It all comes down to this.
After four years of classes, studying, pretending to study, realizing pretending was a waste of time and you should have just studied and a myriad of other college pitfalls, you’ve finally made it; just one more month until graduation.
But as senioritis hits its peak for those of you who have managed to complete your college degree in four years, the question becomes: how do I stay motivated?
It’s a fair question, and a difficulty I know I’ve struggled with my entire life. Even in high school cross country, when my coach said “run hard through the line” I chuckled to myself. In my head it was “I just ran three miles, I can take it easy for the last 100 feet.”
That mindset is all well and good, at least until you get passed by the five people who actually are pushing all the way to the end. In cross country it might result in you losing that meet. In college, letting up too much might mean flunking a class—trust me, you don’t want that to happen.
But sometimes it’s not as easy as it may sound. If you’re anything like me, college is no longer your only responsibility. Whether it be internships, one, two, even three part-time jobs (like myself), or some other form of responsibility, its easy to feel as if you’re being pulled in multiple directions. It may even seem as if your last semester of college is meaningless if, again like myself, your only classes remaining are electives that mean nothing. Even more so when your part-time jobs are what you want to do with your life.
How does it make sense to not give your work precedence over classes?
You want to make a good impression at the job you plan to do for the rest of your life. You will only be a college student for 30 more days, after that your GPA will cease to be as important as everyone makes it out to be. I don’t even plan to list it on my resume after I land my first real job. Unless it’s a 4.0, or something close to that, I suggest you do the same.
If your experience is like mine, then yes, I suggest you lend your schooling the backseat if you feel you have the chance to land your career job. But do not, I repeat, do not, do so for a job waiting tables at the local Applebees.
Puling a C in your Basketweaving class won’t be of much consequence in the long run, especially if the result is fostering a better standing with the company or organization you ultimately plan to work for.
Always remember though, while Ds might get degrees, F only translates to failure.
