade, you know you gave it your best.
This is worth talking about and thinking about now, before the semester begins 🙂