Book of D: Navigating Collegiate Life

My niece is a junior at my beloved alma mater, Ŧexas Ŧech University. She is extremely smart. So smart that she doesn't really have to study or try hard, which has gotten her into trouble lately with the dreaded SAP and the grueling appeals that accompany the issue. As a member of the Student Affairs Division at my U, I know first-hand what SAP issues mean and how difficult the issues can be to navigate. If my niece was attending this U, I would immediately instruct her on what she should do, and I would probably be on her like "white on rice" because SAP issues are no laughing matter.

They are serious and if the student does not make an attempt at correcting his or her path, the consequences could become unnecessarily dire. I'll be first to admit that navigating collegiate life is difficult enough when things are going well. There are still complexities that plague college students who are doing well and even for those who are astute, but when you include issues such as SAP or such, the navigating of collegiate life becomes the strife of student life. There are a myriad of rules and laws that govern a public university; the university administrators are governed by a state board and university system and decisions made at the respective collegiate level are not based on any one person's personal opinion; moreover, no one is out to get anyone. No staff or faculty member can use his or her power as a means of getting retribution against any one student - ever! There are several amnesty programs offered by various institutions of higher learning (e.g. academic, alcohol, etc.) because the permanent castigation of a student really is the last thing a university wants to do, and it lends the student a certain kind of sovereignty and power. But, the very autonomy that is given to each student also warrants that the student must remain diligent and aware of everything going on in his or her career. For instance, if the student's degree plan goes rogue and off-course, he/she cannot blame an advisor or other staff or faculty member, it is his or her own problem. There are reasons for university catalogues, and it remains the sole duty of the student to familiarize him/herself with the catalogue which contains detailed requirements set forth by the respective university, per state and federal laws, to obtain the correct courses and number of credit hours. Any other issues the student encounters, such as with my beloved niece and her SAP matters, are just a reminder that life can be harder than it has to be unless we take matters into our own hands to fix them or to prevent them from happening whenever possible - because everything has a solution and most things don't have to breakdown if we are more mindful.