Are you signed up, registered, or otherwise simply added to a list? Or are you enrolled?

Here’s the difference, as Seth Godin explains in this podcast.

“Enrollment is not what happens when you sign up with a nearby school and then they threaten to throw the parents in jail if the kid doesn’t show up to class. Enrollment is what we call it when someone is eagerly present. When a consultant has enrollment from a client, the client is saying to her, ‘Yes, we want to move forward. Show us how,’ as opposed to the consultant having to cajole and push and basically encourage the client to go forward. Enrollment is different. Enrollment is something we want to do.” 

Students, you can apply this to just about any way that you choose to spend your time, from rehearsing for the school play, to working your part-time job, to—yes—enrolling in college.

Don’t just sign up. If you’re going to bother doing it, why not get enrolled?