Take a deep breath
In
Let the oxygen run to your brain and
Out.
Exhale
The way they tell you to blow out the candles
At the doctor's office.
(Written February 4, 2014)
It's been 171 days since I stepped on campus. 165 days since I rolled out of bed into my first college class. "How Business Works." They didn't teach us shit but hey, they tried. The faculty was nice.
On day 9 they tell you to get involved in (business) clubs and organizations.
On day 13 we were told "professional development tips": how to structure your resume, write thank-you notes to employers, and how to act and dress like a business professional.
On day 27 they told us that we could get internships as freshmen if we tried hard enough.
We made brand pitches about ourselves, fleshed out LinkedIn profiles, and well verb-ed our resume bullet points of activities in high school.
I was rejected from 3 clubs before getting accepted (automatically) into my first club on day 41.
As if finding where your classes/buildings are, making new friends, and getting used to all the work isn't hard or stress inducing enough. Don't forget you need a job very very soon so get to work packing that resume!
Forget that.
My first semester was most predominantly marked by one single feeling - panic.
That after being rejected from 3 clubs I would have absolutely nothing to put on my resume and then I wouldn't get an internship my freshman year and then I wouldn't be able to get a job in 4 years.
It sounds exaggerated, but I'm being completely honest.
Maybe other freshmen business students don't go through the same things I did.
Or maybe other freshmen business students just don't resent it all as much as I do.
But I'll tell you now.
Resumes.
Internships.
Interviews.
Job Shadows.
Networking.
Professionalism.
Employers.
Careers.
Alumni.
It's worse than high school.
If you thought it would end there, you're wrong. That was just the beginning.
"Isn't that all really important? Don't you want to get a good job? Don't you want to have money to raise and provide for a family? Live in a nice house and drive a nice car and wear nice clothes?"
money money money money money.
Forget that.
Everything in this God-forsaken (quite literally) place pushes you to build up one thing and one thing only.
Yourself.
I'm telling you now that it's going to be difficult.
Maybe you'll enjoy the first year, and second year, of struggling to "find" 'opportunities.' Networking till your throat is dry and you could cultivate flu cultures in your hand. Maybe that's your thing.
But on the other hand I ask that you breathe for just a second before you do.
There are a lot of things to do in college. A lot of people, places.
Join some clubs that you can't put on your resume.
Join because the activities and people are awesome and because it'll be something you'll remember. An experience, even a "learning experience", is not the same as doing something fun. And a lot of times, we get those confused.
Look for a summer job because you just want some pocket change to buy extra clothes, or watch movies with friends on the weekend. Or a job where you can learn something new, learn something fun. Or a job where you can interact with cool people. Or just volunteer so you can help people. If you like research, go do it. If your parents have connections, go. But only if it's something you'd enjoy doing.
Go to a career fair and ask the recruiters what they do, and what their favorite thing about their job is. The best thing they've learned from it. Ask them about some fun fact on the company. Don't ask them if they offer freshmen internships.
They don't.
If you have the chance to meet "successful" people, ask them what they did to enjoy life.
Spend time with people you care about - have time to actually care for them, rather than do mindless activities for some club so you can "move up." Have time to volunteer in the community, and have the energy to do so. And the peace of mind, (praise the Lord) you'll have when you stop frantically worrying about your "future".
Maybe if we learn to find things we're passionate about and do them when we can, we'll be happier in life. Maybe we won't hit a 'midlife crisis' like adults do now when they discover that there wasn't anything really that great about finally achieving "the American dream." That there wasn't anything afterwards to strive to.
College is a lot of things for a lot of people. Some people say it's the "best 4 years of your life." But if you're stressing about the same things you'll have to be stressing about after you graduate and are working (the rest of your life), it won't be. And you'll burn out. What's next?
Take two steps back.
And just look. At the beauty of your campus - of God's marvelous creations. At the people you've been so blessed to so happen to meet and get to know. I'm not saying to give up in school. But take a breath. You're a freshman and you've got time to figure it out. As cliche and often as you've heard it. I have time.
Cause this is what I wish I knew and I wish I did my freshman year.
"If you want to know how rich you are, find how many things you have that money cannot buy."
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-20
end rant.
02.04.2014
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