Thoughts from a Leaving Student: An epilogue of my first two college years

Forward: So. I'm leaving. I just got my ticket for South Africa and I'm unsure if I'll be back at DCC at all. I'm going to send this to the school paper this week. Tell me what you think!

From Someone Moving On:

Thoughts from a leaving student

By David Scott Harris

Winston Churchill once said, “Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking our potential.” While he was speaking in the context of a nation at war, I’ve found this to be true with my Dutchess Community College experience as well. I was homeschooled- never went any public or private school for any grade, and at the age of 17 I dove headfirst into DCC. My first class was PHS 102-earth science. It was a great first class to have. I had fun, got good grades, and left with a magnificent sense of accomplishment. I signed up for the fall semester as a full time student, not really thinking it would get any more difficult. Boy was I wrong. I can’t count the number of times I sighed in frustration that semester at the amount of effort I had to put in to my studies. I thought it would be easy! I mean come on, after all this is COMMUNITY college. I actually did pretty well that semester- in the end only receiving one B among the A’s. The spring semester was quite the same- except at the end I got one B and one A MINUS. I was crushed. Surely my GPA could never recover (yes, I have high standards). Meandering around the house on the day I got my grades back, I was in a terrible mood. My dad asked me what the problem was. I reluctantly told him about my grades. He looked at me and thought a moment. Then he asked a simple question. “Did you do your best?” I thought about it. “Well… yeah, as far as I know…” He returned, “Well then you don’t have anything to be sorry for, you didn’t go to school to get credit for things you already knew, you went to learn.” My dad is pretty smart. Over this current semester my dad’s and Winston Churchill’s words have proven true over and over. It’s been the hardest semester academically for me yet, but I’ve given it effort- I didn’t come to learn things I already knew, I came to learn NEW things, and I have!

I am now leaving. I’ve accepted an offer in South Africa to intern with a missions organization for six months, and I am unsure if I will return to DCC after. For some time I’ve been thinking about sharing what I’ve learned here with my fellow students, so here goes.

1. As I presented in the beginning, give it your best effort. You can forgive yourself for failing with effort, but without effort you’ll live with the knowledge that you could’ve done better for the rest of your life.

2. At first I felt like I was alone in my studies because I didn’t know very many people at DCC or have many friends at first. I was wrong. There are great resources that can enhance your academic performance here, such as the math lab, academic services, and GOING TO YOUR PROFESSORS.

3. This is a kind of continuation of part 2: Make friends. Maybe you’re an introvert like me and have great difficulty in this area, but it’s no excuse, you CAN make friends here, and there are a lot of nice people. If you want to meet people like you, go to the club bulletin in Dutchess Hall, look at all the clubs, and attend one! Most of my good friends here at DCC I have met in my club.

4. There are many different types of classes you can take here at DCC. If you’re taking math/science classes, the answer to a question is generally solid. In other words, 1+1=2. This is universally agreed upon. However, there are many other classes here where the answer is not concrete- it’s debatable (for example: economics, sociology, philosophy, etc.). I have a piece advice for those classes: Don’t believe something simply because a professor tells you it’s the truth. Do the research for yourself! Find out what you believe and later in life you will be grateful that you put in the time. In my experience most all professors will agree with me.

5. Do hard things. Your society may not expect you to excel academically, stay out of trouble, or help other people, but that doesn’t mean you should give into your society. Do the hard things! Study, work hard, do the right thing, and you will never regret these years.

6. Dream big. It’s repeated so much that we tend to forget its importance, but in the words of C.S. Lewis: “You are never too old to set another goal or too dream big dreams.” Never forget your dreams!

Godspeed my fellow students!