To do well in college, a student needs support from teachers and family. Supportive teachers seem to know when a person is struggling. They ask why and help the student develop a plan for success. But even with supportive teachers, a student in college will not make it easily without a supportive family. The family needs to be able to give up its claims on the student's time and energy, and family members have to actually take extra time and energy to debrief and reassure their mom or spouse or dad who has become a student.
Support is a crucial ingredient for success in college, but so is motivation .
Without a reason to learn , the support offered by teachers and family will not make a big difference. The student also has to be motivated by the prospect of making more money, getting a better job, or learning new things, for example, to do well in school. If a student has no reason to do well in school, she or he will probably not try very hard. Closely related to this idea is the necessity of the student to have the right attitude . A poor attitude makes learning difficult, if not impossible, because the student is not receptive to new ideas and situations.