Photo: One of my first dorms at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I had a great experience there but jumped around academically - I had no idea what I wanted to do!
As anyone reading this blog regularly knows, I am nearing completion of my BS in Marketing. While it’s been tough to balance work and school and trying to improve my photography and having a life, I am so much more excited to be in school now than I was when I was 18.
I didn’t know anything when I was 18! How was I supposed to know what I was going to be passionate about, what I wanted to do, at 18? (Don’t get me wrong here, there are some people who know it from the beginning, I have a few friends who followed their dreams that they had been after forever and I’m very happy for them.) All I’d been doing was musical theatre and working at the grocery store. I loved theatre (still do) and originally wanted to pursue it – but I’m playing no regrets here so it is what it is.
It saddens me more and more to know that in this country, kids are pushed to go to college right away, most with no experience in anything. How many people do you know with a degree in sociology or history or telecommunications that is working in the next cube over, doing the same generic business stuff that everyone else is doing? I got very lucky in that after I left school, I quickly found a job, in a business/office environment, and after trying out different things within the organization, I really found my niche. I have pursued that both at my organization and with this educational track, I knew what to go back and study this time which has made it much easier to continue.
My point is, I find that becoming educated now in “traditional” marketing topics is completely brilliant. I have experience now, I’ve been working at the same organization for 7 years, I am doing a certain level of marketing in this arena, I have a mind that buzzes with ideas all of the time. This is a perfect fit to accompany my learning, and I’m seeing that although marketing has changed so much even in just the last few years, the content I’m being presented with as the core curriculum for the marketing degree is completely relevant. I’m able to grasp concepts better from the beginning because I’m already using them – I retain way more information than I ever did when I was in college the first time, BECAUSE I CARE about what I’m doing now. I am so invested in it because this is what I want to do, this is what I expect to be doing and enjoying (I hope) for the rest of my life.
I can’t regret leaving school when I did – sure, it would be nice to be able to focus on my life more or to be pursuing an advanced degree already, but that’s not the path I ended up on. I did the right thing at the right time, and I don’t doubt that I’m right where I’m supposed to be now, if in no other area than getting ready to complete this program.
Question: Did you know what you wanted to do at 18 when you were faced with continuing higher education? What did you do? Does your current job have anything to do with what you studied in school?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this – you are so right…and it supports my argument that it’s even more insane in the UK (think it’s around 14 or earlier that kids have to start deciding their ultimate career path).
From the time I was 8 I wanted to be a photographer (this was after the childhood vet phase most kids go through). I never considered anything else until I got to college. I didn’t love the theory side so much, I just wanted to learn by taking pictures…but I did fine in the classes even if I didn’t love them…but the wake-up call was working for the college photographer and realising if I ended up taking head shots of the baseball team (or portraits at Sears) for the rest of my life I would surely kill myself. I was never good enough to end up as a globe-trotting freelancer (which really was probably what I thought I would end up doing)…so I dropped it…luckily I was a Liberal Arts major initially (my first school didn’t have a photography program as such) so most of my classes transferred to other degress…and after some friends at work suggested that because I like to argue I should think about being a paralegal, and that was that.
It would never have occurred to me at 18…wouldn’t have occurred to me at 21 had an off-hand comment not been made…I’d never thought about that – what would I be if that comment hadn’t been made? Hmmm…
No not at all. When I graduated from high school I took a year off trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and ended up picking a career that I was use to (restaurant management). After a number of career changes through my twenties I ended up in Social Work and finally realized the difference between a career and a job. Take care
When I was still in high school I did an internship at the top company in my field, which was quite a coup. Working there for 3 months * 2 summers soldified my passion for the field I chose. I highly encourage people to do internships like this (even if they’re totally on a volunteer basis) as early as possible. Figure out what you love!
Ironically, I was a bit of a lemming and unwittingly started college right after high school. After 2 years I was miserable in most of my classes. I dropped out to go work full time with the company I interned for. 10 years later, I regard it as one of my best decisions.
Hey, youre the goto expert. Thakns for hanging out here.