For myriad students at MSU, a freshman seminar or WRA 225 course is a worthless requirement.

Instead of waking up and wanting to go to class, they sleep in. They don’t study diligently with an intent to succeed, they cram. They procrastinate, party and waste their chance to learn.

Maybe price tags and statistics won’t deter you from frittering away four years in college. Fine. But remember that people are fighting for what you are tossing away.

In October 2012, Malala Yousafzai was on her way to school in the Swat district of Pakistan. A gunman tracked down the 14-year-old and shot her three times. Her crime: advocating for women’s right to education after the Taliban closed girls’ schools in the region.

There are millions of stories like Malala’s that we never hear, which center on the desire to get an education and the difficulty of doing so.

UNICEF estimates that 14.2 million girls become child brides annually, and dropping out of school is a common corollary to marrying young.

Refugees from Syria, South Sudan and other areas spend their days in ramshackle camps without formal instructors. Lucky, you might say, without tests and assignments. But devoid of textbooks and the knowledge contained in their pages, they don’t have an advantage.

And it’s not just a matter of overseas norms and unrest. There are domestic workers who are stuck in a rut and wish their careers were ahead of them, as they are for you.

Countless situations can be cited. The common thread is that education is a privilege unavailable to many. It’s not a chore or an irritating deterrent to a good time on the weekend. It’s a chance to get out, to do something or be someone. It’s a chance to become more than the set of circumstances you were dropped into.

If a degree from this university isn’t worth the wisdom you gain, the possibilities, prestige, or even the money you’ll pay over the course of an academic career, let it be worth a thought.

Enjoy Welcome Week. Have fun seeing old friends and meeting new ones. But take school seriously, and realize that so many people dream of being a student like you.

Editor's note: Due to an editing a error, a previous version of this article erroneously stated the price of tuition was $12 per credit hour. The mistake has been amended.