Setting The Right Expectations While Joining an Academic Institution

When I join an academic institution, be it a leading business school or an engineering college, I expect the following:

1. If I were good in academics in the past, I expect that my previous academic excellence and habits will continue to help me in the subsequent years

1. If I were NOT good in academics, I expect that I now have an opportunity to start with a clean slate, and not allow the past to determine the future.

If I were good in academics:

1. I had good teachers / tutors. I may be lucky to have a teacher who could explain concepts very well, have patience and understanding, sometimes force and sometimes cajole me to give my best. The teacher created a scaffold and gradually removed the scaffold as I became more competent. I was therefore motivated.

1. I liked the subject and found it easy or not boring. Therefore, I gave more time to the subject that I found competent to handle.

1. I had good parents, who motivated me, pushed me, cajoled me, gave me structure and showed the future. They also held my hand

1. I had good peer support, who did not pull me down, who gave me respect, accepted me as I was and did not compete.

1. I had good genes, and I was able to think well, grasp concepts, have patience, could strategise and plan my academics.

1. I could see how academics would lead to a rosy future, and I believed that I could achieve it

In short, I had

1. the ability and capability
2. a good environment and
3. the right attitude

If I were bad in studies,

1. I could blame myself, the teachers, the parents, the subjects whatever.

1. I could accept that I was good in sports, socialising, but not in mugging for exams.

1. I know that my history of academics in my hometown, possibly the same teachers and the same school, same peers and their beliefs about me also determined how I was treated and examined. Now I can create my own persona, without any past references.

1. I believe that since the new college is a different location with different friends, and since I am not stifled by the environment, I can do better and start afresh.

1. I can develop new abilities; I can adapt to a new environment and can motivate myself.

But will my expectations match the reality? Will my academic life be as I envision it or will there be a mismatch?