Everything I Was Supposed To Learn In College I Already Learned In Kindergarten
By Charlene M Brown
What kind of experience did you have in college? Was it (like they say), the greatest time of your life? Or was it full of ch
allenging waters to navigate?
Mine was a mixed bag: I went from getting booed off a stage my freshman year (it’s actually kind of a funny story) to winning top honors in my department in my senior year. So, I can say I’ve had my share of roller-coaster rides during my college experience.
In high school, like many teenagers, I thought I knew everything and wondered the relevance of all these stupid classes I was taking and how they were going to affect me and the “real world” (dunh dunh dunh!).
As it turns out, I was actually right about that: I didn’t become a Math Head for a living and need to know how to calculate derivatives. Some say the only things you need to learn about life, you learn in kindergarten. I say, there is some truth to this, that the things we learn in life early on have a lot to do with how we take on the world later on.
What does all this have to do with my college experience, you say?
Well, in college, for most of us, life is still about sharing, learning new skills, finding out where we fit in the grand scheme of things. Let’s take these one at a time, shall we:
Sharing: as a freshman in college, you usually get crowded into a dorm where you have to share a room with at least one person, sometimes two or three. You may have a communal shower, which you share with, perhaps, your whole floor. Who has the biggest TV or radio? Can I bring a microwave, if so, which one of us is going to bring it? Sharing. At the very least, you probably shared space! Kindergarten Lesson # 1.
Kindergarten lesson #2: learning new skills. In theory, your college classes taught you above and beyond what your high school classes taught you. In theory, they took your reasoning skills to a new level; and at the very least, college gave you the option of exploring different interests you may have had (whether you chose these options or not). Okay, maybe half and half on that one.
Kindergarten Lesson # 3: figuring out where you fit in the grand scheme of things. For the first time in many young folks’ lives, college gives them a freedom to do what they want, when they want! Many college freshmen and –women lose their minds when they get to college for the first time. Cliques form, hierarchy is established, much the same way ninth graders do when they enter high school. Questions are asked, boundaries established or broken.
There might be something to this college business after all. Especially if you are toward the top of the hierarchy.
This is the same thing you did in Kindergarten while learning to share and acquiring new skills.
Humans are hierarchical. There has to be a leader. There has to be someone in charge.
Think back to college: the book knowledge may have already escaped your memory, as have some of the friends you made.
However, when you really think about it, weren’t you more prepared than you were when you left high school (prepared for what is a different topic 
)?
I was.
Undeniably, college was not my favorite place to be, but neither was high school. But as I look back, college did what it was supposed to do. College was a place of great personal growth for me. I learned a LOT about myself and what I was capable of withstanding. I discovered many things I did want and many other things that I didn’t. I met great people who were doing great things that I wanted to be a part of. And ironically for me, everybody knew me in college (“the girl with the crazy hair”), though I tried my best to be a shadow dweller!
These were all part of the lessons college taught me (despite not teaching me how to transition into the “real world”). I did learn something after all, but where did I learn it, in college or in Kindergarten? Hmmmm, interesting question.
Here again, I think college built on all the wonderful things I was taught in Kindergarten—ahhh, if only we could go back to kindergarten when naps were King!
Do You Love Your Life Now!? I Do!! (Because I did, in fact, learn something about something in college)
Related posts:
- My College Lied To Me: The Falsities of Getting A Job After College!
- So Many Bumpy Roads, So Little Time!
- The Good Side of the Rainbow!
- Making Friends and Fitting In: The Elusive Struggles of the Ugly Duckling!
- Marshmallows and Pickles: Lessons Learned from Pregnant Ladies!
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© 2009 You Can Love Your Life Now!
Tags: charlene brown, charlene brown articles, charlene m brown, charli, charli brown, charli brown articles, college growth, college life, College Taught You What!?, graduating college, human heirarchy, humans are heirarchical, learned everything in kindergarten, learning new skills, personal growth, sharing, taking naps, you can love your life now
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Really? Because all I remember from Kindergarten were which color crayons tasted the best, naptime (we need this in highschool!!!) and where to kick a boy if he tried to kiss you! Lol! Happy Wednesday Charli Brown! Cha!
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
You are so funny! What color crayon tastes best!?
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Lol! Well I liked red, but orange was a little spicy. And that was just the 8 pack. The 24 pack had LOADS of tastes!