Monday, May 20, 2019

Things I Learned in College

I learned:

  1. How to write a decent media release.
    Before I took the college course, I thought knew how to write a press release. I even believed I knew how to write a very interesting one. I learned that I was wrong. Media releases aren't supposed to be fluffy and flowery; they are supposed to be factual and informative. They're not supposed to cleverly tease out the information, either; they're supposed to deliver the basic facts right up front. Now, when I read a fluffy, flowery release that doesn't include who, what, where, and when in the first paragraph, I get annoyed by the ignorance.
  2. That youth is not an age as much as it is a culture.
    Does the younger generation speak a different language and have a different mindset from my generation? Sure they do. Is it wrong? No, it's just different. Different isn't bad; it's just different.
    While many of my peers were complaining about how "kids today" are whiny and entitled, I was learning how to work with them and understand their culture. I learned there are just as many young jerks as there are old jerks, just as many young lazy slackers as there are old lazy slackers, and there are just many quality young people as there are quality old people. In many ways, our two cultures are similar.
  3. Time management.
    I had always considered myself a procrastinator because in most cases I would put things off if no one cared when they got done. However, I learned this isn't always an accurate label. Yes, I am better at completing a task when there's a deadline, but I learned that I'm also that annoying student who hands in assignments two weeks early when possible. I like to get tasks off my plate as soon as possible if there's any chance something might go wrong that might make me miss a deadline such as a computer malfunction or traffic congestion... or a last minute assignment that I missed on the syllabus.
    Furthermore, I learned that I can get a lot done if I can just get myself to start somewhere. Ten page term paper sounds huge and impossible while pick a topic sounds quick and easy; so I start with that. I learned to transfer this tactic to my home chores; do five loads of laundry sounds daunting but sort the colors sounds quick and easy. Lather, rinse, repeat.
  4. More employers want to talk to you if you have a Bachelor's degree.
    The closer I got to graduation, the more invitations I received for job interviews. With a completed degree on the horizon, I turned into a finalist for several awesome positions. I'd gotten very few interviews based on experience alone. I had suspected a degree would improve my chances, but I really hadn't expected this much of an impact.
  5. How to be nicer to myself.
    I didn't learn this in a classroom. I didn't even learn this from the campus counselor I'd been seeing regularly. It came to me one cold, winter night after class. My car was the last one left in the campus parking lot. It looked so alone and cold. As I settled into the driver's seat and caressed the cold steering wheel, I talked outloud to my car.
    "Let's get you home to a nice, warm garage," I told it. "Treat you nice after a long, cold day."
    At that moment, it occurred to me that *I* had had a long, cold day, too, but I hadn't attempted to comfort myself at all. I realized that I speak nicer to inanimate objects than I speak to myself. I hadn't realized until then just how severe my negative self-talk had gotten. The next morning when my alarm went off, my inner voice yelled it's usual, "Get up! Quit whining, you lazy baby. Go! Go! Go!" But I consciously shushed the yelling, and I thought about how sweetly I had spoken to my car the night before. From that morning on, I've made efforts to be nicer to myself, and it has been a game changer.

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