Classes are underway and students should be looking for success, Lincoln University President Kevin Rome and Curators Board President Marvin Teer told students Thursday morning in Jefferson City.
Rome told LU's Opening Convocation that teachers and administrators are excited they're here and for the new beginning each student faces in the coming year.
"This is your opportunity to go forward in a new direction," he said. "There is nothing that you can't achieve, if you decide it's what you want to do."
He noted most people can do things, even if they don't like the idea - and pointed to his own decision to get up at 4 a.m. so he can work out at the gym before going to work, "even though I'm not a morning person."
When people say they can't do something, Rome said, "It's not that you can't do it. You don't want to do it."
He also said people shouldn't be too concerned about what others think about them and their goals.
"The only thing that matters is what you think about you," Rome said. "There will always be people who doubt you, but that's not an excuse."
Teer, an attorney and a judge, graduated from Lincoln in 1985.
"I was a student just like you, sitting in these very seats," he told the students gathered in Mitchell Auditorium. "I'm sure there's a lot of trepidation in your hearts, wondering what's coming next."
Especially to the freshmen, he said: "It's college. But it's so much more.
"These are the times that you are here to better yourself, to make yourself better than what you are."
Teer also urged the students to dare to be different, challenge the norm, and be willing to take a chance and ask why.
He also urged students to spend more time reading and to continue learning throughout their lives.
Rome said students need to be better planners so they're not caught at the last minute by project deadlines or tests.
"If you are preparing for your midterms now - if you are doing those major projects now - then it will be easy," he said. "The reality is, you won't get it done the night before and be successful at Lincoln."
While faculty and staff want to help students succeed, he said, "It's not high school. They won't be coming into the classroom every day and say, 'Did you do your homework?'
"That's not their responsibility."
Rome challenged students to do better than last semester and reminded new students Lincoln offers many resources to help them achieve when things get difficult.
"When you fail, we fail," the president said. "And when you succeed, we succeed - and I like succeeding.
"We may not all agree on how to get there, but I can guarantee you one thing - we all want success for you."
Link: