Castleton Spartan

Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Opinion

Tim Smith '97

As an eighth-year teacher in a small Vermont high school, I have students that ask me every week: "What is college like?" I explain to them that the key to success in college is self discipline and time management.

Most of my students look at me like I am crazy and then promptly ask me about the social life of college. I tell them that I had the "typical college experience" and let their imaginations wander. However, looking back on my "typical college experience," I would say that it was anything but typical. The connections that I made at Castleton have led me down a long and winding road, one that was unanticipated, yet eventful and necessary for the success I now experience in my life.

When I first arrived at Castleton I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life after college. I imagine most people were in the same boat. Making my way to and from classes each day, I often wondered and asked myself "What am I doing here and why am I doing this?"

What got me through these confusing and intimidating times were the people I made connections with. Whether it was a friend, professor, or coach, it was ultimately my connections at Castleton that guided me to be an educator. After a brief evaluation of my high school transcript, anyone could identify that I was not the pillar of academia. I was an average kid with average grades who wanted nothing to do with high school after I graduated.

At that time, there were certainly no thoughts of becoming a teacher in the future, not to mention a high school teacher. My mindset changed, however, once I entered Castleton. The people who entered my life invested time into going after my best and pushed me to strive for greater goals and assisted me in setting goals that were perhaps higher than I thought I could achieve.

The connections I made with people at Castleton gave me the courage to go after something greater in my life; a life that involved thinking about others and always giving 110 percent. Among those who left a lasting stamp on my life is former Castleton men's soccer Coach Phil Rogers, who instilled in my team, "don't get by, get better!"

Those are words I learned to live by in soccer, that I try to live by today, and I attempt to plant into the brains of my students in the classroom and on the playing field. It is an understatement to say that soccer was an important aspect of my college career. In reality, it was experiences on the soccer field that taught me the value of teamwork, determination, and the possibility of achieving goals that many thought were unattainable.

Continued...

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