With all the activity that takes place during your time at one of the universities in Washington, it’s easy to lose sight of the ultimate goal; graduation. When you think back after receiving your diploma, what have you truly learned and accomplished?
Academic success usually means having an excellent transcript that opens doors in business or gets you accepted into a great grad school. For many though, it also includes those things that happen outside the classrooms and labs. How can a student make sure he or she is going down the right path for academic success as well as having a wonderful experience while in college?
Explore:
When you first set foot on the campus of one of the great universities in Washington, you may think you know your destiny or conversely, you may not have a clue yet what you want to major in.
Regardless of your situation, let yourself explore everything that the school has to offer in the way of academics. Allow yourself to take courses in a subject that you have never taken before or follow a passion that does not have any relevance to your major. The object of university is to really learn from the environment.
Make informed choices:
There will be many people who feel they owe it to you to give advice about what you should do in school and what path you should follow once you have graduated. There will come a time when you have to say, “enough is enough, “you came to university to learn, pick a course of studies that suits you, not your parents or other mentors. Once you have made the decision, feel complete confidence in your choice and do everything you can to learn from all the resources at your disposal.
Get setup for a strong performance:
The preliminary decisions have been made; you have explored the opportunities, perhaps changed your mind a couple of times, but you have finally chosen your major and perhaps even your career goals are set. Now that this is over, make the best use of all the time you have left. Take classes from the best professors, learn from your mistakes, and talk in depth with your professors about what they love most about their field.
Learn outside the classroom as well:
Even though you spend long hours in class and lab learning new material, there are hours left in the week. What you do with the time you have outside the classroom is a major component of the total college experience. Make the most out of your time; join a club that excites your interest or passion, decide to take all of next semester’s classes in a different country. Do things that you have never done before, be able to look back on your college years and feel a great deal of pride in your accomplishments.
The universities in Washington are wonderful places to get a great academic education as well as a place to explore you. Northwest Nazarene University loves to create unforgettable experiences for the student body, including over 40 clubs and organizations on campus.