University Life Motivational Story

A strange fellow approached three construction workers

who were part of the team building a cathedral.

“Excuse me, young man, what are you doing?” the strange

guy asked one of the workers, who was doing his work with

some anxiety.

“I am cutting stones,” the worker replied.

Realizing that the construction worker had no desire to

engage in conversation, the strange man repeated his

question to another worker.

This time, this construction worker paused and stated that

he was a stonecutter from the north who had come to work

and who would return home as soon as he had earned

some money.




After thanking the second worker, the strange man

approached the third construction worker, who was

performing his work with enthusiasm, patiently and

carefully making and remaking was his was doing, and

again asked his question.

This construction worker completely stopped what he was

doing as if to begin a long discussion with the strange man,

and answered: “I have journeyed many miles to be part of

the team that is constructing this magnificent cathedral.

Even though I have spent many months away from my

family and I miss them dearly, I am aware of how important

this cathedral will be one day and I know how many people

will find spiritual peace in this great place.” This worker

continued his story, telling the strange man about the

planning of the construction of the cathedral, and how the

construction would be completed, and so on.




Relating the story with students behavior, one could assert the

following:

The first worker appears like the students who are painfully

taking a course and only want a passing grade in order to

continue the struggling to see how the university diploma,

which he/she might not like as much, gets into his/her

hands.

The second worker is like the students who are doing just

enough to obtain their passing grade. Perhaps they will

continue this way to obtain the university diploma, which

he/she might like as a way to do something else.




The third worker is like the active-learner student, who has

realized that their University life is much more than obtaining a

University diploma and/or passing grade in a class. The

active-learner student understands that every subject is

interconnected each to another, and consequently he or she

needs to understand everything as a whole. Thus, several

perspectives can be applied to study any subject. For these

students, the University diploma will come as a matter of

consciously driving their way through every aspect of the

University life.




“For efficient learning, the learner should be interested

in the material to be learnt and find pleasure in the

activity of learning.”

“We know from painful experience that a perfectly

unambiguous and correct exposition can be far from

satisfactory and may appear uninspiring, tiresome or

disappointing, even if the subject-matter presented is

interesting in itself.