Walking through the St. George campus the other day, I took a moment to enjoy the charged atmosphere as graduates came bursting through the doors of Convocation Hall to be greeted by the embraces, proffered bouquets and clicking shutters of waiting friends and family.  There’s no doubt about it: completing a course of study here—at what is unquestionably a very rigorous (if, ultimately, also an exceptionally rewarding) academic environment—is a major achievement.  Anyone who dons the requisite robe and unfamiliar mortarboard deserves major kudos. 

But graduation isn’t the only measure of success.  A student who attended classes for six months and then realized that this just wasn’t the best time for her to be in university and withdrew to pursue other interests; or a student who is taking one course a year and has received ten credits in ten years; or a student who is gearing up for a ‘victory lap’, having discovered in her third year that drama, not biology, is her passion…may all be seen, as well, as exemplars of success. A successful student isn’t just a student who graduates, or who finishes her degree with a 4.0 GPA: a successful student is someone who, in the course of her studies, has gained a greater understanding of her goals in life, and has acquired the skills, knowledge and determination to realize those goals.

NP