Thursday, October 22, 2009

Why am I an Honors student?

While completing an assignment for my Honors Legacy class several days ago, I began to think about why exactly I decided to be a part of the Honors Program at UNM. I am sure that my reason is the same as many others: I was always an Honors student in high school and figured that I would continue with it in college. However, I never before stopped to think about why exactly I thought this way. During the aforementioned Legacy assignment, I was discussing fear and what exactly my fears are. I realized that one of my biggest fears, probably the biggest fear, is that of failure. Failure in life in general. I am absolutely terrified of not completing the 4-year plan that I recently made myself to complete my double major and minor. This may just sound like me tooting my own horn, but it is the exact opposite. The reason that I try to do so much, take the hard classes, and do things like join the Honors Program is because I want to make sure that I do everything possible to accomplish my dreams. Now, I just have to learn that joining clubs, taking the hard classes, and signing up for the Honors program is simply not enough. By doing those things I was passively pursuing my dreams. It's time to become active and make sure that I do not let another day slip by without doing everything possible to make my life what I want it to be. And I encourage all of you to do the very same.

4 comments:

Pegasus said...

Good thoughts you have going there. I am in the Honors program, yes, because I was an honor student in high school, but also because I like having a challenge. Semesters would be fairly dull, plus the course selection is awesome.

Nikki said...

I am in the honors program because I figured I would be immersed in an environment where students and I shared similar interests. So far so good, the people I have met so far are driven and opinionated. I have a similar fear as "King Arthur" which is disappointment. But I often find it isn't the academics that really count- it's the stuff that you do to further your goals aside from academics that count.

robby said...

I think your philosophy is one shared by many of our fellow students; especially as freshmen. For my part, after 3.5 years in the program I have come to a dramatic paradigm shift. Quality over quantity is sadly not always what drives honors students. We want to be in every club, every honor society, every internship, student govt., attend every lecture, and if we receive a B we HAVE to retake the course. This sort of path can be metaphorized as follows: A boy is collecting shards of shells on a beach with his parents. His hands are full and he will have enough to fill two shoe boxes. He suddenly spies a perfect, whole starfish floating just of the beach. He begins to wade out to grab it, but when he gets just within reach of it, he turns back and runs to the beach. He performs this act 3 or 4 times and ultimately leaves the starfish to float away. When his parents ask him why he didn't grab it, he says, "I can't, my hands are full of shells." Don’t fill up your resume with little shells, fill it with a starfish or two and you will find genuine success. – Robby Ortiz

Falkor said...

Being an Honors student is great not only because it allows you to be surrounded by intelligent and driven people like yourself, but it provides amazing opportunities to take unique, challenging, and entertaining coursework. Of course being an honors student in high school is one of the reasons a person decides to continue the path of excellence in college. Being an honors student means more than just taking difficult classes and making good grades, it also means that every one of us is striving for excellence!