Welcome, incoming students. I hope that you get three things from your academic career here at Mississippi State: discipline, respect and a sense of purpose.
There are many different places where one can learn discipline such as a battlefield in a foreign land or a battlefield in one’s own home, but discipline is absolutely integral to any and every venture you choose to pursue in your future. There are classes, like Modern Algebra, that I dreaded at first then later understood the rigorous work of the course; between having to review a chapter on binary operations and dealing with failing exams, the course’s demands shaped me into an independent student who also understood the value of study groups.
Discipline is not just a catchphrase parents and teachers make up to appear more intelligent or feel superior to us; discipline is about working through all the difficulties thrown at us on a daily basis. It’s what makes okay students good and good students excellent.
Now some of you have entered Mississippi State already with a lifetime of experiences that have built your discipline, whether it is taking care of a sick relative, keeping a job or holding up your end of a relationship. Simply take whatever has shaped you in a more mature person and apply it to your studies, because while they may not seem so important at this moment, you must know that all the time you spend building up your resume and career (without sacrificing those personal relationships that are essential to your growth) will pay off.
Trust me: all the work that I undertook as a sophomore and junior in mathematics gave me opportunities to travel all over the country and hopefully my experiences now will give me the opportunity to travel all over the world.
It is also important to respect the people who are over you. The feeling of being under someone is an uncomfortable one, one that may be frustrating especially since those individuals in authority don’t always make the right call.
But consider this: you are not perfect, there are calls you make that don’t always work out, and that there is a respectful way of voicing your ideas. Your ideas won’t always be respected, but in the long run, the most important thing to remember is that your professors and advisers are responsible for not only your GPA, but also your future academic career at MSU.
In other words, telling a professor to go fly a kite (or some other inappropriate phrase) is not the best thing to do in the world. Doing so will ensure a very short career at Mississippi State and, for that matter, a very short career in nearly any workplace. The most important thing that will keep you from committing such an act is this thought: it is your choice to be here at State and, be there hell or high water, if you set your mind to it, you will leave here with a degree.
Lastly, when you leave Mississippi State, you need to have a sense of the identity of your purpose. Not so easy. It took me four years to simply decide what it is I don’t want to do. I can understand that a certain subset of us are perpetual discontents, one of those who “has to change (their path) a great deal and wear all sorts of clothes” but for most of us, these four years will be plenty of time to decide what we want to strive for, whether that is family, money, or fame.
So a huge part of your time here at MSU should be dedicated not only to the momentary pleasures of parties, companionship and the excitement we create for ourselves, but to what you plan to do when you get out of Mississippi State.
Because, ultimately, if that cute girl leaves you, your friends move away, your parents cut you off financially and your frat buddies get real jobs, you still have to answer for yourself. That may not mean much right now, but it will eventually.
So, good luck at Mississippi State. You can make it. I did.
Michael Newsome is a graduate student in teaching arts. He can be contacted at [email protected].