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College, life, what you make of it

September 16, 2012
	<p>Buniewicz</p>

Buniewicz

Editor’s Note: Views expressed in guest columns and letters to the editor reflect the views of the author, not the views of The State News.

My friends and parents probably are sick of hearing me tell them about my philosophy on grades. When trying to convince someone to skip studying to do something social, I’ll tell them, “Grades don’t matter. What will you remember in 20 years: a grade you received on a test in college or a bike ride to the park?”

I generally am successful in not overstressing on grades and not spending any extra thought to what I could have done to better my scores. I tend to not remember grades I received in classes I took in previous semesters. I follow this philosophy rather strictly, but with one notable exception: I never will forget my score on my first college exam.

No, I did not get all the questions right, nor did I fail because of a very difficult test. Rather, I overslept.

I woke up after a long night of studying at 10 a.m. the morning of my 8:30 a.m. criminal justice class. In tears, I raced to the already dismissed class to plead with my professor to let me retake the exam, which was worth 20 percent of my total grade.

As I tried to convince her, I even offered to write a 15-page paper to get back even a fraction of the points I missed. My professor rejected all of my appeals, sending my 18-year-old freshman self into panic mode.

Understandably, I was very angry at myself for making such a foolish mistake, but I also misdirected much of my anger at my professor for not giving me a second chance. Despite the initial anger — and having my grade-point average ruined just four weeks into my college career — I now realize that, for numerous reasons, this was one of the best things that could have happened to me.

That failure taught me a lot about myself and about college, although I couldn’t see it at the time. My mistake forced me to buckle down just to receive a passing grade. The zero on the exam took the pressure of trying to achieve a GPA as close to a 4.0 as possible off of me. It taught me to be responsible and showed me the sometimes harsh realities of college.

I am sure that this case is not a unique one. I am certain anyone reading this has had a time in his or her life when an event happened that seemed to have solely negative consequences but turned out to be a blessing in disguise. In reality, events are not inherently positive or negative.

When events happen, the individual chooses whether to put the event in a positive or negative light. Although it is difficult to do, imagine every event that happens to you is a fantastic, positive event. Even after receiving a speeding ticket, failing a class or getting lost, it is the attitude that makes the event a negative one, not the event itself.

I believe in this not only because of all the good that has come out of oversleeping during my first college exam, but also the countless other times when I was dreading a negative event, not being able to foresee what good would actually come from it.

For example, without one specific “bad experience,” I would have never found my passion as a teacher.

As a 16-year-old Polish Boy Scout, I finally was in a position to be a summer camp counselor for a troop of 11- to 15-year-old Scouts. So, I was really shocked when I was told by one of my leaders that I was chosen to lead the younger 7- to 11-year-old troop instead. I was offended by this and even debated quitting Boy Scouts for good.

But I didn’t quit. I stuck with it and made the most of being the leader of the younger Scouts. It is only in hindsight that I can say that it was this experience that taught me so much about leading children and helped me develop my talent and passion for working with kids. If I had not stuck with the Polish Scouts, there is no way of knowing if I would ever have discovered this passion of mine.

This “negative event” changed my life for the better.

All my experiences are absolutely vital parts of my life, despite any initial negative consequences. Valuable lessons can be learned from all events, and it is up to the individual to try to make every experience a positive one.

If I could go back in time to give a piece of advice to my freshman self, it definitely would be to keep an optimistic attitude about what was happening to me. I would also advise that instead of being angry at my professor, I should thank her for allowing me the chance to learn a lot about myself, thus turning me into a better person.

Finally, the last piece of advice is the same that I would give to all freshmen: always, always set multiple alarms.

Piotr Buniewicz is a guest columnist at The State News and an elementary education senior. Reach him at buniewic@msu.edu.

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