The following speech was delivered by Dr. Robert Meade at the Academic Convocation on February 16, 2012. His remarks centered on the theme of the “Grad at Grad” characteristic: a Loyola student is becoming more academically excellent.”
Today we celebrate the Loyola Community. That there is one. That it is us. That we are here. It’s all good. And we also celebrate in a particular way students who have demonstrated Academic Excellence. We call their names. We give them awards. We applaud them. And we should. It’s not easy, doing what these students have done. And, what have they done? What is Academic Excellence? When I Googled “Academic Excellence” I got 11 million results in .43 seconds. Apparently when it comes to the subject of Academic Excellence, opinions differ. One high school student named Aria made this comment: “Academic excellence means having good focus and concentration on your work all the time. It means to have a good work ethic, meaning doing your homework and turning it in on time, not procrastinating, putting in effort, asking questions when you are unsure of something, listening to the teacher, completing assignments and projects. You don't necessarily have to have good grades if you aim for academic excellence but typically you can't go very wrong. It is the ability to achieve, perform, and make an effort in your academic activities.” What I like about Aria’s comment is the way she emphasized that grades are not the most important part of being academically excellent. Academic Excellence is not a grade but an attitude; it’s a habit of mind, a way of approaching your studies. Have a good work ethic. Do
2 your homework. Hand assignments in on time. Ask questions. Be active, not passive. I’m not saying that grades are not important. Anyone who has brought home a bad report card knows that that isn’t true. Bad grades can have bad consequences. One mother in Florida was so unhappy with her fifteen-year-old son’s grades that she forced him to stand on a street corner for four hours with a sign around his neck that read, “Honk if I need “a” education.” Many passing motorists honked. Speaking of grades, I sat down and looked at my college transcript. It’s a record of all the courses I took and all the grades I got. During my four years of college I took 46 courses and earned 35 A’s, 9 B+’s 1 B, and 1 D. One “D.” In Calculus. Sorry, Mrs. Cerussi. I was a college freshman in a sophomore-level class. How did I get into that class? I had taken calculus in high school, or so I thought, and I started my college career with 3 credits in math and a seat in an advanced class. I soon discovered that I had no idea what the professor was talking about. The math class I took in high school should have been called, “Loosely Based on Calculus,” or “Calculus Looks Good on Your High School Transcript.” Or something like that. Whatever it was, it bore little resemblance to the number-crunching rigors of college-level math. My professor was speaking Klingon, and I knew only Earthling and a little Naboo. I exaggerate. I don’t really know any Naboo. I mention my “D” in calculus because it’s a good example of academic excellence of attitude if not outcome. I didn’t drop the course. I stuck with it. I had a good work ethic. I
3 did my homework. I handed assignments in on time. I asked questions. I did the best I could, under the circumstances. I didn’t win any awards, but I didn’t fail, either. I had to be happy with that. And I was. After all, when a donkey tries to fly, you can’t be too disappointed if he doesn’t get up very high. The story has a good ending. I had absorbed enough Klingon in my calculus class so that I earned a “B+” in the second semester of the course. Much better. As Loyola students, you are all called to become more academically excellent, which includes: •
developing a greater precision and a personal style in thought and expression
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developing a curiosity to explore ideas and issues.
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developing the ability to apply knowledge and skills to new situations, and adjusting to a variety of learning formats.
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developing an organized approach to learning tasks.
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taking pride and ownership in your school accomplishments and beginning to enjoy intellectual and aesthetic pursuits. That’s a lot to think about, but it boils down to being organized and caring about your
school work enough to give it your best effort. My father often said, “If a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” His words come back to me at times when I’m tempted to give less than my best effort, like the time I wanted to drop my freshman calculus class. My father’s words helped me become more academically excellent. So I passthem on to you, so you can tuck them away for that rainy day when the demons of procrastination are trying to convince you that there’s no better time to spend all day playing Skyrim than when you have a paper due: If
4 a thing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. Mr. Lynessonce said something at an assembly that, like my father’s advice, has stuck in my mind. He said that each day you choosethe person you will become. Each day, in the decisions you make, in the countless “yesses” and “noes” of your life, you shape the person you will be. It’s not fate. It’s free will. You determine the person you will become. That is especially true in the area of academic excellence. You choose who you will be. An infinite number of you’s are out there, waiting to collapse down into the one you choose to be. No one can tell you who to be, but in my experience it’s better to be the student who lends the pencil than the student who never has one. It’s better to be the student who handed in the paper than the procrastinator. It’s better to be the student who took notes, who went to office hours, who studied for the test, who is curious and motivated and does well becauseit is worth doing well. Who will you be? Who will you become? When you decide, I hope the self you have chosen to be is one who is becoming academically excellent.
St. Ignatius Loyola Church Thursday, 2/16/12