Summary of The Secrets to College Success - with Joshua Smith of Loyola University

Summary of "The Secrets to college success - with Joshua Smith of Loyola University"

This video features a detailed conversation between the host, Ben, and Joshua (Josh) Smith, a faculty member and former dean at Loyola University, focusing on how to be successful in college. Josh brings years of experience advising students, particularly on the transition from high school to college, and shares insights on academic, social, and personal aspects of college success.

Main Ideas and Concepts

  1. Definition of college success
    • Success is often narrowly defined as graduation and earning a diploma.
    • Josh emphasizes that success also includes present experiences and small wins during college, such as personal growth and enjoying the college environment.
    • Long-term reflections by alumni often highlight the importance of relationships and meaningful experiences over just academic achievements.
  2. Common Misconceptions and Bad Advice
    • Students often enter college with unrealistic expectations or bad advice, such as overloading credits or pursuing too many majors/minors.
    • Balance is crucial—between academics, extracurricular activities, social life, and personal time.
    • Colleges often fail to teach students how to navigate bureaucracy or seek help effectively.
  3. Key Lessons from Senior Students
    • Taking too many credits leads to burnout and poor performance.
    • Overcommitting to multiple majors/minors often dilutes focus and does not significantly impact job or grad school prospects.
    • Students underestimate the workload and struggle with maintaining momentum throughout the semester.
  4. Balance and Time Management
    • Balance is multi-dimensional: academics vs. extracurriculars, social life, work, and self-care (sleep, fitness).
    • Students often waste time due to poor scheduling and lack of reflection.
    • Developing a realistic calendar and planning semester/week/month goals is essential.
  5. faculty Roles and Student-faculty Relationships
    • faculty types vary: adjuncts, lecturers, tenure-track, tenured, research faculty, each with different responsibilities and availability.
    • Teaching is often a smaller part of faculty duties, especially at research-focused institutions.
    • Students often misunderstand faculty roles and may not appreciate the workload or incentives faculty have.
    • Building relationships with professors is valuable but underutilized; office hours are often empty because students don’t know how to approach or what to ask.
    • faculty can improve student engagement by being more present on campus and proactively reaching out.
  6. Skills Students Often Lack
    • Deep reading and critical thinking skills are underdeveloped.
    • Many students do not read for pleasure, which hampers their ability to engage with complex academic texts.
    • Resilience and ownership of learning are lacking; students sometimes let external factors dictate their motivation.
    • Overemphasis on grades leads to unnecessary stress and distracts from actual learning.
    • Planning ahead and proactive use of resources (tutoring, office hours) are often neglected.
  7. Challenges and Changes in Higher Education
    • Decline in tenure-track faculty and rise of adjunct/part-time faculty.
    • Increase in online education with limited instruction on how to learn effectively online.
    • AI and technology will significantly impact teaching and learning, requiring responsible use and adaptation.
    • Students must become advocates for themselves, especially in online settings, by actively seeking help and networking.
  8. Advice for Students
    • Don’t take college or yourself too seriously; it’s one part of a longer life journey.
    • Make plans and structure your time realistically.
    • Focus on personal growth and relationships, not just grades or credentials.
    • Learn to be comfortable with change and self-reflection.
    • Develop social skills, including how to be a good friend, which is rarely taught but essential.
    • Take risks to build relationships with faculty and peers.
    • Use resources available on campus and online; don’t be passive.

Methodology / Instructions for college success

Notable Quotes

— 21:20 — « Faculty is not a faculty is not a faculty. There are at least seven different types of faculty, from part-time adjuncts to tenured professors, and none of them have ever had a course in how to teach or design assessments. They just kind of learned from good or bad models or trial and error. »
— 23:26 — « Academics by default are a little standoffish, a little less socially adept. We spend a lot of time on a little thing that's really important to us, but we don't always come off as open or approachable. »
— 40:40 — « We don't teach you how to learn in college. This over obsession with grades is really hurting a lot of people and causing unnecessary stress. They're focused on the wrong things at the expense of their brain working on the actual problems. »
— 54:50 — « Don't take yourself or this too seriously. This is just one little part of what hopefully is a long, rich, and enjoyable life experience. Become comfortable with who you're becoming as you learn and change intellectually, socially, and personally. »
— 57:19 — « I saw a good talk with Simon Sinek and Trevor Noah about how come we don't teach people how to be a good friend. Being a good friend is a pretty good skill to learn as a young person. It's hard and not come natural. »

Category

Educational

Summarize another video

Video