5 Lessons Graduate School Taught Me
How many of you have contemplated graduate school? I know a handful of friends contemplating the decision right now. You may be wavering on whether this is the right time, whether you really want to go, how you are going to pay for it, and etc. Well, stop thinking about it!
How often do we think of the decisions we made in life and realize that one decision may have single handedly changed the course of our lives? That is what a graduate program can do for you. More times than not, I was told how lucky I was to be in graduate school and how big of an accomplishment it was. At the time, graduate school didn’t seem like a big deal. Just “another day, another dollar.” Now, four-months post-graduation, I am realizing that I would not be in my ideal career, location or self without the lessons Mr. Miyagi, grad school, taught me.
To give you a quick highlight about my journey, I studied health sciences in undergrad. I was determined to be a Physician Assistant. However, I got to my last semester in college, like some of you, and realized that was not the path for me. Instead, I decided to pursue an MBA. It was a fast track, 15-month program at a private college. Every assignment was team based and every professor knew me personally. This was completely opposite form my undergrad experience (60,000 students), but it was truly unmatched and here are 5 Things Graduate School Taught Me About Life, Career and Self.
Life
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
In undergrad I was a master of presentations because of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity. That organization will teach you to speak with confidence and conviction even if you are unsure. When I had my first grad presentation, ALL of that training went OUT the window!
I was so nervous that I skipped a few lines in my presentation. The reality of the situation was that I was a health major giving a presentation to faculty on business development. I felt like a fake. I felt like I shouldn’t have been there and they knew it, but in actuality I should have been there. I earned my spot like everyone else so why was I psyching myself to think that what I had to say wasn’t credible? The moment we start realizing the person across from us is no different, more powerful, credible, and/or respectable than us is the moment we gain BACK our power, confidence and edge!
“Life is an endless race. Keep running. Create your own standard and hold yourself accountable to it.”
Everyone will have a vision or expectation for your life. Friends. Family. Professors. Associates. You’re not always going to meet them. That is ok. LIFE. GOES. ON. We are constantly making decisions where we have to choose between following our own line of thinking or following someone else’s. You can’t spend time figuring out the best way to please somebody else. Be a leader of your life. Decide which route is best for YOU to take and stand in that truth. Be unapologetically you and hold yourself to whatever standard you set for your life.
Career
“Plans deviate. You don’t have to follow that path set forth just make sure you are on a path.”
The difficult thing about getting an MBA, is that you study multiple concentrations at one time. I swear I wanted to do every discipline post-graduation and fought myself on it for a year! When I started my program I was set on being in Human Resources. As I started taking more classes I switched to Marketing to International Business to Management to Strategy Development and back to Human Resources. It was tiring because I couldn’t properly communicate the path I wanted to take next. This left my advisors, potential employers and even family confused. Although I couldn’t see where I was going long-term I remained focused on my short-term goal, graduation. Sometimes you don’t know where you are going to end up, but you know you are going in the right direction. That alone doesn’t need validation. Take comfort in that.
“Location and company culture are more important than job title.”
Three months before graduation I received a full-time offer for a management development program with a prominent company. The company had a welcoming culture and great benefits. I later declined this offer due to location. I didn’t have another offer lined up. Instead, I was selling all of my furniture, packing all the things I could fit in my car and moving across the country. I received a lot of backlash from family and friends because I was leaving security for uncertainty. However, my mentor explained it best. When you are looking for a college to go to. You look for the location you want to be in and then you look for the tops schools in the area. Your career is no different. As millennials, we spend so much time looking for the perfect job title in our area when our perfect job might not be offered in our area. So we take the opportunity that is attractive, but not ideal; only to quit a year and a half down the line due to “management” or “job opportunities.” Save yourself the hassle and step outside your comfort zone to obtain what you really went to school for. Every zip code does not have a place for your creative talents. Find the one that does.
Self
“You are not who you think you are. That is ok. Develop who you are to match who you want to be.”
On the road to getting my Leadership Certification I had to take a 360 assessment, which was just a strength/weakness outlook from friends, co-workers, managers and classmates point of view. This assessment was the character development tool that transpired who I am today. I learned that who I think I am and who others think I am does NOT always overlap! Talk about reality check. To be honest, some of the comments hurt my pride, but I had to realize that perception is reality. What I think of myself does not always correlate to what others think of me. The goal is to have those two perceptions mirror each other as much as possible. This does not mean change who you are to please someone else. Instead, evaluate the negative AND positive feedback and decide who you want to be and how you can hold yourself accountable for being that person in ALL areas of your life.
In the end..
Hindsight is 20/20 and graduate school revealed lessons for my life, career, and self that I’m so grateful for. What life decisions have you made that improved your life, career or self? Drop your answers in the box below or just tell me your thoughts on this article.
