I’ve been teaching for quite a few years now, and it never ceases to amaze me that students often view their tuition payment as a direct correlation to particular grades. Raise your hand out there if you have ever had the thought, “I can’t get a D in here. I’m paying for this class!” Somewhere along the way your unfortunate soul has misunderstood the purpose of college, and has, instead, wandered into a fantasy land of sorts in which money is magically traded for intelligence, hard work, and discipline.
Students have gotten used to college as an enormous diploma vending machine. Drop the tuition in the slot, follow a few instructions, and out comes a paper ticket to a better future. It’s as easy as that. And if no prize comes tumbling down the chute, surely there must be something wrong with the machine—not the person inserting the funds. This is the mentality of a segment of young people that has been told, from various voices such as parents, teachers, employers, and (worst of all) politicians, that the only way to succeed in 21st century America is to invest in a college degree. Pushing students who may not want or need college to attend has not only inflated costs and deflated degrees, but it has created a mindset of entitlement: “I’ve been told I need this, and I’ve paid my money. Hand it over.”
But, much to your dismay, dear student, this is not how college works. College is more akin to a gym membership. You pay a fee in order to use the facilities, to interact with experts, and to develop whatever personal goals you may have. What you do with those facilities, how you interact with those experts, and how you pursue your goals is entirely up to you. You can choose to go every day, get advice from trainers, and set benchmarks measuring your strength, endurance, or waistline. Or you can choose to hang out once a week casually strolling on the treadmill or sitting around flirting while faking your way through your bench press. You can guess which path will lead to quality results. Walking into the gym does not transform you into a trim, healthy, go-getter. It takes time, sweat, and diligence—and, yes, your monthly fee. Money plus effort equals results. The fees just get you in the door; the rest is on you.
A vending machine mentality produces an effect in which you mindlessly expect a specific result. Push the Coke button and Coke comes out. A gym membership mentality produces an effect in which you understand you have only paid for an opportunity. And with that opportunity comes perhaps some fear of failure, but more importantly, the freedom to know that you control your own destiny. Yes, that chance to be at college can be an expensive one, but your brain is waiting for a good workout. And while a college membership may not be the answer for everyone, it is a chance to be your best version of you, as long as you are willing to put in the reps.
Students have gotten used to college as an enormous diploma vending machine. Drop the tuition in the slot, follow a few instructions, and out comes a paper ticket to a better future. It’s as easy as that. And if no prize comes tumbling down the chute, surely there must be something wrong with the machine—not the person inserting the funds. This is the mentality of a segment of young people that has been told, from various voices such as parents, teachers, employers, and (worst of all) politicians, that the only way to succeed in 21st century America is to invest in a college degree. Pushing students who may not want or need college to attend has not only inflated costs and deflated degrees, but it has created a mindset of entitlement: “I’ve been told I need this, and I’ve paid my money. Hand it over.”
But, much to your dismay, dear student, this is not how college works. College is more akin to a gym membership. You pay a fee in order to use the facilities, to interact with experts, and to develop whatever personal goals you may have. What you do with those facilities, how you interact with those experts, and how you pursue your goals is entirely up to you. You can choose to go every day, get advice from trainers, and set benchmarks measuring your strength, endurance, or waistline. Or you can choose to hang out once a week casually strolling on the treadmill or sitting around flirting while faking your way through your bench press. You can guess which path will lead to quality results. Walking into the gym does not transform you into a trim, healthy, go-getter. It takes time, sweat, and diligence—and, yes, your monthly fee. Money plus effort equals results. The fees just get you in the door; the rest is on you.
A vending machine mentality produces an effect in which you mindlessly expect a specific result. Push the Coke button and Coke comes out. A gym membership mentality produces an effect in which you understand you have only paid for an opportunity. And with that opportunity comes perhaps some fear of failure, but more importantly, the freedom to know that you control your own destiny. Yes, that chance to be at college can be an expensive one, but your brain is waiting for a good workout. And while a college membership may not be the answer for everyone, it is a chance to be your best version of you, as long as you are willing to put in the reps.