Motivation and Graduation, Speech Example

Matriculation. Progression. Graduation. All three of these words are associated with the work and dedication that students are continuously putting towards their schooling. What these terms actually mean to students will vary. Regardless, these three words provide the support for continuance and perseverance behind anyone who is looking to complete college or university. But what do any of these even mean? What is their significance in whether or not, or even how, someone actually completes school? Matriculation means to enroll in school. For prospective university students, it means to begin their quest for a degree. A degree which will hopefully lead to a career and a life beyond who they were as students. Progression. Progression means to move forward; to make advancements. In school, students continually progress throughout varied levels of learning and accomplishment to actively reach towards the goal which they are striving to achieve. This goal is graduation. A beautiful word; the one word which all students hope to reach. A word that is both an action and an event. Graduation means to complete school.  In university terms, it means to be awarded the degree for which you, as the student, have been working towards for the past several years. But the question that some students constantly ask themselves is how. How do I graduate? How can I graduate? How can I get there? Can I do this? Can I graduate? What if I am not smart enough? What if? So many thoughts and so much confusion is tied in amongst hopes and goals.

While matriculation, progression and graduation are the founding players in a person’s success in college, fear and doubt are supporting players. This is natural, normal and surprisingly commonplace.  If you are someone who is struggling with your faith in your ability to graduate, the first step is to recognize that these worries are okay. They are acceptable, not condemnable and you are right to have them. The ‘challenge’ lies in how you deal with them. What are your priorities? Are you worried about academics? Do you have financial concerns or are personal issues a mitigating factor? There are loads of questions, but you need to address everything. These are normal, and are all factors that often are associated with students who are embattled in the conflict of deciding whether or not to drop out of college. However, making it to graduation signifies your ability to follow through on a commitment that you made to yourself. At one point in time, you thought that you could go to college, study what interested you, prepare for a career, graduate, and begin your life. Why did that change? What happened that challenged those ambitions?

According to the National Center for Education and Statistics, “approximately 57 percent of first-time students seeking a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent and attending a 4 year institution full time in 2001-02 completed a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in that institution in 6 years or less”[1]. What does this statistic mean to you? What will it mean to you if you drop out of college? How will you justify your motivations to your friends and family that you could not follow through on a commitment? How will that decision affect your future?

There is a story of a college freshman named Michael VanAdams. He was a top academic student at a high school in Maine and subsequently received a scholarship to attend a university a fair distance from when he went to high school. This bright, intelligent person entered the University of Ore in Maine as a freshman. But after receiving several failing grades, he instantly withdrew into himself and instead of reaching out for help with academics he shouldered the blame onto everybody but himself. Instead of asking for help, he isolated himself and refused to recognize that the learning gap from high school to college had increased exponentially.

This story is normal. This happens to college freshmen all the time. While it is obviously a brief overview of his situation, the important lesson to take from his story is his inability to reach outside himself for help. Asking for help academically does not indicate a lack of intelligence by any means; college is a great deal more difficult than high school and at some point or another you are going to need help to get through it.

Be honest with yourself. Honesty in who you are is going to be another supporting player in what determines your success. Do not give up on yourself. Do not give up on the goal that you set for yourself when you made the decision to go to school. What would the person who you were then say to you if they knew you were going to quit now?

What ‘what ifs’ and the ‘hows’ can provide stumbling blocks and mental hurdles that can get in a person’s way as they work towards their degree. But what a lot of students like you fail to realize is that these thoughts, questions and concerns are not awful. They signify intelligence, forethought and maturity. The only challenge in addressing these apprehensions is to know that there are answers and there are ways to overcome them to get to graduation. There is no one student who is concerned with their ability to graduate or be successful. Every student faces this problem because college is extremely challenging.  What students need to think about as they prepare themselves to go through and subsequently complete school is what their resources are; who and what is available to help them.  These resources will be the building blocks for your college success. At the end of the day, you need to do what will make you happy. What you need to do is draw on the integrity that you possess to determine if whether your decision is something that will only result instant gratification but no long term rewards. Regret. Risk. These two words are not something that will accompany you to graduation. However, they will most certainly be on your trail if you make a haphazard decision in a moment of blind panic and self doubt. Support yourself and your decision to start and finish school. The rewards will outnumber the difficulties you have struggled with to get the degree you have worked towards and deserve.

References

Rockler-Gladen, N. (17 June 2008). Should you drop out of college? Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/should-you-drop-out-of-college-a56762

Fast facts. U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education and Statistics.  Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40

[1] U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Fast Facts. National Center for Education and Statistics.  Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40