Experiences of a college student
My older brother is a graduating senior at Syracuse University, with a bachelors in IT. These were his thoughts on his college experience, what he thinks about it, and how to go on from here:
What are some of the biggest things college has taught u?
- “So far college has been a tremendous journey which has provided me with
many great experiences. College helped me see what independence is really
about. Attending to a college a couple hours away in another state has really
helped me test if I am truly ready to be independent, which I think I am.
College has also taught me that you must take advantage of the opportunities
that present in your way, and creating these opportunities when they do not
show up. However, out of all things, college has really helped me found a
potential in my that I hadn’t seen before. Between many challenging classes,
work, and social life I thought I would never have time to do everything, but
with some time management training, I learned that I could successfully
accomplish all these and more. Once I saw this potential, my confidence
increased and became more motivated to get things done.”
Do u think the experience was worth the money?
- “College has definitely been a worthwhile experience and I wish I could do it
all over again. However, the cost of college tuition is very high, which deters
many from getting an education and leaves many others with large burdens
of financial debt (student loans). College is a great place to find opportunities
and develop oneself, but is something that it should be affordable to anyone
with the desire for a higher education. I am one among the students that will
have some student loans to repay post-graduation and even though I am
happy college opened many opportunities for me, I do wish I could of had
this experience without having to worry about paying thousands of dollars
Is “the struggle” when it comes to finding jobs after college real?
- “I think the answer to this question depends mostly on how one approaches
the situation. I have found that networking and building connections is key to
finding a job, or at least a job that you would actually want. Taking action
early, building relations while still at school and thinking what profession
you want to pursuit will make this “struggle” less of an issue. I’ve met some
peers that have found their careers and have everything figured out and
others that have not even started thinking what they want to do once they
graduate. I believe attitude is another key component to finding a good job.
The opportunity is always out there waiting for you somewhere, but you
have to do whatever is necessary to find it, thus your mentality could be the
deciding factor between working hard to find the dream job or getting stuck
Who are some of the brightest and some of the worst people you’ve met in ur college career.
- “During my underclassmen years of college, I mostly focused on the fun part
of college and was always hanging around with people that wanted to just
hang around and play video games. During this time, I was getting good
grades, but simply did the work because I had to do it and was more driven
towards getting my homework done so I can hang out with friends
(sometimes leading to mediocre work), but to be fair I feel like this is a
similar situation for the majority of students. During my last two years, I
started to focus more on school and started to hanging out more intellectual
individuals that were more focused on working on projects and thinking
about their futures. Hanging out with these guys encouraged me to become
more involved on campus, which definitely opened many opportunities.
Hanging out with people that were school and career-oriented helped me
land a position as director of the research center at my school as well as a job
at a startup company. Out of all this I can finish with one conclusion, the
people you hang around with really does matter.”
What would u do different if u could do it all over again?
- “Like I mentioned earlier, college tuition is very high and carries a burden of
debt when graduation happens. something If I would had done something
differently, I would of definitely applied to more scholarships to reduce my
college debt and maybe even go to a cheaper in state school like you did. I had
a lot of fun though, not much I would change about that experience.”
What is ur biggest regret in college so far?
- “My biggest regret is not having started thinking about my career since the
very beginning of college. When I first got accepted, four years seemed like a
really long time and thought I had time to figure everything out. However,
I’m about a month away from graduation and realized that these four years
flew by really fast. I am not very upset that I didn’t start that early because I
had to go through that experience to learn, but I would consider that my
biggest regret. Start looking for internships and what you wanna do now that
Do you think u have solid plans for after college?
- “I am still in the application and interview process, so I do not have concrete
plans as of yet, but I think I will be fine.” (I could tell he was somewhat scared of
Are u ready for the rest of ur life?
- “Life is something that is inevitable whether we are ready or not. I’ve learned
in college about my potential and that we can grow if we have the desire for
it. I am sure that I will have many more of these insights throughout my
career, thus I am looking at life as a learning process and trying to focus
living in this moment, since tomorrow is always a mystery.”
______________________________________________________________________
Before we did the interview, my brother asked me if he should be honest or just make the answers sound good. This made me think while the interview was going on, and I think to an extent he answered the way most people would. With the question about plans after college, I could tell that like everyone, he has some self doubt but he is trying to be as optimistic and professional about it.
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