One of my students caught me off guard when she asked if I had seen "American Idol." I responded, "Yes! I remember seeing 'American Idle,' a Times and Democrat editorial page cartoon of a young man sitting on the couch, sluggishly with his half-closed eyes watching TV." At my response, she lost interest, shrugged her shoulders and walked away with a peculiar stare.

Wondering the reason for her reaction, I resumed the task I was engrossed in.

But then, coincidentally, a couple of weeks later, I watched Dateline NBC's Hoda Kotb interviewing Carrie Underwood, the newest "American Idol" and realized the reason for my student's peculiar stare.

Carrie Underwood, a 21-year-old country singer from a small town, Checotah , Okla., became the fourth American Idol. Ms. Underwood mentioned if someone had asked her when she was little what she would like to be when she was grew up, her answer would have been, "I want to be famous."

Carrie likes the fact that she came from a small town where she had chance to climb trees, catch frogs and go fishing, and the opportunity to sing at the annual and local festivals where she got started on her career singing to crowds of 30 or so. Giving up this favorite hobby, Carrie moved away to attend college at Northeastern State University. While in her senior year of college, she saw a TV ad for "American Idol" auditions in St. Louis, eight hours away.

Though tempted, she thought, "forget it, maybe next year," but her mom agreed to chaperon her. So off they went and seven days and 7,000 contestants later, she was singing in St. Louis at the "American Idol" audition. She kept singing and making the cut, and the small town girl became more and more adored for her small town-ness. By the time the competition ended, more than 500 million votes were cast (excluding mine) and Carrie became a full-fledged celebrity.

In addition to appearing at Leno's, then Ellen's, and the Today show, with Dateline's camera rolling, Carrie fulfilled another lifelong dream — singing at the Grand Old Opry. Quite a bit of fame for this farm girl country crooner; she has fulfilled her dream of "becoming famous." Even so she didn't just relish her fame. She worked hard to record and to release her first single three weeks after the big win.

Though one perceives Carrie today as a celebrity, one must realize that she didn't achieve her success overnight, nor was the title "American Idol" randomly placed on a silver platter and bestowed upon her to honor her. She alone knows the hardships and perseverance behind this success; it's not just a fluke.

Not so for the "American idle."

Before going to commercial, television hosts inspire television viewers to "stay tuned." They want you to watch their shows inactively, mindlessly and to be an American "idle" in order to maintain ratings — and their jobs. If you follow blindly instead of controlling yourself with your will and intellect, you are casting yourself adrift in the path of life's storm. You must prepare to overrule your short-term pleasure and govern your behavior with reason. If you choose watching TV sluggishly for hours and hours and give into fleeting temptation, you will have to pay for it; it may cost the most valued commodity of life, your health, mental and physical. Life is shaped by the things we do. The only constructive course is positive action.

Turn off the television, stop being "couch potatoes" and pursue your dream, your life's goal.

As we acknowledge Carrie Underwood's achievement, it's obvious that she is an all-American individual who deserved the title "American Idol." The idle that's watching television in the cartoon does not exhibit any of the American characteristics of individualism, competitiveness or desire to win, and certainly he has nothing to brag about. Turn the television set off. Be a productive member of society.

* Mandakini Hiremath is a Claflin instructor and coordinator of the university's writing center.

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