The factors that set apart the drop-outs, the super seniors and the graduates

My first day of freshman year I, along with every other new student, was given a tassel for my graduation cap while waiting to take the class of 2022 photo. A symbol of our graduation yet to come, we were meant to hang on to that tassel until our final day at NDSU. 

While the gesture was kind, my tassel is now likely sitting in the bottom of a donation box. A good portion of those students so hopeful to graduate in the spring of this year have dropped out, transferred or extended their schooling by a good few years. 

Freshmen still possess hope for the possibility of the future. They look towards graduation with an assuredness that has been stomped out of most upperclassmen. I hope they never lose it, those wide-eyed innocents!

Still, I don’t think it hurts to be honest about how likely graduation is for a good chunk of our freshmen, if for no other reason than denying the reality of what could happen will very likely lead to reality smacking us in the face down the road.

The reality is that, according to College Factual, only 56.5 percent of freshmen graduate NDSU within six years. We all like to think we’re the exception to the rule, but for almost half of NDSU freshmen they’ll be lucky to make it out as super-super seniors, let alone graduate from NDSU at all. 

So what is it that separates those students that graduate on time from those that transfer, drop out or take a few (or many) extra years to graduate? Well, the answer is not necessarily simple. 

There are many reasons beyond student control; including personal tragedy, money issues or perhaps even a global pandemic. However, it isn’t often any of these things that cause the average NDSU student to get thrown off their path. It’s the far more predictable woes of college life that do the trick. 

I will say from personal experience, it is those students who seem to focus more on the idea of college being a party-having, sleep-until-noon-every-day indulgence fest that appear to find themselves on academic probation and out of NDSU faster than they can shotgun a beer. 

We’re in college, we’re going to have fun. I’m not recommending abstinence from partying and adventurous endeavors — mostly because I’m not boneheaded enough to think anyone would listen — this is simply a reminder that as fun as college can be we are here to learn after all, which is unfortunately usually the least-fun portion of the whole deal. 

Another sure-fire way to book a ticket on the drop-out train would be to surround yourself with people who don’t see school as their priority. I have plenty of fun-loving friends, but I also learned how to say to them, “No, I can’t actually go out right now. It is Tuesday and it is 3 a.m., and dear god please go to sleep.”

Real friends will respect your own needs and priorities, so make sure to surround yourself with academic-minded people, or at least individuals with true respect for boundaries. 

If you want to avoid extending your stay at NDSU, I would recommend trying as many classes now as possible. Take it from me, I’ve officially registered under just about every major in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and I am now graduating a full year later than I could have if I had just figured my shit out a bit earlier. 

Make some connections within your department. Whether these are friends you make in classes or peers from your major you find in a club or a professor who you really jam with, find a way to tie yourself to the university and your major before life inevitably pulls you away.

The truth that many freshmen won’t graduate on time or at all can be daunting. If you work now to establish ways to prioritize your time here, you can be part of that roughly 56 percent that gets to graduate in six years.

And remember, if your plan for your time at NDSU does veer off track, that’s not a sign that you’re incapable of ever graduating. Education is not linear and the fact that you’re even here and trying to graduate when the world can sometimes feel like a flaming dumpster fire, is a sign that you belong.