Before two separate virtual crowds, each with nearly 50 students about to start their first day of school at Montgomery County Community College Jan. 19, Dr. Keima Sheriff, Assistant Dean of Student Programs, told students to remember the five Ps to success: purpose, planning, perspective, persistence and peace.

“P of purpose- be clear about why you want and why? What brought you here” she said. “There are a million things to distract you. Maybe you’re here because you need an associate’s degree to improve your opportunities. Maybe you need enough credits to transfer to a four year institution and reduce tuition. Maybe you’re trying to figure out who you are and what you want to accomplish. What is the vision? Write that down in pen. It makes it really hard to erase it and change that goal.”

With planning and perspective, Sheriff told the new students to come up with a strategy to make their dreams a reality and believe they can actually make it happen.

“You are capable. You have a 100 percent batting average of overcoming challenges,” she said. “Welcome to spring 2021 Mustangs. Let’s go get this. Peace all.” -Dr. Keima Sheriff

“If you believe you can do this, then you are absolutely correct and that perspective will get you through this,” she said. “That will help you with the planning.”

With persistence, Sheriff told the crowd there would be days they would feel tired and want to quit. Combined with having a plan and keeping perspective, students, she said, will need to dig deep and keep going, no matter how hard it gets. Sheriff could relate with what students would soon be going through, as she personally had been on an 11 year journey to earn a doctorate. Yet she persisted to achieve her dream.

Lastly, she said students needed to come up with grounding, centering practices that will keep them at peace when life gets really challenging.

“You are capable. You have a 100 percent batting average of overcoming challenges,” she said. “Welcome to spring 2021 Mustangs. Let’s go get this. Peace all.”

The virtual events were attended by an array of different types of students. Katherine Browna, Coordinator of Admissions and Dual Enrollment, moderated the events and began by asking students who they were and why there were there. During the morning session, through an online poll, the majority said they were students returning to education following time away from the classroom. Others were students who were still in high school in the dual enrollment program, or had recently graduated.

“It’s great to see a wide variety of people today,” said Browna. “You’ll experience this in your classes. You’ll see a variety of life experiences.”

Most students said they felt a mixture of excitement, nervousness and uncertainty on their first day, all of which, Browna said was “100 percent normal.”

Before students broke into breakout sessions, current students Madelyn Anton and Sean Heggan wished them well by offering some helpful tips to success. In a true sign of the times, both suggested students find an area in their home outside of their bedrooms to minimize distractions and help them succeed in an online classroom.

“It changes your perspective of how you’re learning,” said Anton.

“If you have any questions, reach out to professors and fellow students,” said Heggan. “Professors are all readily available and will answer email within a day.”