Anex-presidentofthisinstitution,whenitwasacollegewithanenrollmentofseveralthousand,wasaskedhowmanystudentstheschoolhad.Hequipped"Oh,perhapsadozen."Hewasmakingajokethatisasoldasthehills.Thepresidentofalargecorporationuseditwhenhewasaskedbyareporter(duringastrike)howmanyworkerstherewereinhisplant.Oneofmyjunior-highteachersusedtoremindusthattobeastudentmeantmorethanmerelybeingapupil. 　　Timeschange.Thedefinitionof"student"oncewas"onewhostudiessomething".Todayitcanmeanmerely"onewhoattendsaschool,collegeoruniversity".Thismoderndefinitiondoesn'tevensuggestthatthepersondoesmorethan"attend".Collegeanduniversityprofessorsstillusethefirstdefinition,andschoolshaveways(suchasrequirements,examsandgrades)toattempttoensurethatthosewhoattendwillalsostudyandlearnsomething. 　　Sowhatdistinguishesastudent?Whatmakesthestudentstandoutfromtherestoftheclass?ThefourAs:attitude,academicskills,awareness,andaccomplishment,certainlyarealargepartofit,andastudentwhohasthemwillbeverylikelytoearnAs: 　　Attitudeisprimarilyagenuinedesiretolearn,andthewillingnesstodohardintellectualworktoachieveunderstanding.Itisalsoshownbyhowwellyouapplyyourselfeventosubjectsinwhichyouhavelittleinterest,andhowmuchyoucanachieveevenwhenaprofessor'sstyleisn'ttoyourliking. 　　Academicskillsincludeabilitytoreadwithcomprehension,intelligentuseofresources(includinglibraryresources),logicalandmathematicalskills,efficientstudyhabits,andtheabilitytocommunicateclearlyandfluentlyinspeakingandwriting. 　　Awarenessofwhat'sgoingonintheworldaroundyou,andthehabitofintelligentlyrelatingittoyouracademiccourses.Forexample,whentakingacourseinpoliticalscience,youshouldrelatewhatyouarelearninginclasstowhat'shappeningonthenationalandworldpoliticalscene.Whentakingasciencecourse,youshouldrelatescientificprinciplestophenomenayouobserveineverydaylife,andgooutofyourwaytofindapplicationsandexamplesofscienceintherealworld. 　　Accomplishmentisdemonstratedbysuccessfulapplicationofunderstanding.Theevidenceofthatis: 　　Correctandconfidentapplicationofwhatyou'velearnedtonewproblemsandchallenges, 　　clearandeffectivecommunicationofyourunderstandingthroughspeakingandwriting,and 　　possessionofabaseofinformation,skillsandunderstandingsufficienttoallowyoutocontinueyoureducationoutsideoftheclassroom,throughoutyourlife. 　　AlloftheseadduptoafifthA:ability,awordfrequentlyusedabove.Thegoalofeducationistoachievetheabilitytoapplyone'sknowledgeinnew,creative,andcorrectways.Abilitiesarenotentirelyinnate;someareachievablethroughdedicatedandfocusedeffort. 　　Othersymptomsandqualitiesofagoodstudentinclude: 　　Self-discipline.Thesuccessfulstudenthaslearnedtobudgettime,andusesitefficiently,andwilldothethingsthatneedtobedone,whentheymustbedone,whetherornotonefeelslikeitatthetime. 　　Initiative.Inshort:doingthingswithoutbeingtold.Thestudentdoesn'twaitforassignmentstoreadaheadinthetextbook,ortoseekoutandstudyrelatedbookstogainunderstanding.Thegoodstudentdoesmoreproblems