Not everyone who enrolls into college expects to be employed by a Fortune 500 Company after four to six years of study.
Rather, what you may find at many universities is that there are tens of thousands of students who seek to use what they learn in college to launch their own ideas, businesses or even projects too.
In fact, many individuals often point to creative geniuses such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg as evidence to suggest that college is never an actual prerequisite to success.
But this is not what this article is about either.
Instead, my assertion in this writing here today is that college is a great catalyst for anyone who seeks to gain even more success.
Take for instance Ludovic Louisdhon, a recent grad from NYU who has this to say about his own college experiences.
To him, college was very useful since it taught him “knowing where to go when you need it.”
But beyond just that; college offered Louisdhon the leverage that was necessary not just for being a better product manager of his own company, but for becoming more employable for other companies too.
“Leverage is very important,” says Louisdhon “use it to its full extent.”
He also adds that college had offered good insights about how the real world works by the time he had become a part of it.
“A lot of times you are being taught stuff but you [just] don’t know how it is being used in the real world, so then there is no value, but once somebody sees how it is used in the real world, then they can gain [a lot of] value from it.” says Louisdhon.
In addition, college is also an excellent way to cultivate leadership and cooperative skills as well, since many courses at various universities mandate group projects as a requirement of the course.
And getting used to deadlines; either for course projects or for one’s final exams; can train one to organize and structure their own lives with greater efficiency, and even when under pressure.
And don’t forget to use your college experiences as an opportunity to weed out your inadequacies, so that you don’t miss out on your chance to shine because of an excess of incompetence.
For example, if you know you are uncomfortable with speaking in public, take more communication courses.
And for those of you out there who might fear that college won’t offer them much since they are non-conformists, or even non-traditional thinkers, then even for people like yourself there is still no reason to fret!
And this is because for unique or original individuals such as yourself; perhaps it is just better for someone like you to just create your own custom major too.
For example, many colleges such as Baruch University allow their students to create their own individualized degrees, provided that the program is reviewed first by an ad-hoc coordinator such as Wendy Heyman, who has been a coordinator of Arts and Sciences at Baruch for over forty years.
“It is a wonderful program, it’s a first step for students asserting their self’s and finding their own voice and taking charge.” says Heyman.
And when asked if she thinks that an ad-hoc degree is better for a specific kind of college student, her response was “people that are more creative and know what they want and need, this is good for them.” says Heyman.
And if you dare, and aren’t in a rush to graduate, you may wish to look for minors that can expand your repertoire in areas outside of your main concentration, or at the very least cross-relate.
Last but not least; completing a minor or two may boost your gpa too, which is never unimportant if you are thinking of graduate school after completing your bachelors.
And for those who are a part of a non-conformist lifestyle, attending college might even offer you a chance to perceive your society in much of a way which our majority culture might; but without having you to sacrifice entirely on your own values in the process too.
In fact, many studies such as the ones which are featured in the “Handbook of the Economics of Education” series even suggest that college experiences offers many students an improved means of learning.
And as for the ways why this is true then?
It is because college can present students who are even seen as intellectually average a way now to interact with other high ability students from the same college environment.
So for those of you who understand the wisdom behind the statement that “you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Venturing to a new college environment in your case then; can offer you even a greater chance to interact with those who are liked minded or even more intellectually gifted than you yourself are.
And if by this point of reading this article you say to yourself well “aren’t there more entrepreneurs, self-starter types, or innovative thinkers out there that fail than succeed?”
My response to your fears are to not let this stop you from winning anyway.
Life is not often linear, so don’t fear failing a few times, or having to work thru your challenges. Because at the end of the day there are often hidden gains for those who just face failure anyway.
And yet even more importantly, after failing many times, you learn to think stuff thru better; and you may even become more versatile and adaptive as a result of failure too.
And remember this, college is as much as you make of it outside of your campus, as much as it is about the opportunities you seize at your university too.
So don’t feel that you are necessarily missing out dearly by the way if you can’t find the time to network or join groups.
Yet don’t make excuses if you find that you aren’t taking advantage of the many opportunities that your university might offer as well, such as with internships or student clubs.
And know as well that if you maintain enough hobbies, or commitments outside of your own university already; then for students such as yourself, just attending your courses might be more than enough to give you the mental boost that is necessary to enhance many of your non-academic pursuits.
And for those who are brave enough, college offers you a chance of completing a doctorate or master’s degree.
Which might be worth it even if you don’t seek employment from outside bosses too.
For instance, those who go to law school might find that the skills which an attorney would possess would make one a better thinker, debater, innovator, or even a professional consultant.
So you don’t have to convince yourself otherwise that reaching for your master’s demonstrates enough of a merit just of itself; even if it means earning one without wanting to impress new employers too.