I am at that age, when I am attending a lot of college visits…
Inevitably, the question is asked of the groups,
“Do you know what you want to study?”
Or
“Do you know what you want to major in?”
Or
“Who knows what they want to be?”
Now, I have had more years than most to think about that question,
And the question still stumps me.
In fact, I don’t like the question…
It’s limiting and overwhelming…
“What do you want to learn?”
If I was a teenager and didn’t know better, I’d think the decision was a once in a lifetime decision.
My issue with colleges is that they speak as if the 4 years (or 5 for some of us) that it takes to earn a degree, are the ONLY years that matter…
Or at least, the only years where we will be learning.
Do you want to do business?
Math?
Sociology?
Psychology?
Engineering?
Computer Science?
Pre-Med?
Biology?
How about English?
Or art?
Or literature?
Or international whatever…
Or physics or philosophy…
I want to stand up and YELL…
“YES PLEASE!”
The insinuation that these next 4 years will be the core of my studies and knowledge is simply WRONG!
The fact that what I study is who I will be is simply WRONG!
The biggest fallacy that, in my opinion, they infer or suggest, is that college will be the greatest learning experience of your life.
Sure, some people do know that they want to be a vetenarian from the moment they pick up their first cat…
But, SO MANY people don’t know what they want to be until later into adulthood… or EVER!
The structure of all of it bothers me…
I think EVERYONE needs to learn about “psychology”.
And, no matter what you do you will be in “business” and need “math”.
If you expect to be an adult, basic “finance and accounting” is a must.
If you want to appreciate culture and travel “international anything” is valuable.
To appreciate human beings and possibly do the only type of time travel available, spending time with “literature” is a good idea.
And, “English” is generally a good thing to know. "History” is also good to learn, so that we don’t repeat it.
The emphasis on “picking one” as your “choice” feels simply WRONG!
As you may know, I turned 50 this year.
The first 5 years of my life… I don’t really remember.
The next 13 years of my life… I learned the basics of math, language and science.
Then I went to college… I studied Engineering, because that is what the men I admired "were".
The truth is I am not a “technical” person. I studied engineering because I wanted to be a business man, and that was the normal progression in South America. I took a round about path in the U.S.A. as people expect you to want to be an engineer if you studied engineering.
A few years after I started working, I was driving home, and I had this realization… “I am not done learning.” Until that moment, I lived in a mindset of, “I have graduated now… I am an engineer… now I need to go make money and live my life…”
The thought that perhaps “NOW… the learning just BEGINS” was completely new to me.
I had heard an executive at Procter & Gamble speak that day. I considered him an "old" man. And, I was in AWE of his relevance, his intellect, his understanding of the world as it was and where it was headed. It became obvious to me that he had never stopped learning.
I spent 5 years in college, and while I majored in Engineering, that is likely the least of what I learned.
Above all else, college taught me to survive.
It taught me the importance of taking initiative.
It taught me that winning is easier if you play a different game than everyone else.
It taught me that things are not what they appear, and ultimately, the world regardless of how big it is, is made up from little social circles, not big ones.
It taught me that the more people that I know, understand and appreciate... the more interesting life becomes. .. the more I learn.
It taught me that Shakespeare has a lot to offer.
It taught me that the harder I worked, the “luckier” I got.
It taught me that there are people who give me life and people who take life away.
It taught me that I was a leader, and that life was not always fair.
It tried to teach me that asking for help is a good thing.
And yes, I learned that moment increases the further the force is away from the beam, and that there is a similar pattern to all science... and on some level to all knowledge.
It taught me that all things are related.
It taught me that when science starts to require Calculus, I have a tougher time keeping up, not because I don’t understand Calculus, but because for some reason when the world becomes non-linear my mind wonders..
It taught me, possibly above all, that showing up is more than half of the battle, and never giving up is the rest.
I am sure I learned more things about engineering, but they seem so much less important than the ones above.
It was AFTER college, that I learned that learning should never stop…
Colleges should tell you from the very first moment that we are all enrolled in the University of LIFE!
And, that no one has ever graduated…
And, that is the BEST part!
In the University of LIFE, you never pick a “major”, you just keep on figuring out what to learn NEXT…
And at U of L, everyone has to do at least 2 COOPs; one that engages your mind first, and one that engages your heart first... most people do hundreds or thousands!
U of L is heavy on experiential learning – but encourages all learning.
It has been 27 years since I graduated college (yikes)… and my greatest learning happened last year…
I have had the chance to “earn” almost 7, “4 year” degrees since I graduated.
The University of LIFE can be tough. The tests are seldom, if ever, announced, and you often don’t know how you did until years later… But, it’s nice to know you will never get kicked out… no matter how many lessons or tests you fail…
The UNIVERSITY of LIFE is FREE…
EVERYONE you meet is a TA or a professor,
EVERYTHING you read is part of the content,
EVERYTHING you do can matter…
And, EVERYONE'S curriculum is unique.
WHAT IF, instead of colleges touting how wonderful they are and pushing you to “make a decision” and “get specific” about your life, instead taught you to…
“OPEN YOUR MIND and START YOUR JOURNEY OF LEARNING AND LIVING”…
What if instead of being so “conclusive”…
“Colleges and Universities” presented themselves as…
THE FIRST STEP in a lifelong learning process?
What if they took the pressure off of you and said – YOU CANNOT DECLARE A MAJOR until AFTER you graduate?
What if colleges forced everyone to TRULY get exposed to the world, to reading, to science, to math, to engineer, to finance, to art…
What if college instead of trying to “make us into something” simply “showed us more of everything?”
What if colleges instead of making us get SPECIFIC about what we wanted to learn, taught us the INTERCONNECTEDNESS of all professions?”
Ok – that is probably not very practical… maybe schools should do a better job of that…
There is a really good reason why very few people actually do what they “study” in college.
The world is a much more complex and beautiful place than they let on… and the opportunities in it are much more interesting and require many more skills than any one major can teach you…
So, don’t worry so much about the 4 year thing… realize that the diploma that matters most is the one you get with your final breath... and often it is those you impacted most who decide what you actually mastered in...
WHERE YOU GO matters little... WHAT YOU DO matters all...
WHAT YOU MAJOR IN matters little... WHAT YOU LEARN matters all...
Young adults out there going to college - do what makes sense. Don't overthink it or get overwhelmed. Your 4 year degree is ultimately an important but VERY small part of your lifetime diploma and journey...
Worry more about your attitude than your major.
Worry more about finding meaning in your life than finding the library.
Worry more about following your passions than following your curriculum.
Worry more about your mind plan and your soul plan than your meal plan.
Worry more about building wealth in your heart and less about your wallet.
And then, stop worrying and start living!
As I walked through the impressive library at yesterday's visit I listened to the schpeal... "This is the biggest library on campus... it has over 5 million books... you can check out 200 at a time..." It was an AWESOME library and a great university...
And, Amazon has even more books, and Audible has them on line, and then there are endless podcasts and you tube and movies and the content of all time has never been more accessible!
The knowledge of all mankind is at our fingertips...
I am a grateful student and a rising senior in the UNIVERSITY of LIFE ;-)!
The WORLD is our MOST amazing campus!
Elon Musk is working on the study abroad program!
Wear the colors proud…
Don’t worry about choosing a major…
Just keep figuring out
what am I going to learn next?
MAJOR: harmony, MINOR: empathy, psychology, engineering, husbanding, parenting, strategic planning, servant leadership, project management, kabbalah, culinary arts, poetry, latin american and asian studies & maybe computer science & french horn ;-)
Class of '4EVER,
Nestor