The MCC honors convocation

On Thursday, April 21st, McCook Community College held its annual Honors Convocation which was started six years ago. It is designed to honor students at our college who have excelled academically, in service to the college or the community or both. They are the cream of the crop at MCC and it's always a thrill to be included on the same program with them because these are the kinds of students I've always enjoyed the most as a faculty member. Students who bring to class a sharp mind, a penetrating intellect and a burning desire to learn something they didn't know when they got up this morning. Students who will ask intellectually stimulating questions that keep us on our toes are the kind of student every faculty member longs for but the numbers seem to be decreasing every year. There used to be several in every class, now there are just a few and sometimes only one or two.

We talk about this often when faculty members get together informally and the blame for this lack of interest and motivation comes from several sides. I've always believed motivation was the key to learning. If you come to class wanting to learn something you never knew before, then you'll be motivated to do that. I enjoyed being a college student, especially a graduate student, as much as I've enjoyed being a faculty member because of that desire on my part to learn. But one of my favorite students told me in class the other day that learning didn't matter to her because it required too much work and effort. She was more interested in the grade she was going to receive than the knowledge the grade represented. And she's one of my GOOD students. On the other hand, we all have those students who don't come to class, or sleep when they do, or use any device they might have to entertain themselves during our lectures instead of listening to them.

The life chances for these students aren't great. If I or other faculty members like me are used as references, they won't get a good one and that means they most likely won't be hired for the kind of job they want. The tragic thing is that they won't really understand why. They've been in school for so long that they lose their focus; their eye on the prize, if they ever had it to begin with. One day bleeds into another and it seems like it goes on forever until one day it's over and they realize they didn't do what was needed to give them a chance at a good outcome. Most faculty members try to warn them when we see the mistakes they're making early on in the semester but too often it falls on deaf ears. Many of today's students have an uncanny ability to delay making an effort until the last minute and then they're shocked and surprised that it's too late.

So that's why I enjoyed yesterday's Honor Convocation so much. I was surrounded as I gave the keynote address by students who were motivated to learn or do things for others or both. Students who have top grades, students who are actively involved in the college or the community, students who want to make a difference in their life and the lives of others. Students like Jamee Stewart who won the Humanities and Social Science Division award I nominated her for last year and won it again this year when she was nominated by Jim Garretson for the Mathematics and Science Division award. I think she was surely the first student to receive the ultimate award back to back from two different divisions for her outstanding work and hope that she's not the last because she's the kind of student every faculty member wants and needs.

And Jamee wasn't alone; there were other Division award winners, Student Life Award winners, and All College Award winners culminating with the Presidential Award presented by the Mid-Plains President, Mr. Ryan Purdy.

As Vice President Andy Long said, we were in the company of giants yesterday and it was a thrill to be there.

If we could just figure out how to reach the rest of them who WEREN'T there!