A Model for getting the most out of college
By Jim Thornton

Palm Aire model/TV host Robin Kay reveals her tips to get the most out of college

Would success in college to you mean being able to do the things that you love after you graduate?  Many think of the college experience as exchanging four years (to start with) of your life in for the opportunity to interview for a job after graduation.  Is it possible to turn college into a life-changing experience instead of a “high school on steroids” that only prepares you for a job that may be obsolete in just a few years?  The answer is “Yes”, if you know how.

One proven method to be successful at anything is to model someone who has who has already achieved success. As a Success Strategist I show people how to model the behaviors of successful people to become successful themselves.  Modeling does not mean copying the person; it means adopting the strategies of the person and adapting them to your style.  For this article we are going to actually model a real-life model. 

The inspirational model that we will learn from today is former Palm Aire resident Robin Kay.  Robin is a successful model, speaker, actress, and voice-over artist. In addition to all that she has authored and contributed to audio seminars that teach people what they need to know to get started in modeling and acting.  She will be releasing a book this spring – 9 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of College.  

What can those of us who aren’t aspiring models learn from Robin? Quite a lot, it turns out!  To begin with, Robin paid for her entire private school education from her senior year in high school through college by performing every chance she had.  Robin learned how to leverage the opportunities that are available in college into an experience that prepared her to be busy doing all the things she loves now.  The following conversation that I had about Robin’s book and her experiences will give you a few strategies that you can adopt and adapt to be successful yourself.  If I had to give Robin’s secret to success in college and life in one phrase it would be: get creative!  

JT: Robin, it’s good to catch up with you. I know that you’re working on quite a few projects.  With all of that going on, why did you feel the need to write a book about getting the most out of college?

RK: I believe that everyone can be successful if they make the most out of their resources.  College was more than getting a degree to me – it was preparation for my life and a great career.  I wanted to share how everyone can have a valuable and useful experience in college beyond getting their diploma.  I love speaking to groups and writing a book was new challenge for me.  Writing a book did not come naturally; however, I know that sharing this information is important to students and I believe it will have even longer term impact beyond the talk that I give to students.

JT: I read your book and I wanted to ask you a few questions about some of your strategies to get the most out of college. One of the first impressions I got from the book was that it talked a lot more about developing relationships and experiences in college than it did about getting good grades.

RK: Getting good grades is important and I truly believe that one of the secrets to getting the most out of college is building relationships and gaining experience will help you to succeed while you are in college and after you have graduated.  Hands on learning experiences will set you apart when you are applying for a job and give you direction when you are honing in on a career.  Relationships are vital for success in life on so many different levels.

JT: Let’s talk more about relationships.  Do you mean more than traditional “college buddy” kind of relationships?

RK: Choosing the right friends is an important start.  In my book I do talk about the importance of having the right kind of friends.  Many college students are away from home for the first time and their choice of friends has a deep impact on their lives. What many people don’t plan to do is develop the other important relationships at college. College can get lonely and stressful and it is important to have a community and support structure in place when life gets tough.  I encourage students to get plugged into the student body by getting involved as well as connecting to the community where the school is located.

JT: Do you mean relationships with other students?

RK: Close friends are important but acquaintances are important, too. During college and after I graduated I take time to meet new people and stay in touch with them.  As I grow and my life circumstances change I have found that people I was not close to at one time become closer as we have more in common.  I use social media like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to develop and stay in touch with people. Many times a generous person will be willing to help you just because you ask- but you must develop relationships for that to happen. Even people I know casually are often a source of information.  I recommend that students get to know at least one new person a week in every class.  Put their contact information in your notebook (not on a tiny piece of paper that can easily get lost) and reach out to those contacts to organize study groups and get information you may have missed.  This will also help you get to know people better which may lead to other opportunities.

JT: You spend some time in your book discussing the importance of relationships with people you call “Gatekeepers”.  Tell me more about that.  

RK: There is a huge network of people to help you in college if you let them.  Your advisors, administrators, and professors are important because you can learn from them and they can help you in ways that you haven’t even thought of.

JT: I’m sure that a lot of people can understand why they should develop a good relationship with their professors but I bet not many think about advisors and college administrators.  Why do you think it is important to develop a good working relationship with advisors and administrators at your college?

RK: Your professors are experts at what they teach and they may also know options available to you at your school and in the community.  If you develop a relationship with your advisors, professors and administrators early and maintain it they will be able to make recommendations help you fulfill your goals and dreams.  If they know your strengths and your goals they will be eager to help you.  I experienced this in college when one of my college advisors created a special internship that allowed me to work in radio.  Many students don’t realize that advisors may have the ability to make suggestions and create custom programs for them. It also helps to develop good working relationships with administrators at the college. Simply being kind and appreciative of the help that you receive will set yourself apart from most students.  Most administrators have been around the college for a long time and they can be a source of valuable information. They can also help you with that transcript request or other “emergency” paperwork situation that seems to come up.

JT:  It makes a lot of sense that you would want the best advice you can get from your advisors and the most help you can get from the administrators.  Let’s go back to the professors for a moment.  How do you develop a good relationship with the professors?  Are you talking about “kissing up” or “apple polishing”?

RK:  No way!  Most professors have been around for long enough to recognize that kind of behavior and it usually doesn’t work. What will work is genuine interest in the subject matter.  Even if a class is not in your major it may be valuable in helping you relate to other people. I hope everyone learns in college to have an insatiable appetite for good information.  Being curious about a subject and wanting to learn will make it easier for you to be motivated to study, participate, and get good grades.  Professors can tell if you are interested in them by how much you pay attention in class and participate by asking questions.  They can tell if you are putting in serious effort and while that may not guarantee a good grade it will ensure that the professor will regard you as a serious student. Professors are the gatekeepers to your educational future; it is in your best interest to treat them with great respect.

JT: To sum up what you are saying – one of the things that we need to do to get the most out of college is to plan our relationships with students, advisors, and professors and get important experience that will help guide our future.  I know that you have a lot more to say about that in your book that will be released soon.  Are there other ways for people to learn more from you and get in touch with you?

RK: Absolutely! One of the best ways to keep up with me is by visiting my websites at www.CollegeTownSuccess.com and www.RobinKayLive.com. 

JT: Thanks Robin, it’s always a pleasure and inspiration to talk with you.

After reviewing Robin’s book and meeting with her again I left impressed with her energy and her passion for life.  What can we model from a model like Robin?  As attractive as she is, what we should model is her behavior. All of us can adopt and adapt  her plan to create more meaningful relationships to get more out of college and life.  Are you ready to model this model?

The above article is a reprint from http://palmairenewsandviews.com/Article written by Jim Thornton www.NorthStarConsultingOnline.com

9 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of College

The key to college success is looking at college as an investment.  You want to make sure you are getting the most out of your college experience in direct relationship to your time and money spent.  That point  is what inspired my recent book “9 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of College”.  If you went to college to party and “get by” then you have missed the point.  There is a place for being social, but you need a strategy to succeed plan.  If I was going to spend 125,000 on a house, I would make sure that it was worth the amount of money.  If you drop 10,000-50,000 a year on investment like college, you need to make sure that you are utilizing what the college has to offer you.  This topic is vast and I go into colleges and speak about this topic.  For lack of time, I want to leave you something to ask yourself.  Are you using college to propel you into a great career??  Even if you are taking over the family business, there are still so many opportunities to improve your business and you need to leverage the experience of your professors and college personnel to help you.

When competing, I forced myself to love the process and leave the outcome to the judges.  The truth is that I don’t stare at my trophies everyday and they gather a lot of dusk.  The value in my competition was the process and the joy of reaching goals.  Believing that I could accomplish something beyond myself, and then taking steps to make it happen was a great exercise in discipline and self-denial.

As an athletic motivational speaker and coach, I encourage athletes to dream beyond what they think is possible and then take steps everyday to get there.  The steps can even be small but when they accumulate they can turn into large steps.

Another point of  that I drive home is that sacrifice is a part of the process and it creates in an individual the important lesson of delayed gratification.  Having been someone who has walked in the shoes of athletes, I know discipline can be hard, but I promise that it will pay off a hundred times over.

If you know of an athletic group that could use a motivational speaker, please contact 727-697-7772

• Teach your child about managing their time well(that includes the amount of time spent on the internet).  Help them get into a time management class so they can plan wisely
• Have them look into services included in their tuition like tutoring, mentoring, counseling , and academic advising
• They can stress the importance of showing up to class and getting into a great study groups
• Encourage them to get involved on campus leaving less time to sit around and potentially get involved in some counter productive activities
• Reassure your child that their life path is up to them.  It is not about what anyone else wants but what they want out of life
• Attend events that are open to parent to participate.
• Visit them whenever possible to help organize them and stock their refrigerator with food
• If possible help your student choose college courses and on campus activities

Knowing that you truly love them and support them wholeheartedly can help curb the desire for students to take the wrong path.  The majority of high school students believe that their parents play the most important role in their college search and planning, according to the Institute for Higher Education.  So go ahead, get involved, you child will be thankful they were not embarking on this journey alone.

“We’ve got 25,000 people at Apple. About 10,000 of them are in the stores. And my job is to work with sort of the top 100 people, that’s what I do. That doesn’t mean they’re all vice presidents. Some of them are just key individual contributors. So when a good idea comes, you know, part of my job is to move it around, just see what different people think, get people talking about it, argue with people about it, get ideas moving among that group of 100 people, get different people together to explore different aspects of it quietly, and, you know – just explore things.”

I think was impresses me about Steve Jobs is that he followed his passion and became a  leader in the process.  Many of you may not know but Steve Jobs did not graduate from college.  He dropped out because schooling was so expensive for his parents.  He then enrolled in classes that were interesting to him.  One of those classes was calligraphy.  He learned about all different type of fonts and spacing which is seen all over Apple’s products today as a result of this college class.  As Steve Jobs said in a commencement speech, Windows copied the fonts of Apple.  So if Steve had not taken that calligraphy course in college, personal computers may not offer what is does today.  You just never know where your passions and desire to learn will lead.  Continue to pursue what you enjoy and be great at it.  The world may thank you for it.

This has been an excerpt from my book “9 Secrets to Getting the Most of fo College”

It will help you greatly in college and beyond. Most people will be able to type faster than they can write.  Find a class that can aid you in increasing your typing speed. 

This has been an excerpt from my book “9 Secrets to Getting the Most of fo College”

9 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of College

Sleep is important:

Staying up twenty-four hours and watching the sun rise maybe fun, but dangerous.  I learned this one the hard way.  I almost fell asleep behind the wheel of my car because I had stayed up through the night to watch the sun rise with a group of friends, then I went to classes and then off to my job.  I was running on adrenaline, my eyes closed without me even realizing it.  Fortunately, I returned home safely, but not getting enough sleep is a bad idea.  You need the best sleep possible to function and test well. 

Psychology professor, Pamela Thacher, has studied sleep habits in college students and concluded that, “If you use all-nighters, your GPA is slightly lower on average.”  This means if you have a low “B,” staying up late could possible bring you to a high “C.”  I have a friend who is struggling to get into a medical program because of a GPA attained ten years ago. It is slightly lower than a 3.8 and they are only accepting 3.8 and above.  You need all the help you can get in attaining good grades, and a good night’s sleep could have a big impact on your performance.

This has been an excerpt from my book “9 Secrets to Getting the Most of fo College”

Job advice is just an alum away for college graduates — chicagotribune.com

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