The 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before College
By: Eunice Lee
Tags: Letters, College, Advice

As a member of the class of 2020, I’ve been left without an official commencement ceremony, a long list of goodbyes I never got to say, and no real sense of closure. Although this screeching halt in the road was nothing short of jarring, it’s left me in a space where I can truly reflect about what this journey really meant to me.

As this chapter closes, I’ve come up with a list of things I really wish someone had told me before entering college, as I often treated the four years as a means to an end, rather than embracing it as an unexpected journey full of peaks and valleys. I intended to write this as a letter to incoming college freshmen, but no matter where this lands, I hope it offers you a newfound perspective on any transition into a new stage of life.

Don’t Pigeonhole Yourself

There are pros and cons to all types of institutions, and I can only speak on my experience as a student from a polytechnic school. In retrospect, I think I might have been fascinated by a college experience at a liberal arts school, but there are many aspects of my journey that I wouldn’t trade anything for.

However, one of the potential dangers of polytechnic institutions — schools that focus on the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences, is that a primary driver is to ultimately crank out students to successfully enter the workforce. They achieve this goal well, but not without some notable consequences. The business college I attended, for example, has an incredibly reputable and professional accounting society, where members are often funneled straight into the sought-after Big 4 accounting firms. This is a greatly desirable feat for many students. The professionalism of the club board members rendered them indistinguishable from the guest speakers from highly-reputable companies around the globe. This was how impressive the students had become after having molded themselves into the industry’s culture, even as early as their second years of school. The accounting majors at my university so often get scapegoated due to the fact that making generalizations about the group has just become so easy, and I hate to add to this pile of commentary, but this experience of so many is an integral part of this story that I feel must be properly addressed.

Students that choose this path are well-groomed from when they decide to declare accounting: in their 2nd year they do a Summer Leadership Program, in their 3rd year, an internship, hopefully with a Big 4 firm, and by 4th year, you’re set to go for your full time offer. (In recent years, this process has become even more expedited which is rather jarring to me, but that’s a whole other topic in itself).

Through this narrative, we clearly see the pros and cons of students who have somewhat become pigeonholed into this career path, most of the time way too early on for their own good. Students that choose to pursue this expedited route enjoy the many perks that this career choice brings, such as the brand name of the employer, a hefty salary right out of college, and the nod of approval from still a rather large part of our society. These are all critical components that are not to be simply brushed past, as some of our most fundamental aspects of wellbeing can be tied to our careers.

However, I find that the challenge lies in the fact that so many students with deep interests don’t know how to make pivots once it seems like our futures are sealed and delivered after signing the offer letter. And perhaps, more importantly, unfortunately start to believe that they cannot make these pivots.

I experienced this firsthand, as I threw myself into the human resources concentration my first year of college, and seem to be part of the business school success story group as I’ve secured a full-time job in the field post-graduation. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had deep interests in pursuing different career routes, but found myself feeling rather stuck as the strongest points on my resume were all related to just one field. As a job is the end goal for many students’ during college, of course it isn’t bad to try and make yourself the best candidate possible for positions that require quite a bit of relevant experience, but I say this to try and urge you to make sure to continuously check in with yourself throughout these four years. Be honest with yourself: is your college experience going how you would like it to go? Have you truly felt challenged yet? Are you in communities that regularly engage you in thought-provoking discourse? What would you do if all the doors were wide open? You deserve to take full ownership of these four years, and it would be a shame to feel as if only one road is open for you as you walk out those doors at the end of it all.

2. Prioritize Study Abroad

This is going to be something you will hear time and time again but I’ll take it one step further and give you a tangible, specific recommendation regarding the topic.

From being a recent graduate and advising several students on this process during my time in college, look into studying abroad the summer after your first or second year. Please believe me, it will not be the end of the world if you don’t do an internship during one of these summers. I can point you to several peers who took this route and do not regret it by any means. If anything, these kinds of experiences can give you more clarity and richer experiences to dive into what kind of internship you might even want to be interested in, rather than pursuing an internship just for the sake of it. I saw countless students go down this latter path to end up not having the most meaningful summers.

Look into the programs offered during these rare, opportune times in your college career. You might not be able to get major credit, but look into what courses could be substitutable, and if no one’s ever gotten a class subbed for one in the program you’re interested in, ask for it! There are always more possibilities if you’re willing to take the first leap of faith, whether that be reaching out to the study abroad center or a faculty member. Advocate for your own best experience, and keep in mind that you really never know until you ask. I understand that I speak from a place of privilege to even encourage a rather expensive opportunity, but if you have the resources and it’s only fear holding you back, do it scared!! (One of my favorite quotes from a hero of mine). I have not met a single soul who regretted study abroad, so that’s got to say something.

3. Don’t Necessarily Do Everything Ahead of Time

In regards to assignments, this might seem like a rather bizarre piece of advice, especially for students on the demanding quarter system. But after watching Adam Grant’s Ted Talk at a staff meeting, I came to the realization that his message that creativity can spark through some procrastination rang true to my own experience with all kinds of different school assignments.

I came to be a master planner during my time in college, trying to maximize the hours of my week by literally planning out which exact assignments I would do in each hour of the time I had allotted for homework. This led me to be driven solely by efficiency and productivity when it came to projects, rather than really looking to stretch beyond the minimum requirements asked of me as a student. When I would read over the assignments completed during that limited, efficiency-driven time frame I had set for myself, I found the outputs to be rather dry, and definitely not representative of my capabilities. Therefore, I believe it’s helpful to note that sometimes a bit of pressure is required for the good, creative juices to kick in, and the results that come out of working in these environments may actually be the projects and assignments that end up coming out really great. But definitely take this with a grain of salt, as all of this will inevitably take trial and error to see what works best for you.

4. Regularly Have Board Game Nights with Friends

Maybe this seems rather simple-how hard can it be to rile up a group of friends every now and then to play games? Friends, you are in for a rude awakening if this event seems like a simple task to conjure up, as you’ll soon come to find that people get so ridiculously busy so quickly in college.

I’m definitely writing this as I feel extra sentimental as a new college grad and am aching for the company of my dearest friends in the midst of this pandemic, but these nights are some of my fondest memories of my four years. Avalon, Exploding Kittens, Codenames, Mafia, and Catan are some of my favorites that come to mind, but I’ve always loved how a fun, strategic, and competitive game can really build camaraderie and bring people together whilst garnering up such genuine laughter and joy. And if you get invited to one of these game nights-go! It’s one of the easiest icebreaker events in my opinion, as you don’t even have to think of conversation starters when you’re caught up in the heat of the moment. I’d take a shouting match of Avalon over hours of Beer Die any day, but that’s just me.

5. Thank Your Professors

I write this feeling incredibly remorseful as I intended to try and properly show my gratitude to the professors I created the most heartwarming of connections to during the long-awaited commencement ceremony. Now that we are not having one, this is one of the things I really wish that I could have made different about my four years. At my university, our campus ministry put on an annual event to appreciate our faculty with a dinner as a professor of choice as the guest of honor. I always thought the idea behind the event was beautiful, but I definitely made excuses for not prioritizing attending until my last year of college. Putting on an event (when it’s safe to again) is wonderful and I’d definitely recommend considering it if your campus doesn’t have something of equivalence, but even writing a note at the end of the quarter goes beyond miles for these professors. I think we’ve all learned in these recent months that absolutely nothing should be taken for granted, and the warmth and dedication of these professors is definitely not to be glanced over.

Wherever this finds you at, I wish you the best in this new chapter of your life!

“If you are a dreamer come in

If you are a dreamer a wisher a liar

A hoper a pray-er a magic-bean-buyer

If you’re a pretender com sit by my fire

For we have some flax golden tales to spin

Come in!

Come in!”

Thank you so much to my friend Micaela Wu (pictured above) for helping me with this piece and for being by my side throughout the entirety our college years.