After a much-deserved break, we are once again back in Binghamton for the spring semester. Our upstate New York home away from home (for most of us, at least) greets us this time of year with subzero weather and, when it feels like giving us a break from freezing rain, a nice heaping of snow.
If you think it’s hard to get out of bed and drag yourself to class now, it doesn’t get much easier later in the semester when the sun starts shining and all you can think about is being outside while you make a futile attempt to take notes in class. And let’s not forget the ever-present siren song of State Street.
So, with all these obstacles between us and a proper education, how are we supposed to get the proper value of our few years here? Well, colloquially I would say “deal with it,” but I think I could get my point across better if I borrowed the advice of my elementary school Tae Kwon Do instructor: perseverance.
You see, nothing bothers me more than when people give up way too easily. Whether it’s a homework assignment, cooking a meal or a difficult video game level, I see people give up all the time on things they are perfectly capable of doing.
Maybe it’s our modern-day culture, pervaded by instant gratification and technology, or maybe I’m jumping to conclusions and this has been a problem throughout history. Either way, it’s an issue that is easy to deal with, but if allowed to fester it can become quite crippling. For some people, it gets so bad that they give up on themselves before even trying.
Faced with any sort of challenge or forced to do any sort of problem-solving, these people shrug their shoulders and simply say, “I’m not smart enough for this” or “There’s no way I could do this!” Believing their own words, they put the problem on someone else’s shoulders or, if that’s not possible, just decide to give up altogether.
When it comes to technology, my mother is one of these people. Unable to get her laptop to do what she wants, she’ll usually end up calling either me or my sister downstairs so we can do it for her. Of course, she doesn’t bother listening when I try to explain what to do since it’s “over her head,” and history is doomed to repeat itself as she calls us down for the same problem a week later.
But it’s not just middle-aged women who are susceptible to this phenomenon. I’ve seen peers from different colleges and walks of life say and do similar things as well, and it pains me to see people holding themselves back like that. There’s no reason to pigeonhole yourself, especially at such a young age. For me, the kind of problem-solving which these people shirk is the sort of stuff I live for.
So when you find yourself stumbling over hurdles this semester, don’t get down on yourself. Instead, try to do the opposite: revel in your abilities and tell yourself that you can take on the challenge.
I know, I know. It sounds corny as hell, but I really think there’s some truth to simply “thinking right.” Just remember that the only things that differentiate a “smart” person from the rest are an open mind and an iron will.