This spring semester, many students set goals to succeed at their highest potential; however, students can keep themselves from reaching that goal, even when they think professors or college itself is to blame.

Students are responsible for themselves and how they manage their time in college. When we fail, it is always easier to blame the professor. We all have that one professor who we think hates us, when in reality it is us who hate them. We hate their ways of lecturing and ideas of how we are supposed to learn, especially when they “call us out” thinking we know the answer. As if it couldn’t get any worse, the workload is overbearing and the tests are tough. We don’t like when they are unorganized or push back due dates on the date it was originally due. Instructors always wonder why students aren’t excited about the material and that is because they do not make it exciting.

Professors hate it when we don’t turn in assignments in on time and give excuses as to why we didn’t turn it in by deadline. They feel when we are not writing notes we do not care about the subject matter, let alone our grades. Not participating at all is bothersome, especially when they ask a question and don’t answer it. They don’t like it when we are late for class and leave before dismissal. It bothers them when we are unprofessional and don’t take the course seriously. Perhaps their biggest pet peeve is when we pack our bags up while they are towards the end of the lecture. Let’s not forget that using cellphones during class is just as rude as it is distracting. When we do these things, we cannot blame them for our final grades, we should blame ourselves.

Something to realize is that college isn’t for everyone. Our generation was told that we had to go to college to get anywhere when really that isn’t the case. Then there was the thought that if we didn’t go to college, our future was unclear. There are jobs that you don’t need a college degree for and usually they are a hard labor or restaurant job. Many people actually prefer to go to work right after they get out of high school, earn money and sometimes decide to go back to school.

Although college is not for everyone, students should still not be seen as “paying customers” for attending college alone. College students and their education needs to be a higher priority. We pay to go to this University and get the education that we deserve. We come here because we want to learn and see what path we choose to take on. With our classroom etiquette not reflecting our reason of being here, it slows down the success of our professors and the school.

You cannot have a university without students and you can’t have a teacher without students. You can’t expect your own success if you do not take responsibility for your success.