My best advice for students, especially those attending large universities, is to get to know your professors. This can seem pretty impossible while sitting in a freshman course with more then 400 students in attendance. Even if you raise your hand to give answers, its unlikely you will stand out for very long. But, if you will go after class to visit the professor in his office and let him know that you are interested in doing your very best in his class, it will make a huge difference! I’m not the best at math, and one of my statistics teachers let us know she was always available if we needed help during her office hours. I began stopping by every once in a while when I was stuck on a problem, and she started giving me copies of the previous year’s tests to use as a study guide for our finals! What a huge help they were, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I were the only person who got that extra help all because I took the time to show that I cared about my work.

Dawn Richardson, lead singer of Fireflight, got her A.A. from Lake Sumter Community College in Leesburg, Fla., and completed her B.S. in Psychology at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Fireflight’s newest album, Unbreakable (Flicker Records/Sony BMG), hits stores March 4, 2008.