The New College Try

I can’t pinpoint the source or place & time I first heard the adage “give it the old college try” but what matters is that it stuck. I’ve long associated “the old college try” with Norman Rockwell’s illustration of leaving for college in his 1954 painting “Breaking Home Ties”. The painting depicts a first-generation college student waiting with his working-class father for a train to arrive and deliver him to “State U”. Thus the “old college try” not only represented approaching challenges with zeal but leaving home behind for the promising unknown.

But the image of college has changed as decades have passed. Today, illuminated apples on MacBooks watch a professor’s lecture instead of eyes. My grandfather’s Rockwellian college experience is very different than the campus and classrooms I’ve known the last four years. If our Norman Rockwell image is antiquated, than what constructs the “new college try”?

Carpe Diem

In “Dead Poets Society”, Robin Williams urges his students, “Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - Carpe - hear it? – Carpe, Carpe Diem, seize the day…” The same advice resonated in the 1950s but I would argue it’s more crucial today. A smaller portion of the population had graduated from college then which made holding a college degree a trump card. Today, it’s all about distinguishing yourself from the pack—and everyone’s trying to do it. Modern college experiences often involve double or triple majors; minors and concentrations; Greek life; and infinite programs, clubs and associations, and study abroad opportunities. Acceptance into grad school or the extension of an entry level job offer rely on seizing the opportunities you have as an undergraduate.

With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility

Technology is your friend, except when it isn’t. I’m so thankful I’m in college now when resources are digitized, collaboration is made easier by Google Docs and Dropbox, and studying is aided by professors’ PowerPoints and eBooks. However, anyone who has spent at least five minutes in a college lecture the last few years knows the distraction potential a laptop, tablet, and smart phone possess. Genuine engagement in a discussion or lesson is much more valuable than most people realize. You may not immediately reap the rewards of your focus, but it’s easier to seek help in office hours or get a letter of recommendation from a professor when you’re one of the few making eye contact and asking questions during lectures.

Adapt. Adapt. Adapt.

One of the beauties of college is that every semester is different. One of the misfortunes of college is that every semester is different. You can have a perfect schedule one semester—waking up at 10:30 am, loving all of your classes, and have a thriving social life—and then you’re in 8:00 am’s, overextended, and always stressing about assignments the next one. Adaptation is often the biggest source of personal growth while you’re an undergrad. College can be an exciting, adult-making factory—you’re hit with juggling marginally more responsibility semester after semester, and by the time you’re out, you resemble a self-responsible taxpayer. Don’t fight adaptation, embrace it.

by: Paige Witthar