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In my capacity as an academic advisor I interact with about 50 students a week on average. Of those 50 about 48 have the exact same question every time they come see me. "How fast can I get the hell out of here?"

I sometimes feel like the one skill they really learned in college was finding the minimum requirements and learning how to do just enough to meet them. Your deftness at plumbing the depths of mediocrity is not something that looks good on a resume under the special skills section.

But time and time again students sit down and ask me for the quickest route out of college. It is the stupidest thing you can say to me. I would rather have you come in, pick your nose, and flick the booger in my eye.

Here is the honest truth...there isn't a single employer in the world that will care how fast you completed your degree. They will never ask that question. They want to know what you did in school, not how fast you got through it.

So if your educational goal is to get hired then college should be a time set aside for doing the things that will get you hired. And taking 21 credits and doing the bare minimum in all of them will never get you hired. You will have a piece of paper that says you went to school, but trust me, you didn't get educated.

The culture in Utah encourages young people to get married soon and to start making babies almost immediately. Consequently we have one of the youngest populations in the country. I am OK with that...babies and marriage are great things, and they are an educational experience unlike any you will find in college. But this tendency towards young families usually means that the vast majority of my students work, and many of them work full time.

This busy schedule of work and family infuses education in Utah with a sense of urgency..."I have to get done with school as fast as possible so I can start making the big bucks." This mentality sometimes causes us to make poor decisions when it comes to planning our education. There is a tendency to bite off more than we can chew...and in the end our education suffers.

So when the average student comes in to my office and they see the picture of my daughter on my desk and they start talking about the two little ones they have at home, and then they talk about the full-time job they have, and then they talk about taking 18 credits this upcoming semester...I usually cringe. You just can't do it. One of those roles is going to suffer, and when it comes to kids and keeping a roof over their heads...well, let's face it, it is school that is always going to get the short end of the stick.

My advice to these students is almost always the same: Take it easy. Be realistic. Your semester plan should allow plenty of room for you to succeed. Instead of having to ask profs for special accommodations for your busy schedule you should be asking them what extra work they can give you.

Television and the movies have spent the past century perpetrating the myth that college is something you do for four years. That model is based on some pretty outdated assumptions. Our expectations of college are grounded in old paradigms that were built around a student body that was rich, white, male, single, not working while in school, and lived on campus all four years. College was an inherited privilege that few enjoyed. Those assumptions haven't been the reality for the last 60 years. Today's student body is as diverse as the country itself. Yet we still hang onto the baggage of the college ideal of yesteryear. Nowadays the average student completes college in six years. In Utah that number is more like seven.

The GIs returning from Word War II and the civil rights movement that followed effectively ended the university's perpetual privilege machine and threw the doors wide open so that everyone could get an education. But a relic of the ancient university is this notion that school should be completed in four years. Do not fall for this myth. Take your time. Look for opportunities to get experience while you are here. 

Twelve credits a semester...that is just fine. 

At the end of my appointments on Monday I was feeling a little burned out. For the past month the majority of students I have been meeting haven't been taking college very seriously. Most of them are just getting started or just tranferring from another school or just getting back from an LDS mission. Registration for the fall semester (which starts next Monday by the way) has been open since April 6th. Which means everyone and their dog has registered for classes already, and at a school like UVU (headcount 34,000+), classes fill very fast.

So it has been a long month of talking with a lot of students who have made it clear to me that they have better things to do than worry about school. Now I should point out that I have had, during this same time, many wonderful appoinments with seniors who will be finishing up their final semester or two. But for the most part I have been talking to...well, for lack of a better word, idiots.

But at the end of my day I had an appointment, who for FERPA's sake I will call Jordan, that changed my negative outlook considerably. Jordan had done his homework, he had taken the iniative and registered for classes months ago. He was well dressed, polite, and respectful of my time. He had also printed out several internship job listings from local television station websites. He wanted to know if the direction he was taking was preparing him for the minimum qualifications these postings were asking for. We talked about courses, opportunities outside of the classroom, and how internships could serve as a stepping stone toward a career. He walked out of the appointment not just ready for next week but for the next couple of years. Sure, we will want to continue to meet each semester to check on things. But Jordan has a clear plan and the drive to follow it. And after the month I have been having it was just what I needed. 

But money isn't everything, and sometimes the attainment of material wealth comes with an unequal portion of entanglements and responsibilities. When money is our sole motivation for attending college we really narrow not only our experience but also our expectations. This often sets us up for disappointment when we don't immediately get that expected salary right after graduation. Often students with this attitude get frustrated when they don't see "real world" applications for what they are learning. They tend to think that the only thing that matters in the "real world" is dollars and cents.

The current mess in this country's financial sector is a direct result of college-educated criminals who have infiltrated corporations, regulatory bodies, and elected offices. But it isn't just Wall Street, as Utah (and Utah Valley in particular) leads the nation white-collar crime. Again, you get the feeling that these folks went to school for the sole purpose of making more money. When greed is our motivation it becomes our occupation.

There are other, shall we say nonmonetary, reasons to get an education, and while sometimes they aren't as easy to quantify, they do provide tangible improvements throughout our lifetime. There is plenty of research out there that shows that college graduates tend to contribute more positively to society. College grads tend to vote and volunteer more often. They also live longer and happier lives (and not just because they make more money and thus have better access to health care).

But what I hope you get out of your time in school is a healthy respect for the complexity of the modern world and its issues. Political parties, advertisers, and the media love to put things in simple, black-and-white terms. It makes for a handy narrative when you can paint your side as good and the other side as evil. Couching issues in such stark relief makes the masses so much easier to market to, and ultimately control. Do you want to be so predictable that any politician or product can count on your unblinking devotion?

I hope the time you spend in the classroom provides you with a more nuanced outlook. Your views should be challenged. Your understanding should be more complex. Your actions should reflect your values while recognizing a vast diversity of thought. College is more meaningful when it isn't all about money.

First of all, last month’s graduation reminded me that I couldn't ask for a better work environment or a more rewarding job. Seriously, it was a great moment to shake your hands and give you hugs as you came off the podium with your "diplomas" in hand. Congrats!

Now comes the scary part: what do you do next? I have been there myself of course. It took three years of iffy part-time employment before I finally landed this job. Once the classes end you get anxious to start making that green. You want 40 hours a week, health benefits, and a 401k. It would also be nice to be using your newly acquired skills in an industry you enjoy. But you may have noticed that no one is knocking down your door and clamoring for your communication knowledge just yet.

Some of you have prepared for this eventuality and took the time during school to really investigate possible careers. A few of you even started building the network and the skill set that would make your dreams possible. Bravo.

But a sizable chunk of our graduates (and I would say all graduates) just barely squeaked through college. I have a sign in my office that says, “Feel free to do the absolute minimum. See how far that takes you.” If the absolute minimum was what you gave you might be feeling that the time you spent in college was a waste.

If you feel that way then I am sorry…perhaps we could have been more inspiring. We should have done a better job preparing you for the realities of a job market that is downright hostile right now. We should have done more to connect you with your industry. This department is relatively new and we have a lot of room for improvement. If you feel you didn’t get what you paid for I apologize.

But then I think about those students that really tried during their time here, even if they weren’t “Straight A” students. They got involved at the UVU Review or PRSSA. They sacrificed time and money to take an unpaid internship with a high-profile company. They volunteered to be part of the Bateman Case Study team or they held a position in the Wolverine PR Club. They took classes in Digital Media or Graphic Design, not for the credit, but because they knew they needed technical skills in order to compete in the modern workforce.

The students who did these things are better prepared for what is next. They have contacts in the industry. They have people who are looking out for them. They have professors that will write them beautiful letters of recommendation at a moment’s notice. The job market will be tough for them too, but I have a feeling that their next step will be a step up.

What is your next step?

After absolutely dreading every day of K-12 I fell in love with college, and in particular I fell in love UVU. Now I will get a chance to help other students make their way through this maze, and I am really relishing the opportunity. As a vertern student I was always being asked for advice anyways, now I will get paid for it. Higher education can be a lot of fun, but it is also a series of hoops to jump through. In many ways a college diploma is a way of telling your future employer, "I was able to put up this amount of bullshit". I hope I can help some people along their way.

I will miss all my friends at the School of the Arts. We had a hell of a first year, and I think we really made our mark. Thanks for all the laughs.

Now I am trying to soak up all the training I can so I can be ready for the fall onslaught. I am also looking into starting an on-line masters program in academic advising offered through Kansas State in January.