Although it was published almost two months ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s interview with Rolling Stone Magazine says something that every college student needs to hear. At the end of the interview, he is asked how he is similar to Alexander Hamilton. While he talks about how he feels the need to get things done and written, he says something much more meaningful, perhaps without even realizing it. “I needed to be leaving with more than just a B.A.” There is a never ending pressure to graduate “on time” even though it’s becoming harder for students to do. There is a never ending pressure to be able to say that you finally have a degree, but what is the point of having a degree if you haven’t done anything?
Lin Manuel-Miranda stated, “I was painfully aware of the financial sacrifices my parents were making so that I could go to college, so I was not going to just leave with a B.A. in something. I was going to leave with stuff. I wrote a show every year of college. Not for credit, but because I needed to be leaving with more than just a B.A.” The money that you put into college shouldn’t only be used for tuition, it should be used for experiences. You should be making a difference in those precious years between childhood and adulthood, whether it’s in your own life or somebody else’s. It doesn't even have to be something as difficult as writing a show every year, but it has to be something.
Become a tutor. You’ll learn more and more each day that you help people. You’ll realize that the people you are teaching, are also teaching you.
Write a short story every month, or every two months, or every three months. Join the school newspaper. Start a blog.
Start a YouTube channel to showcase your songs.
Go see the guest speakers and listen to their knowledge.
Write an extra research paper for your biology class on something you’re interested in.
Take a class for fun instead of just for a degree.
When you graduate, you’re not going to remember the night you spent studying at the library, you’re going to remember tutoring an 85 year old man who was going back to school because he fell in love with writing. You’re going to remember the canvas you painted outside for fun instead of for a grade. You’ll remember the club you joined and the people you spent time with. You’ll remember the time you went on a service trip to help make blankets for the homeless.
Alexander Hamilton wrote 51 essays in the span of 6 months. You can do something other than ace a test in the span of 4 years. So don’t just go to college; don’t just leave with a degree, leave with knowledge that you have already changed your life, along the way you’ll find that a degree is only half of what makes college so important.
