Lessons Learned in College
A perfect resume, for the perfect job, will list all of the wonderful achievements that you have been given. All of the skills that you have acquired, it will list your GPA, and perhaps you will attach a letter of recommendation or a reference or two. However, it is experience that is most noted in one’s resume. It is experience that your dream job will be looking at to determine if you’re the perfect employee for their company. After all, experience is what shapes us. Our experiences mold us into who we are meant to be.
As I sit here and look up sophisticated resume jargon, so that I can professionally list all of my experience for my dream job, I can’t help but think about all of the not-so professional experiences that have shaped me. These are some that I can’t list on a resume. This is my first big step into the real world and I’m shocked to be finding myself here already. I mean after all, five years is a long time, or so people think. In the past five years I have gained so much more than just professional experience. I have done more than develop my typing, and team-building skills. I have learned how to cook pasta without the water boiling over, I have learned how to take care of more than one intoxicated person at a time, I have learned how to a hug a broken hearted roommate so tight, that they actually do start to feel better.
Wrapping up my final year of my undergraduate degree has been one of those experiences that I can’t simply list on a resume, but it has shaped me. There are so many things people will tell you about college. They will have advice on whether you should live on campus or off, if you should find a roommate through Room Sync or room with a friend, but there are just so many things about college that no one can ever really tell you that you will understand. Things I wish someone would have tried to tell me.
As I said earlier, it baffles me to be sitting here typing this article during my last semester as an undergrad. I still remember my mom and dad driving away after unpacking my dorm. That’s where all of these college “experiences” first began. Moving into the dorms was an experience all on its own… saying goodbye to my parents, was another. I truly thought college would be exactly what was depicted in movies, and to be honest I wasn’t interested in what I thought it was going to be. I wanted to have my own unique experience with college, and boy did I. What I later came to find, was that everyone’s experience in college was completely different and unique.
During the first few weeks of school it seemed everyone had cliqued up. This was difficult for me to see as I found it hard to make friends. I often felt lonely my freshman year until the second semester. I met some great people my second semester. I thought some of them I was sure to be friends with forever. Lesson from experience number one: If I hadn’t been so hesitant to make friends my first semester, I would have been able to make more memories and meet more people. Lesson number two: just because you start with someone doesn’t mean you will end with them and that’s okay.
By the time sophomore year rolled around the experiences kept coming and coming. Some I was ready for and some I wasn’t. I experienced the good and bad sides of college parties. Lesson number three and four: take your cup to the bathroom so you can pour the last cup from beer pong down the drain and never I REPEAT NEVER DRINK THE PIKE PUNCH. It was my sophomore year that I developed such exceptional beer pong skills (can’t list that on a resume) and successfully learned how to strategize King’s Cup. But I also learned all about limits and self-control. It was actually during this time that I learned to be accountable for my own actions and responsible for those I care about when they can’t be responsible for themselves.
Now junior year really was the year of experience. My third year in college is where life taught me some of its meanest lessons. Number five: We have to deal with all different types of people in this world. How they act depends on them, how I act depends on me. I gained this knowledge while living with a horrendous roommate who was nothing less of a spoiled brat. She was rich, and I was working two jobs missing out on every Thirsty Thursday of fall semester. My stuff was taken from me and never returned, my apartment was often dirty and filled with various party bros from different ends of the university. I hated coming home. My first reaction was to call my mom and beg for her to get me my own place. Absolutely out of the question. My second reaction was be just as unruly as my roommate. My entire apartment then turned into a total war zone, fighting, stealing, and all the rest. After two months of back and forth pettiness I was completely drained. I decided to tackle the problem from a different angle and ended up finding a cheaper place to live, with a roommate that has now become one of my very best friends. So then, second semester rolled around and so did lesson number six: things don’t always work out the way you want them to and just because a situation isn’t going in your favor DOES NOT give you the right to play dead or give up. It was spring semester of 2016 and my classes were starting to get really hard, no I mean really hard. I would study for hours until my eyes were bloodshot and I would still end up with the crummiest test grades. It had gotten to the point where after every test I would call my mom crying, ready to pack up and go home. I began seeking out all the possible help imaginable. I used the campus tutoring center and began really applying myself throughout the entire course, not just before the test. Now I earn some of the highest test scores in my classes. I’m so glad I stuck it out.
Senior year, or my fourth year of college brought on totally different experiences that helped shape me into the young adult that is writing this article. I learned all kinds of lessons. Some of the most important ones actually. Lesson number seven: take advantage of all the opportunities life hands you. You never know what is going to help you out later in life. It was my fourth year and I still hadn’t made it to the finish line. I was feeling very under accomplished and now I realize, that instead of hanging out with my friends only, that it would have been beneficial to immerse myself into different groups and clubs. In fact, experiencing that sense of un-accomplishment is what lead me to Her Campus. I am now the CC of the New Mexico State chapter. Through this experience I have gained amazing friends, leadership qualities, and made countless memories. My only regret is that I didn’t get involved with other organizations sooner. During this time in my fourth year I also experienced a lot of growth in my relationships with those around me, bringing me to lesson number eight: Everyone has different perspectives, not everything they do is a direct response to you and listening to people is key to maintaining healthy and strong relationships. I found myself being very confrontational my fourth year, thinking I knew everything, and very opinionated. So opinionated, that I pissed my best friend off, to the point of actually punching me (yes, punching me) in the face. It took a split lip for me to realize that not everyone is trying to argue just because they don’t agree with what I am saying. Not everyone is reacting to what I am saying or doing, so I should respect their views and perspectives. Everyone has something to say and sometimes it is better to hear them without planning a response in return. Self-expression is more effective when it is well thought out. Oh and lesson number nine: NEVER go to the E.R. for a busted lip on a Friday night. You will end up wasting five hours on Neosporin and an $800 medical bill.
Now here we are. My fifth and final year (took long enough right?!) as with all of my previous years this one has definitely had its fair share of experiences. For the most part, they have all be wonderful. This last semester has flown by and I expect nothing less from spring 2018. I’m feeling so hopeful for the future because of all the lessons that I have learned. I am now more confident than ever of who I am supposed to be in this world. I’m not sure what is next but what I do know is that this final semester will be spent loving those close to me and cherishing every moment, knowing I will never be able to revisit it again. My experiences from the past have brought me to this one big and final lesson that I will share with you now. Lesson number ten: don’t ever doubt yourself, never doubt the love people share with you, encourage yourself and others, and lastly, use your failures as a stepping stone. A wise friend once told me, that every no is bringing you closer to yes. Granted, these are things I will never be able to list of a resume, but they are lessons I will take with me for the rest of my years. I have college to thank for such wonderful memories and people, and although it wasn’t picture perfect, the pictures are perfect.