I had the distinct pleasure of attending General Motors Institute in Flint, MI, upon graduation from Mohawk High School in Columbus, OH. GMI, as it was called, has gone through two name changes. When General Motors decided to stop funding the college in 1982, GMI marked its independence with the name, GMI Engineering and Management Institute. In 1998, the name was again changed to honor a man who had a strong influence in the concept of professional cooperative education - Charles Kettering. Thus, Kettering University became the new name.

At the time I attended GMI, the co-op program was an ideal opprortunity. I attended college for six weeks, then worked for six weeks. The semester was made up of two six-week sessions. Most people thought GMI was only an engineering school, but I received a Bachelor of Industrial Administration degree with a Production Management major.

A co-op education gives you the best of both worlds. A high quality and highly regarded college education and real world job experience.The job experience allows the student to balance classroom theory with real world work situations. It gives the student relevant work experiences to clear up the rose-colored glasses that typically result from academic only education.

I believe that dorm life is a major enhancement to the college experience. I had the chance to live in the dorms for three of the four years that I was at GMI. Yes, I know that many students want their own apartment as soon as they can get one. However, I built so many priceless, life long relationships across the various classes during my time in the dorms. Help your student build great relationships by encouraging them to embrace the dorm experience.

I had the opportunity to participate in various levels of the student body government and other on-campus organizations. I was blessed to be able to run for and be elected to be the first African-American President of the Student Government at GMI. The experience I gained was invaluable. There is so much to be gained by participating in the student government. Encourage your students to participate in extra-curricular activities at college - you'll be glad you did. 

Don't misunderstand me, I did have lots of clean fun in college! There were parties with dancing to Soul and R& B music. There were midnight pick-up basketball games. There were intramural sports leagues and tournaments. There was pumpkin carving - something I'd never done before. There were spring and summer outings and picnics. There were Bid Whist card games that lasted late into the night. There were DJ stints at various parties. However, the best part for me were the free weekends. I was fortunate enough to have a consistent class schedule that allowed me to have Friday afternoons off. I utilized this time to re-write my class notes, study and prepare for the next week's exams and quizzes. By dinner time on Fridays, I was set for the weekend - no more required studying! I did do about an hour quick review on most Sunday evenings, when everyone else was trying to cram for any exams that they may have put on the back burner when classes ended on Friday.

Finally, my one year, off-campus apartment experiment. I'm not sure who said sharing an apartment with two other guys would be cool, but for me, it wasn't. Sometimes you get to know someone's habits far too well. Anyway, the best memory of college apartment life was the day that GMI closed for the first time ever due to a snow storm. We spent four hours digging ourselves out of the apartment complex, the driveway and parts of the street, so that we could spend the rest of the day in the dorm lounge playing cards and hanging out. How else would you spend a day of no classes?

What's my point in sharing this with you? You can have good, clean fun in college while maintaining very good grades. You can accomplish this while also being involved in the student government and other campus organizations. Mostly, the rewards of sharing the knowledge you've gained with others throughout your life, will be invaluable and will give you great satisfaction.