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Students should finish in 4

A ccording to UA President Peter Likins, graduating in four year is becoming increasingly difficult. Sadly enough, students are accepting the "Tommy Boy" course load and approaching their college years in a very different manner than students just a generation ago. Despite the weight of college, it is increasingly important that students find the initiative and drive to finish in four if possible.

Many students in the 90s have more to deal with, like work, extracurriculars and the crucial beer bong. However, it is my feeling that what students lack is true desire. Some are feverishly scraping the necessary funds together to pay for classes and shoddy apartment rent, but more are riding on parental income like adolescent leeches. To the immature riding the monetary wave: Get off.

Recently, I met with a friend of mine who graduated in four from a prestigious Ivy League school. He mentioned that, undoubtedly, employers were impressed with his ability to handle the Ivy League. However, in the same breath, they also related how astounded they were that he made it through in four. The drive exhibited by a four-year finisher is as impressive as being at an Ivy. Nearly anyone can finish in four if the will is there.

One example of extra hours that anyone can get are during the summer with an internship. Some are paid and others not, but considering you're off campus and only paying for one credit hour despite the number of credits you earn, that's a hell of a deal. I got nine credit hours this summer for $250. Now I'll be well into junior status after three semesters in school.

Additionally, the University of Arizona has given everyone an incentive to take extra hours and study harder. All credits over 12 cost the same. At 17 hours this semester, I'm getting five for free. For those of you taking 12 or less, that's half a semester's worth of tuition and good movement towards getting out. It's not that I have mad skills, but rather that I've seen the benefits of finishing in four when applying to graduate school and work.

Now, the question arises: "What do you do all day, study?" Well, no. I work 20 hours a week, swim at least 3 hours a day apart from Sunday, write for the Wildcat and enjoy college. How is this possible? Time management and again, the crucial element of willpower.

Obviously, not everyone needs, nor wants, the same things that I want. Underlying the entire argument lies several substantial points. One is that the wasted time you spend here affects who you are. The "go get 'em" types find themselves doing better after school is over. Although the four to nine years you may spend here are supposed to be the "best of your lives," there are some 50 more left after graduation. How will those be spent? In the hole or successfully?

Secondly, your parents have invested years into you and need a financial break. Your parents are surely reaching the age of retirement or at least slowing down. They need money to continue living the lives they've worked so hard for. You are not entitled to a piece of the pie for the rest of your life. Two extra years here in school translates into nearly $60,000 more dollars of support if you don't have considerable scholarships. That's a lot of money.

Pressures can still be considerable for a great many college students and to extend one, and sometimes even two semesters, is unavoidable. On the flip side, those taking the money boat to torpid town are lampooning the educational system and their parents.

Again, willpower and time management. Do you want it bad enough? Is a professional career highlighted by raises, leading positions and financial prosperity your goal, or would you rather lay dormant here at the UA and spend your business life working just to make ends meet and falling behind in bills? The first step to the former is finishing in a timely fashion.

Each of you has immense potential. Few of you have been tested, others have avoided the tests. What's more is that regardless of your academic history, the future remains unwritten and opportunities abound. Find the willpower, and prove Likins wrong.