Every student attending NAIT has a reason, a purpose and a desire to better themselves through higher education and to strive for a meaningful career. A post-secondary education can be costly. Not only can it be a financial burden but also one of stress and sometimes frustration. Failure to get into your program because of a one or two per cent difference below the threshold for acceptance can be heartbreaking and devastating. All these factors should lead students to work harder and reach higher. It is amazing, then, to see fellow students who, often as the minority, have such a cavalier attitude towards education. I still have a tough time with the idea that someone is paying a small fortune to register and then fails to attend important classes and, in some cases, drop them altogether, well after the deadline for a refund of any measure. I can absolutely sympathize with the fact that we all have much going on in our lives. Mounting bills, family
It is amazing, then, to see fellow students who, often as the minority, have such a cavalier attitude towards education. I still have a tough time with the idea that someone is paying a small fortune to register and then fails to attend important classes and, in some cases, drop them altogether, well after the deadline for a refund of any measure. I can absolutely sympathize with the fact that we all have much going on in our lives. Mounting bills, family lives and social stresses are huge burdens that many students struggle with. While I know NAIT has counselling services on campus that are unimaginably helpful for a broad spectrum of people, there are students who would much prefer to go it alone. I rely on a network of good friends and family to help me pull through some of the tougher moments. Students surrounded by a team of cheerleaders can make the tough times manageable. The question that remains is, have we made giving up too easily the acceptable norm? Instead of challenging oneself to push on and see the task through to the end, how is it that some people would rather cut their losses and move on? The satisfaction of knowing that you made it to the end is something that will stick with a student for a lifetime. You may not have been top of
The question that remains is, have we made giving up too easily the acceptable norm? Instead of challenging oneself to push on and see the task through to the end, how is it that some people would rather cut their losses and move on? The satisfaction of knowing that you made it to the end is something that will stick with a student for a lifetime. You may not have been top of class or had the best assignment out there but you made it, you crossed that collegial finish line. The rewards to a person’s self esteem are ever lasting. The knowledge that, faced with all the odds, all the doubts and uncertainties, your desire to see a conclusion to what you started is something that no one can take away and it is a far greater accomplishment that you could have imagined. I know I had doubts about returning to school. It would have been much easier had I declined the opportunity in favour of something more stable. But the path not taken is the path of perpetual mystery.
So take the leap of faith. Believe in yourself that no matter what the hurdles are, you can overcome anything. The benefits of knowing you completed something, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, will be a motivator for the rest of your life.
– A.J. Shewan, Assistant Issues Editor
