Katie’s Blog!

Vocabulary lesson for the day:  

substandard:  deviating from or falling short of a standard or norm: as of a quality lower than that prescribed by law  

Unfortunately, this is the word going through my head at the moment.  This is not a word I enjoy using.  It is, however, very fitting for the situation.  

Over the past three and a half years, I have found Lee University to be substandard.  Let me clarify – The academics are not substandard, and therefore my education has not been substandard, either.   However, there are various ways in which Lee has been very substandard.  For example, there is substandard administration within the various offices on campus.  Financial Aid, Business office, Library, etc.  I name those three because I have had specific run-ins with each of these offices, and each situation was completely avoidable and unnecessary.  If only everyone had done their job with excellence, or at least to the best of their ability, then my stress level would not be so high, and I would not be disappointed in the people who work in these offices.  It has been extremely disappointing to me, finding a level of substandard work ethic at my institution of higher learning, where they proclaim, “Christ is King.”  If Christ was really king of your life, then you would not have done your job half-way.  You would do everything with excellence, in appreciation for the gifts and abilities God has given you, to glorify God.  

The real problem I have today, is not with Lee administration, but rather with the staff of our lovely school newspaper.  One of my friends writes for the religion column of the paper, and he asked me to co-write an article with him.  I was honored that he wanted to co-author something with me, and I was really excited about letting my voice be heard.  So, he and I wrote what I think is quite the article, and he submitted it to the editors, clearly identifying me as a co-author.   When the paper came out yesterday, our article was there in all of its glory -minus my name.  This is extremely disappointing.  Not only in the fact that they “made a mistake,” but that I was not given credit for my contribution.  It is highly ironic, though.  Our article was on women in ministry, and yet only the man was given credit for writing it.   [One of the editors apologized after my friend pointed it out, and he assured us that a correction will be printed in the next issue, and when they publish it online, both of our names will be on it -I will be sure to let you know when that happens!]

So, all of this talk about substandard work is making me re-think my current homework ethic  - but then again, senioritis is a real thing . . . Merriam-Webster says so.