Dear fifth year student

Dear fifth year student,

Don’t have a downcast face and sulk around wishing you could get the dirt of this campus off your feet.

Don’t sigh when people ask you when you’re graduating and you tell them another year.

Don’t drag your feet in getting your things done because you don’t want to be here anymore.

You’re not alone in taking longer than the status quo to graduate. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, for first-year private school students, the four-year graduation rate was 52.8 percent with 65.3 percent graduating by the sixth year. Therefore, one in eight students (12.5 percent) who started a private school in 2007 took six years to graduate.

So why is a status quo abiding senior who is set to graduate on time telling you this?

I’m telling you this because you matter and your life after college will begin all in due time. The shaming of taking longer to graduate is unrealistic. Each of us is on his or her own treadmill to graduation. There are some that accelerate quickly through a four-year degree plan to complete it in three years, and still others may take six years to complete the same course load. But this only measures the distance to graduation, not to life outside.

Graduating is a wonderful achievement in academic life, but the vast opportunity to learn is one that dissipates slowly after walking across that stage. So, if you’re taking longer than you (or your parents) thought, that’s OK. But remember to enjoy the opportunity to learn as much as you can.

Don’t wish the extra time you have in your fifth, and maybe sixth or seventh year away, and don’t fixate on the idea that you should have been done learning by now.

That being said, I think learning should be the main goal of students at universities, especially after your fourth year. As your lens widens to the potential of careers after graduation, it’s easy to get ahead of yourself and not enjoy the time you have in college.

However, after four years of experiencing college life through various roles and groups, I think it’s important to leave the unique and limited leadership roles available to those that only have four years to participate in them. These roles include Student Government Association, club officer, Earn Your Wings staff, academic club leadership and various other unique opportunities.

I mean this in love and don’t wish to upset any of my friends who are in continuing years of their degree in leadership roles. I merely am suggesting that once-in-a-lifetime college leadership roles should be pursued and filled within the four years of the degree plans available to each of us. While many take longer to graduate, those graduating in the finite four-year plans may get overlooked in the shadow of seniority.

So be mindful of those that are climbing the ladder of success and development behind you, and remember to allow them to have the same opportunities that you had in your first four years of college.

There is a lot to be said about persistence and perseverance. Be empowered by your ability to continue learning, despite the length of time you have to do so. Just remember the other students behind you may need the growth that limited positions can offer them.

Michaela Lawson is a senior at Oklahoma Christian University and is the news editor of The Talon.

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