A Lesson I Learned in College: Accountability

One thing that I realized I have learned from being a college student is responsibility and accountability.  Those might be pretty obvious things, and maybe I'm a bit late in finally adopting them as personality traits, or maybe I'm early.  All I know is that, in life, opportunities are handed to you, and you need to be able to say yes, and mean it, or you need to say no.

When your fellow students have to survey or interview or experiment on their peers (it's not that scary) for their Capstone, step up and take a slot.  Help a peer out and participate in their study.  And then when you sign up for a time, show up for it.  As my professor said, "It's good karma."  Those peers will likely help you out when you're in an academic bind.

When your adviser asks you to pick up his children after school every single day, and you say yes, you have to be there, waiting outside the building at 3:10 with all the parents, every single day.

When your sorority asks you to step up and become a philanthropy chair, and you don't think that you can make that commitment, don't take the job.  You'll just end up stressed about how much of your time it takes, or worse - you'll start slacking on your responsibilities.  It's better to be realistic and respectfully decline than to disappoint the entire group.

When your friend needs you, your homework can wait.  If she really needs you, you can lose an hour or two of sleep to help her out.  Be a friend someone can count on.  Show them support.  Show up to their senior chapel, cheer them on if they're in a parade, or simply congratulate them on their recent accomplishments.  Stay in tune with what's going on with them.

GO TO CLASS!!!  Anyone that is attending college should thank their lucky stars for aligning and getting them into higher education.  It's such a magnificent, and expensive, blessing.  Go to class and learn things.  It's that simple.  That's what you're there for.  That's what you're paying for.  And hey, it's always cool to be smarter than you were yesterday.

Taking on a bit of extra responsibility helps you learn how to prioritize, how to prune your schedule, and all about time management.  It makes you a well-rounded individual.  It helps you to develop who you are, to cultivate your interests and passions, and to make solid relationships all the way.  Really, it just teaches you to grow up and become a pretty cool adult.