English 100 at Ashland

Later in the course, I will have a lot to say about the difference between hard skills and soft skills . Briefly, hard skills are things you can write an instruction sheet for: changing a tire, writing a computer program, or taking blood pressure. Soft skills are all about attitude: how you approach the world and the work you do there. That’s what this list covers. Interestingly enough, in both the academic world and the world after college, soft skills determine your success more often than hard skills. I can teach you how to run a printing press or drive a stick shift much more easily than I can teach you how to be a cooperative part of the workforce, but that doesn’t mean the soft skills are unimportant. One of my friends who owns an electrical contracting company says the rule is “Two strikes and you are out”—late to work twice and you are fired. This list comes from a website for athletic coaches , but I think ...

Stuff that just isn’t true A lot of fake news circulates concerning college life. I’m not sure where all of this comes from, but kids seem to tell each other these lies—and you need to ignore them. “College attendance doesn’t count” Yes it does, in two ways. In our course (and in many courses) attendance is part of the grade, and unexcused absences count against you. And obviously, if you weren’t here and the teacher said something you need, that hurts too. Some teachers don’t appear to take attendance, but they really can—they just know who is supposed to be in their small classroom. (I’m not that good. I will usually call roll.) You only think that absences don’t count against you because we don’t have an assistant principal phoning your mother. You are an adult now, and you should know how much absences hurt your grade. “Showing up late is how I assert my independence” No, showing up late is how you miss im...

Here is the problem everyone faces when they enter college. For twelve years or so, you were in school and it all felt the same: you came in, sat there for several hours (maybe moving from one room to another), then you got to eat lunch, then went back to a classroom and sat there for a few more hours before they let you go home. If you messed up, you had to face the assistant principal and your parents. And some school districts were very poorly run—they truly did not care greatly about some things. If you could get through the day without committing a felony, that was a success in their eyes. Now, suddenly, you are in college, and all those rules have changed. First problem: It just doesn’t feel like school. You spend a lot less time sitting there. Fifteen credit hours is a pretty standard load for freshmen, which means that you might be in class only three or four hours per day. It is too easy to feel like the rest of the day is vacatio...

Academic Integrity—plain old honesty—is a big deal at Ashland, and I will hit the topic several times as the semester begins. (You will probably get tired of hearing me talk about it.) At least two reasons are behind my focus on this topic. “My high school teachers didn’t care.” I hear this one all the time. I take it to mean one of three things: the student is lying to me, the high school teacher was a fool, or (probably the most likely) the public schools didn’t have a meaningful way to enforce the rules. None of these is a good sign. Ashland University might be a tremendous change for these students. The teachers and administrators really do care here, and we do not have any obligations to keep dishonest students. “No harm, no foul.” We probably inherited this one from athletics: if the referee didn’t see you do it and you didn’t actually injure the other guy, everything is OK. The peopl...

Right now, most of the world is racing off to buy clothes for the Fall. That’s OK and pretty understandable—you are about to begin a new enterprise and you would like to look your best. As you plan your shopping trips, here are a few things to remember: Your classes are not all in the same building, so several times a week, you will be power-walking from one place to another. You need decent, comfortable shoes. North-central Ohio weather is somewhat unpredictable and can be cold and wet. Those comfortable shoes should be able to survive a bit of snow and water. You would be wise to get a hat and gloves. Whatever style you wore in high school will work just fine here. Even your high school letter jacket. You won’t have that much space to store things; on the other hand, you probably want more underwear than you had in high school because you might not get around to doing your laundry too of...