Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Recovering grad student, budding entrepreneur

Ben · 11-06-2006, 06:37 AM

This is an excellent question, and, despite having spent ten years at universities, I'm not sure I have the answer. The ideal situation would be to find a major that aligns perfectly with your personal goals so that you'll want to learn the material whether it's graded or not. But, of course, this rarely happens. And what if you have found the perfect career but the education required is less than inspiring? What if you just want to keep all your options open by having a strong academic record?

I can only offer my own experience. I over-achieved in college and I ended up missing out on many college experiences (I performed my first keg stand last weekend at the age of 28--long story). But I did get the opportunity to go to grad school and learn from and study with many amazing people. The trouble was, I hadn't figured out what I wanted to get out of grad school. In fact, most of my colleagues hadn't thought much about this either. You don't have a lot of time for reflection when you're constantly fretting about the next exam.

I guess if I had it to do over again, I would probably still focus on my GPA, but in a way that required me to invest less time. When I read about Steve's college experience and how much he accoomplished in three semesters, compared with my own college experience, I wanted to cry. I mean, I knew I wasn't the most efficient student but next to his example my record looked terrible. I used to devote huge chunks of time to studying the way Stalin commanded the Red Army: sending in wave after wave of men until the opponent was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, with no regard for the soldiers' lives. That inefficiency is probably my greatest regret from college.

So I guess that's a roundabout way of saying I would try to do both (1) and (2). Four years goes by quickly, and you'll have plenty of time to focus on (2) later (or at least that's what I've been telling myself for the last decade...).

11-06-2006, 06:37 AM	#3 (permalink)
Ben Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Somerville, MA Posts: 5	To over-achieve or not? This is an excellent question, and, despite having spent ten years at universities, I'm not sure I have the answer. The ideal situation would be to find a major that aligns perfectly with your personal goals so that you'll want to learn the material whether it's graded or not. But, of course, this rarely happens. And what if you have found the perfect career but the education required is less than inspiring? What if you just want to keep all your options open by having a strong academic record? I can only offer my own experience. I over-achieved in college and I ended up missing out on many college experiences (I performed my first keg stand last weekend at the age of 28--long story). But I did get the opportunity to go to grad school and learn from and study with many amazing people. The trouble was, I hadn't figured out what I wanted to get out of grad school. In fact, most of my colleagues hadn't thought much about this either. You don't have a lot of time for reflection when you're constantly fretting about the next exam. I guess if I had it to do over again, I would probably still focus on my GPA, but in a way that required me to invest less time. When I read about Steve's college experience and how much he accoomplished in three semesters, compared with my own college experience, I wanted to cry. I mean, I knew I wasn't the most efficient student but next to his example my record looked terrible. I used to devote huge chunks of time to studying the way Stalin commanded the Red Army: sending in wave after wave of men until the opponent was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, with no regard for the soldiers' lives. That inefficiency is probably my greatest regret from college. So I guess that's a roundabout way of saying I would try to do both (1) and (2). Four years goes by quickly, and you'll have plenty of time to focus on (2) later (or at least that's what I've been telling myself for the last decade...).