For 30 years and counting, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine has evolved into a cutting-edge publication providing African-American college students with timely career-related information and guidance needed for them to succeed in a globally competitive world. As an African-American entrepreneur, it was not easy for our Founder and Publisher, Preston J. Edwards, Sr., to start a publishing business in 1970. But he and a small, yet dedicated staff, shared a common bond of never giving up even when things got tough in securing enough advertising to make the business a real success. They were determined to survive and address a critical need, both then and now, for a magazine to offer valuable career and job opportunity information to the many thousands of our African-American collegiate readers on now over 1,100 campuses throughout America.

Our success and survival as a business is a testament to our determination and strong will to keep on going and never give up, no matter what or how many hardships fall upon us.  This lesson is no less important than in the life of any college student who has the fortitude to never give up in confronting sometimes seemingly insurmountable academic tasks. College students must endure many challenges en route to graduation such as encountering tests and finals, working on research projects, and developing papers. These are only a few of the challenges students face in their everyday collegiate lives.  To succeed and reach the ultimate goal of graduation, one must have the grit, skill, and determination to rise above these challenges by following through on them in a timely fashion.

There are times, of course, where schoolwork gets kind of hectic and can seem overwhelming.  You may have a paper, a rigorous test, and a group project due all in the same day, which may have you proverbially pulling your hair out.  But one word is the key to your success: pacing.  Organizing your priorities and giving yourself the proper amount of time to work on each task will make your job much easier. Rank your tasks in the order of importance asking yourself which one requires immediate attention.  Then ask yourself, which tasks are of lesser priority accordingly for subsequent action.  After you accomplish this, produce a timeline and see what timeframe is needed to get your work done efficiently.   Taking this action shows you have the strength and will to reach your ultimate goal.

There are also times when you may not be doing too well in a couple of classes and you feel like you want to give up.  Don’t.  Nothing is ever as bad as it seems.  Ask your fellow classmates for help who may know the subject at hand better, or approach your professor and ask for further guidance.  Your willingness to learn and overcome your struggle in class will often reward you with the outcome you desire. Overcoming these obstacles and reaching graduation will demonstrate your perseverance and become your testament of determination and strong will to never give up in meeting any challenge in life head on, much like our ever-growing company has done over the past three decades.

Thirty years of hard times and long, harrowing struggles have come upon us as initially a publishing company, and now a publishing and Internet company.  On occasion, there was an obstacle, which had the ability to bring us to the end of our rope, and it would have been so easy to just let go.  But as our publisher has so often stated, "we believed if we kept working hard, things would get better. They did for us and they will for you. If you have high aspirations, expect tough times, but believe you can work through them. We did and we're not done."  Our mindset has been to persevere and succeed, giving us 30 years of ultimate joy in the ability to create valuable career and self-development articles and tips to help you, the college student, thrive and never give up.

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Robert G. Miller is the vice president of Editorial Administration and editor of iMinorities, Inc., and THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine.