Read This Before You Go To College

For as long as I could remember, my strategy when it came to schoolwork was always “aim for the bare minimum required for excellence.” This has always translated as pursuit of good grades over everything else. My parents encouraged this mindset; even though my mother had me join different clubs like the Key Club, they always talked about the importance of getting the grade. I would often turn down a good portion of extracurriculars and even time with friends in order to concentrate on working on my grades. I thought this would help me out.

However, I’ve come to realize that this isn’t the best way to work. Hard work is necessary but not sufficient for success. You have to direct your efforts towards something actually productive. Otherwise, you end up making the same mistakes I did.

If there was any advice I’d give to my younger self, it’d be to look into ways of improving my portfolio rather than my grade. Back then, I was much more concerned with making A’s than I was with getting involved with writing projects. And even then, this didn’t always hold up. Sometimes, I’d sit at my desk saying that I was going to do my schoolwork, but then I’d end up getting distracted and wasting a bunch of time. Other times, I’d work very hard on a single question of my homework, wasting a bunch of time.

Still, I was able to get out of my rut and managed to get overall good grades, especially in the history classes that really counted towards my overall goal of obtaining a PhD. But my opportunities did not increase after I graduated. Suddenly, I found myself sort of cast adrift in the world. I was able to work out a deal with my parents to help with their housework while I searched for a job. I first found work working in an ice cream shop before getting a contract to write an ebook on artificial intelligence for a company. All the while, I was getting into contact with my teachers, setting up meetings, and looking for opportunities.

When I finally did get the opportunity to talk to my teachers, I was certainly disappointed. My teachers mainly discouraged me from going into academia. Each one of them told me that I would be hard pressed to find a job as a history professor simply because there were too many of them. Some of them outright told me not to become a professor and to try my luck elsewhere. The most revealing part of the entire experience was how impressed they were by my ebook on artificial intelligence (of all things!) than they were about the grades I got in class. I was sadly mistaken about what they were looking for.

Looking back now, I believe I’ve figured out how I went wrong: I failed to always be building. If I wanted to truly stand out, I had to make a habit of making some material project. Making some tangible thing is more impressive to professors and employers alike. It shows that you are a productive person.

People of my generation tend to have a reputation for laziness because they fall into two intellectual traps that prevent them from being fruitful.

Credentialism: we’ve been trained very, very hard to produce a certain letter on a paper. We study for a test even though the information is useless for our careers. The reason why we take classes and endeavor to do well in them is so that we can get over an artificial institutional hurdle. While intellectually challenging yourself and doing well in class is important, having a straight-A average is not as good as having something to show for it. Having a portfolio of engineering or writing projects is much more impressive than getting a good report card.

Stupid Work: We think “the harder I’m working, the better I must be doing.” Nothing could be further from the truth! A lot of working millennials simulate hard work by using up all their time on their jobs, but get nothing of worth accomplished. They want to impress the boss, not get anything accomplished. Because this is a simulation of hard work, it stresses you out like actual work does without accomplishing anything. It’s the worst of both worlds!

Dedicate your life to working hard to build something positive. Write a paper and try to publish it. Join an engineering group and build something great. Try to get your name in a magazine or on a project. Always keep building, unlike what I did in college. As for me? I’m following my own advice and writing this blog. I hope it brings me opportunities while also helping others. Better late than never, I suppose!