Summer’s over...check your class schedule, it’s official. Please stop crying. So you are back from your vacation along the Silk Road; maybe you were in the U.K. enjoying London after the riot (you know who you are); maybe you were in Mexico visiting some Mayan ruins. Tell me, is the world still supposed to end December 2012 as the Mayan calendar predicts? If it is, then studying English won’t be very important. However, I’m going to be an optimist and argue we’ll be here in 2013. If so, then your future is out there…waiting. But what is this thing? This future. Would you call it a friend or a frightening monster?

To many of you, your future is unknown and unknowable. This is the monster: the unknown. However, the future is only frightening because you have put off preparing for it. Time for a reality check. Time to figure out who you are and what you want. If you can begin this search, then you will find the future is wizard...wonderful. Being prepared is one of the keys to success in all areas of your life. If you are reading this, then congratulations because you are concerned about your future and are taking the first steps towards preparing for this.

Still, there is the problem of how to prepare for the future. Of course no one will be surprised when they learn the keys to the future are hard work, setting goals, and learning how to fail successfully.

Student X: Learning how to fail successfully...what do you mean Professor?
Professor D: Firstly, you will need to be willing to learn from your mistakes. The best way to do this is to ask for feedback, correction, and advice on how to study English more successfully.
Student X: Wizard!
Professor D: Then you need to be able to laugh.
Student X: Now I am lost. What do you mean being able to laugh?
Professor D: Too many students become stressed by every mistake they make and this hurts their self confidence. If you can laugh at your mistakes, you can keep your mind fresh, lower your stress, and enjoy the study of English.
Student X: Well, it is a thought.
Professor D: Try it for a while and you will see it works.

There is more, nevertheless, to English than learning to fail and laughing. Along with these Buddhist meditation techniques, you also have to introduce a couple of other elements: hard work and setting goals.

Firstly, the creation of achievable goals is very important. Perhaps you want a better TOEIC/TOEFL score. Then again, becoming an exchange student may be your goal. Some students may wish to make international friends. There are many different types of goals but your goal(s) should be realistic and achievable. This is crucial. However, no matter what your goal(s), you will have to clearly define them in order to succeed. Without clearly defined goals any project you begin will fail – and not in the good way mentioned above.

Then there is hard work. Not simply the willingness to work hard…but actually working hard. Many times students begin a semester with the determination to really take their semester and English seriously...to increase their score...to increase their vocabulary...but...oh sadness and tears...something goes wrong! :- Maybe it begins when you skip a class to attend a festival for your major. Not that? Okay, maybe you have MT obligations...that is a real possibility because you can’t can’t can’t miss MT. Perhaps you can’t, but this is where your good intentions begin to come to an end. One absence leads to another...then another...and finally your professor is failing you for attendance problems. Worse than this...your goal of improving your English is gone...your self confidence is not far behind....and you find yourself spending more time playing games...drinking too much soju...and not doing your homework or thinking of that future which is now waiting…the future that is, once again, the monster you were hoping to turn into your friend.

The future, your future, is difficult to know and even more difficult to understand. There are a few ways, however, that will help you to both know and understand your future.

1. Being prepared
2. Hard work
3. Clear, achievable goals
4. Learning to fail successfully
5. Being able to laugh
6. Attending class…regularly, if not perfectly
7. Keeping a positive, can do, attitude
8. Don’t be afraid of your professors…they don’t bite ☺
9. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
10. Ask your teachers to repeat themselves if you do not understand what they were saying
11. Play…occasionally it is important to relax…this will help to clear your mind and relieve your stress…but do not play too much

This is a new semester and you can become a new student, a better student, and a happier person because by the end of the year you will have accomplished some important goals. Good luck and have a wonderful semester.