Thriving in College #2: The Privilege of Study
My college orchestra conductors often opened rehearsals with a prayer thanking God for the opportunity to work hard. Think about that for a moment. We often thank God for times of rest or relaxation, but we forget to feel gratitude for the privilege of time to work.
Your college years are unique. You will likely spend the rest of your life doing work of various kinds, but you will probably never again have the time you have now to devote to study. Use it wisely. The process of obtaining a college degree is a time of possibility. What you accomplish in college has the potential to expand your work opportunities and increase your wage-earning ability. But besides the long-term benefits of a college education, intellectual growth is a satisfying accomplishment in and of itself.
Odd as it may sound, I actually wish I had four or five uninterrupted hours a day to study or practice the way I could in college. You too may find yourself looking back someday with longing for the days when you had the privilege - and it is a privilege - of studying and learning without the responsibilities of post-college life.
Amen to that! Boy do I wish I could have even a small portion of that study time that I had available (and squandered, *sigh*) when I was in college. There is so much I'd like to self-study now, but I have virtually no time to do so anymore! And the thought of having to only take care of myself and my room... I didn't know how good I had it! *grin*
ReplyDeleteYou are so right in both of your college posts. It's nearly impossible to appreciate the college schedule while you're in it. Now that I'm in the work world, I understand why the full time second career students were so much better at studying that those of us who started grad school as soon as we finished undergrad.
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