Learning how to succeed in college classes requires more than simply getting good grades. College is a new season of life—a season that requires wisdom, discipline, time management, perseverance, and a willingness to keep learning. You have been given an opportunity, and what you do with that opportunity matters. As I told a group of graduating students several years ago,
“It’s your time. Use it well.”
The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15–16, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Although Paul was not writing specifically about college, these words provide an excellent foundation for approaching your education and your future.
College is your time. The question is: How will you use it?
Walk Wisely: College Is a Time to Keep Learning
One of the first lessons I would encourage every college student to remember is simple: You do not know everything—and that is okay.
Walking wisely does not mean knowing everything. It means being willing to learn. You have already accomplished something significant by making it to college. But graduation from high school is not the end of learning. In many ways, it is only the beginning of a lifelong process of learning about your field, your faith, your relationships, yourself, and the world around you.
Do not assume you have life all figured out. Listen to professors who are trying to teach you. Listen to family members and mentors who have walked ahead of you. Listen to classmates who may see something you have overlooked. Be willing to receive correction. Be willing to change your mind when evidence demands it.
Gather wisdom and use it as you walk through life.
Albert Einstein is often credited with saying, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” Whether you are pursuing a degree, learning a trade, or preparing for a career, education should not simply make you more knowledgeable. It should help you become wiser.
For Christian students, that also means refusing to neglect Scripture. God has given us an entire book filled with wisdom for how we live, work, relate to others, make decisions, and pursue Him. Study it. Live in it. Let it shape the way you walk.
Make the Best Use of Your Time
One of the most important academic success strategies you can develop is learning how to use your time well. Ephesians 5:16 tells us to make “the best use of the time.” Paul uses the word kairos, referring to an opportune or fitting time. College can be understood as such an opportunity—a season in which you have been given time, resources, and possibilities that should not be wasted.
Your assignments matter. Your classes matter. Your future career matters. Your relationships matter. Your spiritual life matters. Learn to identify your priorities and organize your schedule around them.
Avoid Procrastination and Start Pursuing Your Goals
College students have a tremendous amount of freedom, but freedom requires responsibility. If you have three weeks to complete an assignment, do not assume that you have three weeks to ignore it.
Procrastination can quietly turn opportunity into stress.
One of the most practical study tips for college is to start assignments earlier than you think you need to. Read the instructions when the assignment is given. Break large projects into smaller tasks. Put deadlines on your calendar. Give yourself enough time to make mistakes, ask questions, revise your work, and produce something of which you can be proud. You do not have to complete everything today.
But you do need to begin.
Hard work is not punishment. Hard work is part of pursuing the goals you have been given. If you have goals for college, a career, a family, or ministry, those goals are worth investing your time and energy into. Work hard. Be disciplined. Give your best.
Work Hard—but Remember to Live
There is another side to using your time wisely that college students sometimes forget.
Do not work so hard that you never live.
Go to the family dinner. When your friends plan a beach day, bring sunscreen. When you finally have a day to sleep in, turn off the alarm clock.
Enjoy life.
Your education is important, but your education is not your entire existence. Your grades matter, but they are not your identity. Your career matters, but it is not the only thing that matters.
Make time for family. Build friendships. Serve others. Rest. Laugh. Explore. Create memories. Stress has a way of convincing us that everything is an emergency. It isn’t. Learning good time management means making room for both responsibility and rest.
Listen to People Who Have Wisdom to Give
You will encounter people throughout college who know things you do not know.
Take advantage of that.
A professor may teach you something that changes the direction of your career. A mentor may give you advice that prevents you from making a major mistake. A friend may challenge you to become a better person. Do not allow pride to prevent you from learning.
James 3:17 describes wisdom from above as “pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”
Wisdom is not simply having more information. Wisdom changes how you live. Seek people who demonstrate wisdom, integrity, humility, and character. Then be willing to learn from them.
Use the Resources God Has Given You
Successful students do not try to figure everything out alone. Use your professors. Use tutoring services. Use writing centers. Use libraries. Talk to academic advisors. Ask questions. Join study groups. Find mentors.
And do not be afraid to ask for help.
One of the greatest mistakes a student can make is waiting until the situation becomes overwhelming before reaching out. If you do not understand something, ask. If you are struggling with a paper, seek help. If you are falling behind, make a plan. If you have made a mistake, own it and determine what you can do differently.
Asking for help is not weakness. It is wisdom.
There Will Be Difficult Days—Keep Going
College will not always be easy.
There will be difficult classes, disappointing grades, difficult relationships, financial challenges, stressful weeks, and moments when you wonder whether you can keep going. There will be pain. Life itself contains pain. Scripture reminds us that we live in a broken world. Ephesians 5 even speaks about “the days” being evil.
That does not mean you should live afraid. It means you should live prepared.
James 4:14 reminds us that our lives are like “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” We do not know everything tomorrow will bring.
Therefore, learn to live faithfully today. If you receive a bad grade, learn from it. If you fail an exam, study differently for the next one. If you make a mistake, take responsibility and grow. Failure does not have to be the end of your story. Sometimes failure is simply one of the ways we learn.
Your Grades Do Not Define Your Future
A grade is a measurement of your performance on a particular assignment or assessment. It is not a measurement of your worth. Do not allow one bad grade to convince you that you are incapable. At the same time, do not use that truth as an excuse for laziness. Take your education seriously. Give your best effort. Learn from your mistakes. Accept responsibility.
But remember that you are more than a letter on a transcript.
Your character matters. Your integrity matters. Your relationships matter. Your faith matters. The person you become matters.
It’s Your Time
College is your time.
It is your time to learn. It is your time to grow. It is your time to make mistakes and learn from them. It is your time to work hard, build relationships, discover your gifts, and prepare for the future.
As Paul writes, “making the best use of the time.”
You cannot control everything that will happen during your college years. You cannot control every grade, every professor, every challenge, or every circumstance. But you can control what you do with the time you have been given.
So walk wisely and learn continually. Manage your time and don’t fall prey to procrastination.
Work hard, but rest when you need to rest. Ask for help and listen to wisdom.
Do not allow failure to define you.
And most importantly, seek the Lord.
You have been given this opportunity for a reason.
It’s your time. Use it wisely.
Dr. Josh Thomas, Committee Chair