Across the United States, we frequently find high school students who are from single parent households, who are abused, or perplexed by the worries of life. While trying to map their own futures, these students take on adult responsibilities, before their time, to provide for themselves and their families.  We find students who are worrisome to teachers because of their intelligence levels and ridiculed by peers because of their poverty levels, and they sometimes lose hope in their future because they feel no one cares either way.  

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They look for ways to escape hardship, disappointment, and poverty, ways that have been said to bring forth “the good life.” The resounding messages are to go to college and get a good education to create a better future for yourself, or join the military and travel the world, while doing the honorable thing of defending your country.  Some choose the military and for them it provides discipline and direction, but others choose college with no idea of how to make college work for them.

These statements and experiences have been shared by males and females of diverse ethnicities—by minorities and majorities. 

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Professor Pay Attention engages both the professor and the student, providing the student with direction in navigating college and the professor with insight on the struggles of an impoverished, burdened, stressed, or a first-generation college student. Professor Pay Attention urges all parties involved to move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.