Morgan’s Message
N
ow is your time. No matter how much you pretend
others have a stake in it or care how you use it, it’s
still yours. Your time wasted; your time well used;
your time doing something meaningful; your time spent building
character.
If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard
enough. It took me the better part of five years at this college
to realize that taking risks was more exciting and empowering
than just trying to get good marks. If you’re exceeding your
own expectations, taking on a bit more than you think you can
handle, or receiving praise, you’re probably about to drop a ball.
And that’s OK, in fact, it’s great. You know that you’re learning,
that you’re taking on responsibility and that people are counting
on you. All of those are great things to have in your life; you just
need courage to have them.
It’s about experiences not successes. Do you measure your
academic or professional worth by the likelihood that you will
be a success in the future? There’s nothing wrong with that but
as you strive toward consistency, academic proficiency and
great grades remember that meeting challenges and knowing
what you could have done differently is just as valuable as
your A+. Evaluate your experiences based on what you learned
and what you and your team did right and wrong. You’ll
be respected for your leadership and you will always take
something valuable away.
Take Responsibility for your errors. Grades matter. No
question; but so does your character, your strength of will and
your ability to stand by your decisions and take responsibility.
Have you ever wanted to sit in a hole and hide because you blew
it so badly? That feeling is a weird combination of shame, fear
and anxieties of all kinds. It’s pervasive. It can take over your
mind and it makes you feel like the world might cave in. The
only way to get rid of it is to own up, explain to the people that
care what happened or FIX IT. This is something we thought we
learned when we were kids but so many of us have forgotten
how to do; our problems are bigger now, people have grand
expectations for us or we are so invested in other people’s
emotions that we just can’t bring ourselves to admit that we
screwed up. Fess up and fix up. You’ll feel better and you’ll be
better the next time.
Connect with me!
(L-R) Glenn Vollebregt, SLC President & CEO; Morgan Davis, Student Association President; Gord C. MacDougall, SLC Sr. Vice President.
www.SAvoiceSLC.com | Student Association of St. Lawrence College
November 2013 SA Voice 3