College - You WON'T Regret It!

If Only! If ONLY!

Why is it that clarity always comes AFTER you need it? When I was in college, I had no idea what I wanted to be, let alone what I wanted to major in. You see, I was a naïve boy who’d always envisioned college as the place where I’d discover my passion and become an expert in the field of my choice. Boy was I wrong. By senior year, I’d come to accept the fact that college is, more often than not, the place where you discover which interests NOT to pursue.

Whatever. Outside of the academic slip-ups and attendance woes that every mediocre college student has, the main thing I would change is how I spent my "off terms." As soon as I graduated I realized that had I used my off-terms and summers more wisely, I might be in a better spot right now.

Let's break it down:

Unless you are going to graduate school or applying for some enviable position in a corporation/government, forget about your academic mistakes! After all, you can't go back and change the grades. Yes, you most certainly could have done better, but you had your reasons for not performing - motivation, other priorities, problems, etc. It's easy to say you would have been more studious, but a lot of the reasons why you loved college are tied to the non-studious, carefree times. I've already gone through the phases where I beat myself up for "having the wrong friends," poor sleeping habits, and time-consuming extracurriculars. Those "evils," however, were the things that taught me valuable lessons and grew me in the way college is supposed to.

Whenever you start getting stressed because of your lackluster showing in college, remember this: As much as you may regret & recognize the foolishness in many of your choices, you would probably make many of those decisions again because you GAINED so much from them.

Here's the deal...
It's not about what you know but WHO you know. So how does a 22 y.o. grad - you - get to know people in the entertainment (or whatever) industry? INTERNSHIPS.

If you don't have family or friend hook-ups, then you should be spending your undergraduate free terms exploring the industries you might want to work in. While internships are often far from glorious, they provide you with useful social capital - contacts and experience. That, my friends, is what will separate you from the thousands of other recent grad applicants when the good ol' college days are done. What I've found is that, no matter how magnificent the GPA or well-rounded the person, certain industries are so insular that even the brightest applicants get rejected.

Use undergrad to get your foot into as many doors as possible! My mistake was that my only internship was in the financial markets, and although it was a positive experience, today I no longer have any interest in that path. So, I'm high and dry, trying to force open a 2 ton music industry door that won't budge because the people on the inside don't know me. I have the skills and talent to work in the industry; I KNOW THIS. Unfortunately, I didn't apply for the slave labor, bottom of the totem pole internships that many of my peers did. And now those peers are on the inside of the door protecting themselves from any talented outsiders who might threaten their job security.

Do you get what I'm saying?! Apply for an array of internships over your 4 years in college. Meet people in different fields and make your life easier once you graduate. Expand your horizons (travel) and explore (jobs options) during your breaks. Trust me, you'll be better for it.

Once you're in the real world, you'll never find yourself saying "Man, i wish I hadn't interned or traveled so much." You may however find yourself saying "Man, I wish I'd enjoyed my time in college a bit more." Ask the phi beta kappa graduate. She probably cries herself to sleep every night. Oops, there I go projecting again, hahaha. *No, I was not phi beta kappa, LOL*

Be well,