Advising Freshman

I am working advising again today. Even the ones who have been here for a few semesters seem clueless as to what they should be taking in order to get their degree. BUT the Freshman, the new to college students, are not only clueless, but frightened and oblivious to what is going on in the world. Now I realize that seems a bit overgeneralized, especially for a writing teacher, but lately it really seems that an education is not something to be treasured and researched but something you approach blindly, something that is a given and not an earned right.

Today a girl came into the advising center today with her degree plan outline, transcripts and test scores, plopped down in the chair next to me, and said "I have no idea what I am doing. I have no idea what these numbers mean, and I am not even sure that I am in the right place." I could feel her frustration and utter confusion, but at the same time, I wondered how she even made it to the college this morning.

This may seem harsh, but come on. Come to college because you WANT to and not because YOU have to. "I have to come or my parents won't let me live at home, pay for my car, give me an allowance or pay my insurance." GIVE YOU AN ALLOWANCE??!! And they get school paid for as well. I cannot think of a better situation. If you do not want to go to college then get a job and pay your own way - what a novel concept.

I love all of my students. I teach at the community college because I enjoy teaching those students the most. I am contemplating completing an MFA and then a PhD (I already have an MA, which is not a terminal degree - sadly). I only graduated in 2003, so being a student is not that far from my memory. I guess the fact that I worked to get through. That I have an old roommate and good friend who would love to complete her MFA and can't because she cannot afford it - that I get a little cranky when a student walks in and says "just pick some classes out for me. Make it an extra one too so that I can drop one during the year." Definitely one child who should have been left behind.