The Spring Break Plan to College Graduation
Let’s quickly review what the most successful college students suggest as their 5 keys to graduation.
1] Identifying Yourself as a College Graduate
2] Friends and Family First
3] Power of Prioritization
4] Create a Schedule
5] Willing Work Ethic
In this installment of the Secret Sauce to Graduating College we are going to take an in-depth look at creating your personal identity as a college graduate.
I am sorry I have to be the one to break it to you but college is hard! There is no doubt about it. I have worked with several thousand college students and can say with great confidence, each them, at least once, usually more, thought seriously of quitting college altogether. Sadly about 50% of them did so. This is right in line with the national graduation rate according to researchers at the Council for Aid to Education. I am sure 50% of students don’t start college thinking, “What am I going to study? Shoot it doesn’t matter. I plan on dropping out anyway.”
The most important attribute those who graduate college cultivate is the attribute of seeing themselves as graduates before they even start. They have thought about their graduation day, have projected themselves forward to that event, and do not see themselves as anything but a person who has a college degree. In fact, the students who get this vision of themselves most clearly in their minds eye are the ones who have the most enjoyable and rewarding collegiate experience.
Ok, so what does any of this have to do with the title of this post? I can hear you thinking,”I thought he was going to recommend some hot new spring break destination”. That is a topic for another day but I can give you a brief glimpse…Guaymas, Mexico.
Now onto planning for Spring Break and how that can help you be one of the 50% that make it all the way through graduation day.
Let’s think about Spring Break vacation for a moment. When you go on vacation what do you do first? Pack your bags? Buy your tickets? Pick out a brand new saucy attire? No. You first decide that you want to go on vacation. This then leads directly to picking a destination. For most people this is the point where they begin to envision themselves on vacation soaking up the spring break experience. Once you have this picture in your mind then the real work begins. The planning, saving, arranging, booking transportation, and finding lodging, along with trying to convince your friends to go with you…or not go with you depending on your friends.
So for example; Say I was going to go to Palau for Spring Break. Once that is decided I begin to see myself relaxing on a beach in Palau after a beautiful day of scuba diving. I actually project myself to the point where I am watching the sun turn the sky into brilliant shades of pink and orange as it begins to slip into the calm expanse of the ocean. I can almost feel the warm breeze as it blows across my face and hear the lapping of the waves on the pristine white beach. Wow! Can you envision it? That is going to be an amazing vacation. It is this vivid picture…seeing myself as a person who is enjoying the beauty of Palau…that will help me get through the difficulties of planning and saving.
Deciding on and planning for a vacation is the exact same process you need go through to create a vision strong enough in your mind to get you across the graduation goal line. Just as you start your vacation by first deciding to go on vacation, picking a destination, and seeing yourself in that place so too should you approach your collegiate career.
Decide and envision yourself as a college graduate. Don’t just think…oh it would be nice to be a graduate. You must stamp upon your soul the identity of you as a college graduate. See yourself on your graduation day. Picture the ceremony in your mind. Imagine yourself sitting there in your cap and gown. Hearing your name called out. Walking up to accept your diploma. Feel the joy that you will experience by knowing you are one of the 50% that completed a very difficult journey.
Once you have this powerful vision of yourself in your head there will be almost nothing that can stop you. Why? Simple, you have already created the reality. Oh there will still be hard times and this is when the vision will become your best friend. It will remind you of who you are – a college graduate – and what you are seeking. It will defend you against the buffetings that you will surely encounter.
Ok so here is the formula: Mental Creation + Dedication = Graduation
Or in bullet point:
- Craft your identity as someone who is a college graduate
- Envision yourself as a person who has a degree. See clearly in your mind your diploma hanging on the wall.
- Do the work. Go to class, study, and hand in your homework
- When times get hard remind yourself that for all intent and purpose you already are a college graduate.
If you do this I can promise you that your college experience will be much smoother and more fulfilling. Most importantly you will be in that shrinking group of students who can say that they are a college graduate.
