So it's the morning of my last year of college. I sit now with the glorious *gurgle, gurgle* of the coffee maker in the background, and like most first days of school, I woke up early and subsequently, and ready to go 20 minutes before I actually need to be.
But that is OK.
It's given me time to think. Which, being school and such, is a good thing.
So to where did my thoughts travel this morning? Answer: Will Smith.
Sometimes I have seemingly random thoughts which in actuality have a real purpose and meaning. Today I thought about the scene in Hitch where Mr. Smith (Hitch) and "Albert Brennaman" are on the steps of a house and they're talking about the 90/10 approach. I won't go into full detail but basically one person gives 90% of the effort and the other person finishes with the last 10%.
Now...what am I talking about?
It's my last year of my undergrad work. Hopefully by the end of the year I will have earned a B.A. in Psychology and have a Bible minor. And already I've begun to slip into thoughts of best ways I can just barely scootch by with a B- or some other mostly acceptable grade, without killing myself to do better.
But I sit here today on this 26th of August in the year 2009 (of our Lord) and say, "[I] will not go quietly into the night!" [I] will not vanish without a fight! [I'm] going to live on! [I'm] going to survive! Today [I] celebrate [my] Independence Day!"
(Which is also from a Will Smith feature film.)
So that is my promise this semester. I will not fall into the Will Smith approach to learning. I think the biggest problem with that approach is the reality that it's worked so far. I've gotten mostly decent grades (some far better than others) but on the whole, I'm still mostly an OK student. But this "mostly 90/10" is no longer good enough for me.
I've got to "Be strong and courageous and do the work!" (1 Chronicles 28:20)
It may seem simple. Just do the work. But I'll definitely need the first part.
Strength: to stay up and actually finish well, to wake up and get to class, to work the extra hour to get the good grade, etc...etc...etc...
Courage: to be able to say no when I need to work, to not stretch myself too thin, to choose not the easy route just to get it done, etc...etc....etc.
So, no more. No more 90/10. No more complacency.
I say, "No thank you Mr. Smith! I will not go quietly into the night. I will not vanish without a fight! I'm going to live on! I'm going to survive! Today I celebrate my Independence Day!"
[crowd cheers]
I will do the work.
Thank you President Whitmore!
[crowd cheers again]
