By Charlene M. Brown
I don’t know about you, but when I think back on college, I don’t remember learning a whole lot-at least not book-wise anyway. With the exception of my final semester (when I took the most challenging course of my school life!), I can’t even tell you what I learned!
Okay, so that’s not quite the whole truth. I learned a lot while I was in college, but it had more to do with the nature of people and the nature of myself, than it did with book knowledge. Upon Graduation, while I was well prepared with the know-how of getting a job, I felt extremely unprepared for what the world had to offer me. (BTW, I only felt prepared to know how to get a good job because I went to a good business school!)
Did you work through college? I did. And even then, I wasn’t prepared for the so-called “Real World” when I got here. When I got out of college I had a lot (and I mean A LOT) of job experience but no real idea of what I wanted to do. I had a reasonably clear picture of what I didn’t want to do, but no way to really discover where I wanted my life to go, what I did want to do. In fact, by the time I got out of college, I had ten years of work experience behind me and really didn’t want to work at all! Does any of this sound familiar?
In this regard, we are very different from generations before us. For the most part, in our parent’s generation and definitely in generations before theirs’, when you finished your schooling, you went to work in a career that would span the rest of your working years until you reached retirement. Often, it was the same thing your father (family) did. (Let’s be realistic Ladies, women have really only been considered a part of the workforce in the last 35-40 years-most of our grandmothers and many of our mothers were/are homemakers). I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine being at a place for even five years, and 30yrs seems like 100, infinity even! All of this to say, then, that the world is changing and academia is not necessarily keeping up. (Is there anything keeping up to the frantic pace that the “World” is changing? . . . .Hmmm . . . maybe another day)
This is not all that unusual, however. In the University of New Hampshire’s Media Relations Newsletter, Lori Wright gives tips on job searching for recent college grads, and I would add that these are good tips for anyone who is job searching. She talks about having a plan of action that includes a Plan B, which will be okay for the short term, and a Plan A that covers the long term. The article also gives great tips on easing the strain on recent college grads who opt to move back in with our parents (yes, I did it too).
My personal journey looked something like this: I got out of college; tried to find myself overseas–didn’t work; got back without having found myself, but needing a job; told myself that I was going to be picky with the job I took, but less and less so as time wore on; finally took a job working with kids (which is not even close to what my degree is in!), which I enjoyed, but knew that I couldn’t do it forever. So . . . , exactly what did I go to college for? I’m still not sure.
So . . . ., exactly what did I learn in college? Hmmm, let’s see: Poor time management (procrastination!), poor posture (sitting at the computer so often), poor speech, and that I prefer living alone (without roommates ;-) ) More seriously, though, I also learned that there are some really good people who can interact with and support me in various ways. Don’t get me wrong, college did what it was supposed to do for me, bringing me from one plateau in my life to the next. It also put some really good people in my life! But sometimes that road for me was a little . . . bumpy!
Now, what have I learned since college? I’m glad you asked: I have learned not to take things personally; I have learned that changing or saving the world happens one step, one person, one child, one youth at a time. I have learned very few things are really “that deep.” I have learned to give out what I want to receive back and that it comes back multiplied. I have learned that LOVE is one of the strongest powers there IS, and that it starts with Love of Oneself. I have also learned that you cannot change things that have already happened (i.e. the past), but that you can take steps now to change the future. Finally, I have learned that Life is about Balance and that when we ignore that, good things do not happen in abundance and that true Joy and Happiness will not come until Balance is restored.
None of these were lessons that were covered in the cost of my tuition, room, or board. I didn’t find them in the campus bookstore or under my dorm bed. These were lessons that I learned while living life after graduation. Maybe you are starting to find out some of the same things, in your own way.
Personally, I’m not “There” yet, but I take steps everyday toward “It”. And when I get there, I will begin to work on something else, one step, one day, one action at a time until I reach that too. Love Your Life Every step of the way!
Do You Love Your Life Now!? I Do!
Related posts:
- My College Lied To Me: The Falsities of Getting A Job After College!
- Everything I Was Supposed To Learn In College I Already Learned In Kindergarten
- How Many Roads?: Embracing the True Nature of Change!
- The Good Side of the Rainbow!
- Making Friends and Fitting In: The Elusive Struggles of the Ugly Duckling!
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© 2009 You Can Love Your Life Now!
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