Hi everyone. I'm super excited to be here. My colleague Jean-luc van Charante kept telling me about this great platform and I finally made up my mind to join. Since I really enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts and life experiences in blogs, I decided to share one of the peak moments I had in 2018.
On the 18th of august 2018 the craziest thing happened. I graduated from college and got my bachelor’s degree in business administration. Why is this crazy? Well I never thought that 4 years would fly by so quickly. When I close my eyes, I can still see my nervous self-sitting in the classroom on the first day of school, rehearsing what to say for when it’s my turn to introduce myself. I can’t be the only one that forgets everything about themselves when the teacher asks to ‘share your hobbies’ and ‘the reason you chose for this program’. Good times. Good times. Good times that most certainly will not be missed. I’m not going to lie. When I got up on that stage and finally received my diploma it felt good to say goodbye to this chapter of my life. Yet while I was saying goodbye to college I knew it meant I was also saying hello to the real world. Before really closing off this chapter I would like to share with you what college was like for me and share some tips, so you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Truth is I only need 3 word to describe my college experience. Stressful, educational and fun.
Stressful
If you’re a college student and the stress you’re under has never made you cry or made you think of crying and quitting, I must ask, what’s your secret? A quote I could relate heavily to during my college years was the one below.
I cried while studying, I cried while writing my thesis and I cried when I had to do my first ever resit (#nerdalert). I’m not even ashamed to admit it because I know any college student can relate to this. If you’re a freshman reading this I guess the first advice I have for you is to make sure you always have a box of tissue with you. Just kidding. I guess what I’m trying to say with a tad bit of exaggeration is college is stressful! You have seven weeks to learn 8 to 11 different subjects (becomes less each year) and if you’re unlucky 4 to 6 of these subjects require a written paper. Of course, we can’t forget the various presentations and weekly assignments that are connected to these subjects. College is going to show you some tough love. Hang in there though. A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. Keep in mind that you’re being formed for when it’s time to leave those four walls called a classroom and step into the real world. The stress, pressure and frustration can only change you for the better if you let it. The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg.
Educational
My 4 years in college have been the most educational years of my life so far. The reason I went to college was to learn more about entrepreneurship and how I could one day make my dream of starting up my own company come true. When choosing a course, it’s important to make sure that it’s connected to something you love or are interested in. My interest in entrepreneurship is the reason why I was never bored with any subject (most of the time). I always looked forward to learning new things regarding this topic and improving my skills in anything that was linked to entrepreneurship. Don’t let society or the people around you pressure you into studying something you have absolutely no interest in. At the end of the day, you’ll be the one taking the tests and living a stressful life because you constantly must invest your time in something you don’t like. Don’t let it break you if there is something you would really like to spend your time learning about and the people you care about don’t want to support you in it. Instead try to take the time to help them understand why that specific thing is important to you. Once they see the importance of it as you do, it can only get better from there on.
Fun
College was stressful, educational and surprisingly really fun. It was the time I got to work on many fun projects like ‘launching my own product’. I met great people who impacted my life and got to create awesome memories with them. I got to travel abroad with my friends for the first time and got to see what doing business is like in a foreign country. College is where I created some of my best memories. Don’t get caught up too much in all the work and studying you’ll have to do. Make sure you create memories with your friends and capture them. After all, college is only for a little while. In a blink of an eye it will all be over, just like it’s over for me now.
Though I would love to encourage everyone who’s reading this to just get up and go to college the truth is that college isn’t for everyone. Not everybody has the same interests and not everyone needs to go to college to achieve the goals they have for their lives. College shouldn’t be something people get pressured into. I believe God has given everyone their own unique talent and that we should use that talent to serve Him and others. The most important thing isn’t to go to college. It’s to follow that dream that God placed in your heart. That dream that will help you have an impact on those around you and encourage others. If achieving that dream requires going to college then I say go for it. Keep the tips I shared above in mind. If achieving that dream doesn’t require going to college, it’s okay. Not going to college doesn’t make you less than someone who went. In the end of the day it’s about walking on a path that helps you achieve the dream God placed within your heart.
I stepped into my college experience as a ‘little’ immature girl and walked out of it as a mature woman (with that same little girl inside of course). A mature woman who’s now saying goodbye to her college life and hello to the real world. With the Lord’s help I believe I’ll be able to take the real world on. You can too.
Be blessed,
Ruth