On Wednesday, September 16th, I listened as Dan Schwartz, a professor in the Cornell English Department, told the us students How To Succeed In College. But did he really?

I found the advice he gave very general and not truly helpful at all. He had advice for each of the individual grades, yet for sophomores he simply said “Focus on academics. Focus on getting involved. Focus on internships sometimes soon.” He sounds like every generic college brochure I’ve ever read.

Maybe I’m a bit biased – I have two older sisters who frequently, and without much prompting, give me advice. They frequently tell me about what they did in college, although they remain quiet about their own mistakes.

So perhaps I know more than the average sophomore – But truly I don’t think so.

I appreciate that Mr. Schwartz took time to help us with college, yet I don’t think he really accomplished anything at all. His speech should be aimed at high school kids about to enter college – I felt he was trying sell us on college. Yet we all attend college. A relatively good college. Why should he attempt to impress upon me the benefits of college when I know what benefits it offers me.

In short, while Mr. Schwartz was an engaging speaker who I could tell genuinely wanted to help us, his lecture was not extremely helpful.