The Three Most Important Lessons I Learned in College

I’m feeling all self-helpish and instructional today so here you go…

Statistics show  a huge percentage of college graduates end up in a career that has little or nothing to do with their degree. I admit, even I only do occasional freelance work associated with my degree. So what’s the point then? Why go?

Here are three big reasons.

1. The Math Lesson.

Some things you just can’t learn unless you do them yourself. A lot.

The other day a friend who never went to college asked me about math and what the point is if you never use it. I recalled how in my college math courses, when the professor explained different functions and how they worked, it always made perfect sense. I would think, “Oh yeah, that’s easy. I get it. No worries.” And then he would assign a ridiculous amount of homework  that seemed pointless and excessive. Well, I learned pretty quickly unless I did those problems, I was bound to fail. It was one thing to watch him explain and understand it, but entirely another thing to own it. I had to do it, and do it a lot to really grasp it.

Some things you just have to do to learn. There is a part of your brain that will not get it until you do it. And do it again.

2. The Creativity lesson.

In my major (Visual arts/New Media) there were scores of creative assignments. And the thing with a creative assignment is there is no ‘right’ answer. It’s not like a puzzle that is either solved or unsolved. There is no right or wrong answer. So sometimes the stress to create was greater than the stress about passing a test. There was this nagging doubt, “What if I can’t think of  anything?”  A Horrible feeling. Because there really was the possibility that you just might not be able to come up with something, or if you did, it would be so lame every one would think you a complete fool.

For me, my best ideas usually came right as the professor was explaining it. It seemed my brain was the freshest  when it was receiving the information for the first time and didn’t have the chance to over think it. So if I  wrote down those ideas I was usually good to go.

But a few times it just didn’t work out that way and I found myself grasping for ideas and in turn learning a valuable lesson-

Creativity is oftentimes a deliberate act.

Everyone hears stories about people waking up with this great idea or it coming to them in the shower or on the freeway. Those moments are great but they are usually few and far between. So what if one needs an idea and doesn’t have one?

I remember this one project where I was coming up short and I was getting stressed. So I sat there at my desk with a pen and paper and dug deep into my little inner creative child. I just started brainstorming about random stuff and how it could relate to the project. Next thing I knew, I was working on an idea which turned out to be pretty good. But to get there I had to buckle down and work. I had to work on being creative. I had to dig. It can be done. There is plenty of helpful material out there on brainstorming and idea creation, but at the end of the day you have to just get down and dirty and create.

3. The Pressure Lesson.

I can’t even count the times I was in my last class the first week of school listening to the prof talk about what we had to accomplish and leaving me thinking, “Dude, do you realize all the other stuff I have to do? How can you possibly expect me to get this done especially in light of everything else I have to do this semester?”

But I learned –and this is probably the most important –

When the pressure is on and my back is against the wall, I can pull it off.

And if I’m going to go all Tony Robbins in this post- so can you.

Two important sub-lessons to be learned here.

-Time management is critical.

I remember when I went back to school after a long break,  I had a semester that was pretty difficult. The only way I could pull it off is if I planned to study on Monday what was due on a Friday,because I just didn’t have time on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. So I planned ahead and that’s what saved me.

-Let others help.

I’m the type that likes to go it alone but I quickly realized  it was much easier if I asked others for help. Some people just knew more stuff in certain areas and could really help if I just asked. And ask I did. And I’m glad.

Also, when I was finding myself buried and starting to wonder if I could pull it off, I would think,”Dude, there are 300 people in this class, and if they can do it, I can do it.”

Simple, but helpful. And true.