Why are you a student here at Eastfield? If you can tell yourself why you are here, you would be on a good trajectory to graduate with a certificate or enough hours with a good GPA to transfer to a four-year college. If you can tell others why you are here in terms of your goals, you should be in a good place after two years or a few semesters on campus.

Many students attend school to not only get a degree but also acquire skills and other positive habits they would use to better their lives and affect their families and their environment for good. On paper, that is how it should be. However, is that what actually happens? And if not, why not? Why do some students not achieve their goals?

Some fail to achieve their goals primarily because of a lack of focus. They mean to do well but do not have their goals written out clearly and placed in a place where they can see those goals daily and measure whether they are on track or not.

There is a popular saying that goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” So, for you to succeed in Eastfield and all other schools, consider writing out your plan for each course and each semester.

One other reason arising from the lack of focus is the sheer volume of distractions, such as extra-curricular activities, which are not bad in themselves but could derail your focus if you do not place them in the right place in your student life.

The story is told of a talented student and athlete who excelled so much in soccer he forgot the main reason he was in school and failed to graduate. If he had heeded to the famous Latin quote, “Mens sana in corpore sano,” which means a healthy mind in a healthy body, he would have noticed that the key ingredient was balance. You must be able to keep both your studies and sports in balance, so that while you are studying you also have time to play sports for fitness and your goal of becoming a successful student is not compromised.

Also, some students, while they are bogged down in their studies as a result of these distractions, fail to remedy their worsening grades.

There are free resources at Eastfield and all the other campuses that connect students to tutors who can help improve their grades and also help students become successful. At Eastfield, you can make an appointment for tutoring or just go to the Learning Commons and ask for help. The campus offers solutions to student’s problems.

More information can be found at DallasCollege.edu.

You can become the successful person you have dreamed about all your life. You may just need a little tweak here and there. Ensure that you surround yourself with friends who have a goal to be successful, and who are also writing down their goals and keeping track of their progress. A friend of mine who went on to become a very successful Certified Public Accountant, told me how he initially was not a math person. However, because he surrounded himself with friends who practiced math daily, he became adept at it and fell in love with the subject.

You can become who you came here to be. You can rise to great heights you never thought possible. You must make sure that you have written down your goals in an accessible place where you can track your progress daily while also keeping in balance extracurricular activity and maintaining a very strong support system to take you where you belong-the fulfillment of your goals and dreams. You’ve got this!