College Creates Success

Your parents have been saying it for years "Go to school; study hard; get into a good college; and get a job." Most people go to college just because their parents demand it or follow their closest friends like lemmings. Other people realize that college equates to money and prestige of a degree of a big named school. Few people take the time to understand why they need to go.

In order to realize the full importance of higher learning you have to take a step backward and look at the full picture. In your early career as a grade school and high school student your work and social life is essentially the same. Remember your friends at recess that you shot hoops with or jumped rope with - those were your classmates that you worked on group projects with and suffered through history class together with. College is essentially an attempt to create a barrier between your work and social life. Its purpose is to create two identities for you- one being a working professional in training while also making a separate person that can survive in the social world. Ideally you will learn that there are times when you need to have to sit down and hammer away at work, but there are also times to let everything loose and drink like there's no tomorrow.

Think about how life would be if you didn't go to college and just left high school and went directly into the real world. Imagine not knowing how to live without your parents and having to work those 40+ hour days. Add further complexity with the fact that you need to learn to manage finances, a social life and work all at once. But imagine now a world where you can combine all three without having to worry about having to worry about having your life come crashing down on you. After all you have the support of your family and friends to fall back on financially and supportively as well as the academic help of professional teachers and faculty.

Although there are many exceptions to the rules such as Bill Gates, this rule hold true for a significant number of people. Its not the fact that one cannot handle work with a high school degree - its that you need to learn to balance your life. After all it won't do any good to hire someone who can't manage his or her life and balance that with life at work.

Who Am I ?

I’ve always enjoyed divulging advice on just about any topic to anyone willing to listen; anything from picking the color of a car, the right major, or even a restaurant to eat at. Like most people that enjoy giving advice, they probably could use some themselves. Reflecting on my college career, there is definitely advice I could have used. Back then I was an engineering student straddling the line between failure and confusion. My sub par performance placed me on academic probation twice and academic dismissal once. I faced academic advisors that wanted me to leave the college and parents I couldn’t even get myself to face. At the lowest point of my college career I was seeking advice that was no where to be found.

With some determination I was able to bounce back and achieve some significant goals I never imagined possible: three internships, two publications, and a job secured before graduating as an engineer. For those of you who are reading this and are in the same position I was - in academic trouble and worried about your future, trust me I can relate. Though I am nearing the completion of my first year of work, I wouldn’t want anyone else to make this journey without some guidance and advice.

I believe it is possible for anyone to be successful in college and transition well into the real world. That is what redsprouts is, a place for everyone regardless of where you are in your college career to get the advice and guidance to be successful.