I graduated!

I graduated from my two-year college last Saturday! The journey was not easy and I feel incredibly accomplished. During the last two years, I worked in the library on campus, and I took a full class load during three semesters. I have to say that the most valuable knowledge I gained during my college experience was from working in the library. I now want to continue my education to become a librarian because I was so inspired every day I was working there. Furthermore, I wanted to write a blog post in reflection of some other lessons I learned during the last two years.

Grit - I learned the true meaning of keeping my head down and working my tail off to get an impossible load of work finished well done and on time. Between working in the library, trying to grow a reselling business, and taking five to six classes a semester, I learned what it meant to have too much work in too little time. I had to learn how to power through and when to stop when I really needed to. Take a breath and then jump right back in. It wasn't easy, but it showed me what I was capable of.

It's a Big World Out There! - I grew up in a rural community. My high school graduating class had less than one hundred students, and wasn't very diverse. While I was always liberal and open-minded, my corner of the world didn't really expose me to different cultures and values. During my time in college, I took a Cultural Diversity and a World Religions class and I like to think that they helped broaden my horizons and give me a better understanding of the world. One of my best memories is when our World Religions class visited a Mosque and we got to listen to their service.

Just Go with It - This is something I wish I had learned in high school. Through college, I learned not to build up situations in my head and to just let things unfold. If I had a presentation coming up or a major school event, I didn't stress on it and play it out in my head beforehand. Doing this made the experiences smoother and easier to take in. I didn't end up disappointed, and I enjoyed the experiences more for what they were.

You Can't Please Everyone - This may sound like an excuse, but it isn't. There are, unfortunately, some professors and others that you just cannot please. I learned to roll with the punches on these, make the corrections they ask me to make, do the best I can, and let the rest play out. Sometimes it's better to move on to another task and achieve it successfully than to pour too much time on mission impossible.

Live in the Moment - It's all too easy to become overwhelmed with tasks in the future. The semester I was taking six classes, I had to focus on the now. I was out of hours and there was no such thing as working ahead. I learned to focus on the tasks in front of me and not become overwhelmed with things to come. This goes along with the grit idea. In the words of Charles Winchester, "I do one thing at a time. I do it very well, and then I move on."

~*~

Over and out.