It was a usual hot summer day on the campus of Prairie View A&M University. The date was Monday, August 22, 2005, the first day of class. The Memorial Student Center, better known as MSC, was packed with both people and excitement. Some were greeting old friends while others were discovering the floor plan. Through the midst of all the excitement and confusion, the sea of people was truly a beautiful vision.My vision soon became blurry as I began to actually listen to my peers and their thoughts and future plans for the school year. I watched as many students remained in the same spot for hours. Even when I went to class and came back, the same students were still in the same spot. I began to wonder did they not think it was important to go to class on the first day?
I continued my observation and realized that the students were more focused on outfits, hairstyles and who has and has not changed. Very little effort was actually being focused on achieving new goals for this school year. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a social life, but know where to draw the line.
This is a fine university and many choose not to take advantage of the opportunity that not many get. There are many resourceful places to go to expand our minds like, the library, yet time is spent on chat room Web sites and at parties. Of course the library is used for a last minute class project, but why not read a book for enhancement sake? What’s the point in fighting for financial aid when we’re not going to class anyway? Many students have lost the value of education.
Our future is at stake here. Get serious about why we are here, because how we act now will affect us for the rest of our lives. Years from now no one will care who was dating who, whom had the craziest hairstyle or outfit or even the organizations joined. All that will matter is having a degree and getting a job in that career field.
Always remember that many things can be taken away from you except your education, which is here to stay.