Things that my Mississippi State University Students Taught Me

I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with some of the student-athletes at MSU throughout 2022. This was an unexpected turn in my career that came about through pure happenstance, and I am so grateful. Here are some things that they taught me that I will take with me forever.

1. It is more important to teach life skills than content.

In my position as a learning specialist, I did not teach. I was tasked with helping my student-athletes navigate their collegiate journeys by helping them learn how to independently function- both within the classroom and outside of it. This meant that sometimes, we spent our time practicing typing. Sometimes, we planned out weekly schedules to ensure that they would meet all obligations. Sometimes, we workshopped ways to deal with difficult people in their lives and planned out conversation points. Sometimes, we talked about how to budget lump sums of scholarship money. While most of our days were centered around the ultimate goal of course completion, I found that without an understanding of basic life skills, the students struggled.

Without time management, even the brightest student missed exams and failed courses. Without note-taking skills, even the most alert student became overwhelmed with studying. Without test-taking skills, even the most dedicated student was too anxious to perform. Without coping skills, even the kindest student was derailed after a fight with a loved one.

People will spend 13-18 years in school, they will hopefully spend 60+ years beyond school in a world where life skills are the key to success.

My students taught me that it is important to remember that a successful citizen is so much more than just a good academic student.

2. All humans have their limits.

I worked with some of the strongest, fastest, most talented people that I will ever meet. They regularly display elite skills that are unattainable by us normal humans. Before working in college athletics, I saw these athletes as unstoppable. And while this is true in many facets of their lives, they are very much just humans. They get tired. They get overwhelmed. They feel over-committed. They feel under-prepared. They feel over-exerted. They need support. They have taught me that even the highest achieving of people still needs to be treated with grace and understanding. They still need to be told that they are loved and capable. Even our most outgoing, successful students are just people who need to be treated as such.

My students taught me to not expect so much from others (or myself) that I forget to allow them to fail and to breathe.

3. Resilience is powerful.

Every single week, these student-athletes work from sunup to sundown in order to perfect their craft. They are preparing mentally and physically, and sometimes, they lose. For me, when I work extremely hard on something just to fail, it is devastating. I am prone to wallowing. These student-athletes aren’t given the chance to wallow. They are just told to get back at it. This has been a fascinating process to observe as these kids take wins and losses with grace, and it is so inspiring.

My students have taught me that we are all capable of resilience, and while it is healthy to reflect, watch film, and decide what we can do better, getting back to work is productive and powerful.

4. Higher education is for anyone.

In this new position, I have been given the chance to see what happens when students of all types are given the chance at higher education. Before this job, I prided myself in equally pushing both career and college as options for my students. I still very much feel as though career options and college options are wonderful, but this job has shown me that college is not just for those who are typically high-achieving while in K-12. Some of my students would have never called themselves “good students” throughout K-12, but they are ending the semester with all A’s and B’s because they learned how to take hold of their own education. Some of my students barely squeaked out C’s (or D's 😅), and I have never been prouder because I know that those grades were hard-earned and will lead to a degree that opens doors. The success of my students is not directly correlated with their success in K-12, and I am so thankful that each of them was given the chance to go to college.

My students have shown me that we should always present students with all options and allow them to set their own limits. Sometimes, what we can see from the outside does not equate to true potential, and true potential can only be realized in the moment.

I have loved this year so much, but I am excited to return to K-12 in January. I re-enter the classroom with a new perspective on the importance of K-12 education, and I cannot wait to help nurture the next generation of leaders and learners. I will forever be grateful to Mississippi State University for giving me my teaching degree, my husband, and for connecting me with the most loving, wonderful student-athletes known to man.

Hail State Forever.