It's your time!
Time is money!
Time waiteth on no one.
Each of those statements speaks directly to one of the most important lessons that a person can learn -- how to manage the most valuable resource of all, your precious time. Time management experts have observed that one of the major reasons for student failure is the improper use of time: waiting until the last minute to do homework, read, prepare for exams, write papers, or do research. Generations of students are familiar with what has become the bane of academic life -- procrastination. Waiting until the last minute to take care of business is a plague found in virtually every academic setting, from junior high school to senior high school, from community college to state university campus, from private universities like Stanford and Harvard to research-based institutions the likes of Caltech and MIT. It is no accident that successful students, particularly in higher education, have learned how to manage their time wisely. These are the individuals who get the good grades, the scholarships, the grants, awards and honors, the ones who go on to make successful marks not only in college but in their professional lives and careers.
The reality is that the accomplishments of those who have learned how to manage their time, how to make choices and establish priorities early in life, are not lost on prospective employers. Given the choice between students who "squeaked by" for the majority of their college careers and the students who were able to do well in school and, at the same time, hold down part-time and full-time jobs, and for many in today's society, take care of families as well, employers invariably choose the latter. The bottom line is that society is built around people who have learned that time waits on no one, that he who hesitates is truly lost, and that going through life while building a successful environment mandates a keen awareness of the importance not only of your time, but the people around you, the people you will be working with and those who will be affected by your own actions and choices. More to the point, there is no doubt that if you were the employer, your own first choice would be the individual whose record indicates a consistent use of effective, efficient time management down to the very real point of being to that crucial interview and any other meetings on time, not late, and never absent!
When we look at characteristics of students who drop out of school, who fail to finish the semester, who not only flunk courses but, quite often, dropout early during the semester after an established pattern of time abuse, there are definite patterns. Knowing what these patterns are, and then acting on them, can make all the difference in the world for you when it comes to being among those who not only finish the race, but do so in a timely fashion. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times ("Rebuilding the Nation's Public Education System," Opinion Section, February 13, 1994), U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley reinforced this point in stating, "We can't spare anyone. I don't care if they're an immigrant who has just come here and can't speak the language or a kid who has a learning disability or a brilliant person who is hanging out and is not interested in studying. All kids are going to have to get into this world of knowledge and education and become part of it."
When the author of this article first arrived at CSUN, the data indicated very clearly what the problem was: in the more than 100 years since the California State University System was first constructed, the graduation rates for minorities was dismal as fewer than 15 percent of Hispanic students and less than 12 percent of all African Americans admitted managed to graduate! That includes the development of some 21 CSU campuses and thousands of minority students over a century's time from throughout the state of California and the nation entering what has been described as the finest system of state universities in America. At CSUN, the picture was especially dim when considering that so many of these ethnic minorities were the first generation in their families to ever attend a four-year university.
If one subscribes to the concept that "a mind is a terrible thing to waste" as the United Negro College Fund states, and if one is particularly aware of the fact that Hispanics and Blacks now comprise the majority of students within the Los Angeles Unified School District -- this being the nation's second-largest district behind New York City -- that reality becomes even more grim when looking at what transpired in the LAUSD in 1986 according to Los Angeles Times Education Editor David Savage who reported that 50 percent of the District's 10th graders flunked the 10th grade.
Furthermore, of those who flunked the 10th grade, 78 percent were Black and Hispanic! While sociologists, psychologists and political scientists were having a field day interpreting this data, while public policy planners and politicians stepped into the bully pulpit to make their charges, accusations and counter-charges concerning the merits and failures of the educational system, the author honed in on those students who enrolled in his own classes -- ostensibly to gain college educations and enter the nation's workforce as productive, responsible citizens charged with carrying their families, communities, and state forward into the next century. What he found was a commonality regardless of where the student grew up or came from -- students who struggled, went on academic probation, were disqualified or who gave up all were trapped by a lack of time and the inability to manage their time, to establish the clear-cut priorities that those who were able to persist and graduate could and did.
This is what led to the study and development of what we now know of as the 9-Step Time Management Program -- a model based upon those students unable to make it despite sincere attempts to do well, despite having been the sort of over-achievers throughout their lives who made it out of the ghettoes and barrios where so many of their counterparts started dropping out in junior high, much less senior high, unable to compete and thus consigned themselves early in life to the nation's unemployment and unemployable roles. His efforts led to the production of an intensive system that makes students aware of just how important time management is, and how to apply it to their daily lives -- not just academically but personally and socially as well. It allows students to factor in having to work to get through schools (sometimes having to work 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, and using part of the monies earned to help support their families at home) and also makes students aware of the importance of counseling, mentoring, and seeking out sound advice as school and life decisions. To date, there have been close to 1,000 students in the Pan African Studies Department who have been exposed to this system, students who now have a better understanding what is it takes to succeed. Hopefully, you will now join this group.
Sonya Thompson is an 18-year-old graduate of Leuzinger High School in Los Angeles. She finished Leuzinger with a 2.58 gpa which included good grades in her English courses while she struggled through in math and science-related classes. Sonya was quite active while at Leuzinger: she was a member of the Drill Team for the 10th and 11th grades, then became a member of the Cheerleaders for her senior year. Moreover, Sonya was elected Prom Queen as a senior with her date, Tommy Lyons, receiving a football scholarship to attend Colorado State University. Sonya and Tommy, though, were as different as two peas in a pod when it came to school and family backgrounds. Tommy transferred into Leuzinger when an 11th grader. He normally would have attended Jordan High School in Watts. Tommy grew up in the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects as one of five brothers in a single family home. His three older brothers included one that was in jail for robbing a gas station, a second that was in the Bounty Hunters gang, and the third buried at Rosevelt Park Cemetery after being killed in a drive-by shooting. Tommy's youngest brother was attempting to follow in his own footsteps, and had transferred to Leuzinger as well.
Tommy, however, was not the sort of person you would call academically inclined. He had to take the SAT three times before scoring the 700-plus points needed to qualify for a football scholarship. Still, Tommy was popular and good-looking, the sort of Big Man on Campus (BMOC) that attracts the attention and admiration of his peers. Though Sonya was his "steady girl," graduation found Tommy the father of a two-year old daughter by a girl he knew in the Nickerson Gardens -- a young lady he no longer was dating. In Sonya, Tommy found the type of girl he felt more compatible with the dreams he had of getting out of the ghetto and making it in society. He certainly liked the choice Sonya made in attending Cal State Northridge and the twosome pledged that finishing college together offered a world of infinite opportunities.
Before coming to CSUN as a full-time student, Sonya was accepted into the school's Summer Bridge Program. While she would have preferred to stay out of school that summer and work while also seeing her boyfriend who had found a summer job working in Southcentral Los Angeles, this young lady attended Bridge at the persuasion of her parents. It was their belief that Bridge would give Sonya a chance to find out what college was about, earn some credits while doing so, be introduced to some of the school's professors while learning something about her own racial identity and heritage, get to know her way around the Northridge community while living in the University dormitories, and meet a new circle of friends. For the duration of the six-week long program, Sonya did exactly that although she went home every weekend to spend that time with Tommy. He left for Colorado State two weeks after the Bridge Program concluded and one week before CSUN was set to open. Before Tommy left, he made a vow with Sonya to spend the Spring Break with her.
In the meantime, Sonya had placed applications with several department stores and businesses in the Northridge area. Because of her parents' income, she was not eligible to receive the level of financial aid that many others were qualifying for. For that Fall Semester at CSUN, college life was a struggle as no one was hiring. She was caught in a situation common to many students whose parents are in the dilemma of the modern middle class with shrunken savings account and little in the way of liquid assets to draw upon. Sonya wanted to work anyway as she was used to having her own money. Then, during the Christmas Break, Sonya's father bought her a car right -- a 1992 Honda Accord -- with the understanding that she would make the $180 monthly payments that included auto insurance. She was excited even more about one job prospect; after going through two rounds of interviews, on the third she was hired to work in the Credit Department at Bullock's in the Northridge Mall. The job would pay Sonya $800 monthly, more than enough to meet her expenses for the Spring Semester while she continued to live on-campus in the University Park Apartments.
Sonya's first day of work at Bullock's was January 17, 1994. Fate has a way of turning the best plans of mankind around. That same morning, at 4:31am, the Northridge Quake happened. In 30 seconds of seismic activity, the Bullock's Department Store in the Northridge Fashion Center collapsed. Had it taken place when Sonya was scheduled to report for work just three hours later, she would have been killed. The dormitory at the University Park where she had lived for the Fall Semester was destroyed in the violence of the quake, given a "red tag" by the quake inspectors in the aftermath. She couldn't even enter to get the personal possessions -- the doll collection saved over the years and pictures of her family and Tommy -- left there during the Break. On the surface, one would say that this young lady was extremely lucky -- she could have been sleeping in her dorm on the morning of the quake and seriously hurt or worse. Had it happened later that day while she was at work, the results could have been even more devastating. But Sonya's problems were just beginning.
Her grades for the Fall Semester were borderline, something Sonya had difficulty explaining to her parents. She had earned "CR" in PAS 098 and Math 094a, but then she also received a "C" in Theatre Arts 111 and a "D" in Biology 100. Her fall semester gpa of 1.5 placed her on academic probation. That same fall found Sonya getting some $1,400 in debt -- the results of purchases she made with VISA, Mastercard and Discovery Cards picked up on the "Instant Credit" offered to college that she used for credit purchases on shoes, clothing and jewelry. Even worse, the majority of those items she acquired on credit and was now liable for were lost in that condemned University Park Apartment. The creditors had gotten to the point of calling Sonya's home, harrassing her mother during the day with inquiries about her daughter and when they were going to receive their monies or have to ruin her credit. This young lady had also run up a $498 telephone bill from calling Tommy in Colorado, taking collect calls from him as well.
That first week at CSUN was difficult for everyone, but even moreso for Sonya. With so many classes being listed as "closed" when she tried the TTR system, Sonya went against the advice of consulting with an EOP Counselor or one of her Summer Bridge faculty members and made the following course choices: PAS 155, Biology 100, History 150, Sociology 150 and Marketing 100 for a total of 15 units. To her credit, she applied to FEMA and received an 18-month housing voucher along with a check for $2,300. Sonya wanted to continue living with her two roommates from the Fall, these being two girlfriends made during the Bridge Program. Sonya's mother was able to persuade a friend to allow Sonya to work in her real estate office located on Manchester and La Brea in Los Angeles -- a job that found Sonya working 33 hours a week from 1:00pm - 6:00pm on Mondays-Fridays, 9:00pm-5:00pm on Saturdays.
Sonya's placement scores present the picture of a young person genuinely at-risk for not making it. Her combined SAT scores were 720, with a 340 in Verbal and 380 on Math. On her entering PAS 155 essay exam, she scored a "6" combined with scores of the 18th percentile on Logical Relationships and the 21st percentile on Usage. Apart from picking up a small Pell Grant and EOP check, she made no contact for tutoring or other academic assistance. That first week of school saw her making some $1,500 in purchases of new clothes that included six new pairs of shoes. She also spent $150 getting her hair done and another $50 on her nails, expenditures she rationalized on having to "look good" for school and work. Sonya used another $500 so she and her roommates could make a deposit on a three-bedroom, $1000 a month apartment they found in Sherman Oaks while waiting to see if their housing application was approved.
The only classes she actually attended during that first week at CSUN were PAS 155 and Biology 100. She spent $340 on books, buying all the books listed for the courses though she had syllabi only for the two that she had attended. Sonya had attended her PAS 155 course for that first class meeting only, had not attended the second -- and so had no idea of the actual text requirements while being "too busy" to go out and acquire the book to be used for the term paper. On the other hand, she was spending some 3-4 hours daily on the freeways moving between Northridge, the South Los Angeles home her parents resided in, the Inglewood real estate office she worked at, and the homes of her two girlfriends.
If the problems of the CSUN student described above seem considerable, then it's because they are. Sonya has clear problems in managing her time, setting priorities, making good decisions, and seeking expert guidance. In these ways, she is not unlike many students at CSUN and elsewhere. The Northridge Earthquake only serves to magnify the problems that she has. Her problems, however, are not insurmountable when one understands and makes a careful application of the author's 9-Step Time Management Program (TMP) along with actually working with the resources available at the university. The highly-successful TMP described next has been used by hundreds of CSUN students to help turn their lives and collegiate careers around.
The author first looks at the entire week and, for college students, states that the first understanding has to be a commitment to education. That is, if you declare yourself a full-time student, then the understanding is that college is your primary job. Studies show that the typical college student will hold some 14 different part-time jobs between their freshman and graduating years. This is particularly true for a commuter school like CSUN where more than two-thirds of the students do work 20-30 hours per week. When you understand that gaining a college degree is your top priority, then you give that time to exactly the effort involved -- so that Mondays-Saturdays concluding at 4:00pm on Saturdays is devoted to college.
That Saturday evening and Sunday belong to the student for personal pursuits and interests. The remainder of the time, a total of 136 hours each and every week of the school year, is given to the university, the professors, and the course work.
Step 2 -- Sleep (Naps + Evenings) ________
Revised Total ________
Step 3 -- Course Work (Units Enrolled + 3 Study Hours per course for reading, assignments, research, conferences with faculty professors and counselors, group meetings for class projects and study groups. Critical factor is study time.)
Adjusted ________-__________
New Adjusted Total ________
Step 4 -- Meals (Time spent making groceries, cooking, eating 3 meals to include washing dishes and cleaning kitchen afterwards. While it is recognized that majority of students eat lunch on campus, most important meals are breakfast and dinner. Considerable savings when students prepare own meals rather than constantly eating out or sending out for pizza, sub sandwiches, etcetera.)
Adjusted________-__________
New Adjusted Total________
Step 5 -- Employment (Actual hours worked each week. Students who are on athletic grants or participating in intercollegiate sports should also include practice time and actual game times as this is considered part of "work.")
Adjusted__________-__________
New Adjusted Total__________
Step 6 -- Commute Time (This includes time it takes commuting from home to school, time spent commuting back and forth to work, time spent commuting to see friends during the Monday-Saturday "University Week")
Adjusted__________-__________
New Adjusted Total__________
Step 7 -- Personal Hygiene (This includes laundry, ironing, showering/bathing, any and all housecleaning. Maintaining a clean, sanitary and wholesome environment is vital to one's psychological well-being and approach to life in general. Never taken for granted.)
Adjusted__________-__________
New Adjusted Hours__________
Step 8 -- Entertainment/Social Activities (This embraces time spent watching television to include shows like Living Single, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Oprah, Montel Williams, Sally Jessie Raphael, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, All My Children, The Bold and the Beautiful, As the World Turns, BET, MTV, NBC Sports, Lakers Basketball, ESPN, HBO/Showtime/Cinemax "Movies," video movie rentals, GameBoy, Sega and Genesis electronic games. Also includes friends "dropping by" during the week, your doing the same, time spent on telephone making social calls.)
Adjusted Hours_________ -_________
New Adjusted Total________
Step 9 --Personal Business and Affairs (Time spent taking care of bills, family relationships, the essential things that keep life on an even keel from week to week)
Adjusted Hours_________-_________
Final Adjusted Total__________
Make the note that all "adjusted hours" reflect those hours carried over from the previous step (i.e., the Adjusted Hours for Step 4 are the "New Adjusted Total" from Step 3). It often happens that the person completing the 9-Step TMP at first try finds himself/herself with a negative total such as a -37 hours. This is what the author refers to as a deficit model. What it indicates is a real problem in time management that the student is able to identify.
In mastering the 9-Step TMP, what the person has to apply is discipline and a conscious effort at thinking exactly how one is spending time. But even more, to do it correctly and benefit from it, theperson has to be absolutely honest in assessing how time is being spent or misspent. If one finds that 40 hours are being spent on Step 8 (Entertainment/Social Time), for example, on the first attempt then you do not try to "adjust" those hours to some preconceived notion. Instead, you complete the entire process to learn exactly where you are at. You have to be honest with yourself because it is, in fact, your time! More than that, if you are serious about doing well in any university setting, then there can be no room for fudging on the figures. What the author recommends is a Pre-TMP to see what is really happening in your life, and then an adjustment that gives you the time to be successful.
Define the following concepts taken from the article and then use it correctly in a complete sentence, one that contains a subject and a verb.