How can you love someone else if you don’t truly love yourself? How can you progress at your job or get a raise if you don’t truly value and appreciate your craft? How do you raise a child to be one way and live another? Do you know who they really are? Today, our society has inflicted one common mindset among us—we go to college to get an education, which will then lead us to a better job. Having that better job will result in happiness, living a comfortable lifestyle with an income that is socially acceptable compared to the majority. Our common psyche misconstrues the sole purpose of the college experience. It is not for a better job, or more money, but rather a revelation of who we really are. And it is through this discovery that secondary benefits possibly arise, like money and a good job.
Let's forget about academics for a moment. Forget about grades, and internships, and the recommendations. What makes someone happy? What is it that, when you look back decades from now, you will truly deem yourself as a success? Will your loved ones define your character through your net worth, or rather the traits that make you into the person you are? The academic experience is only a vehicle to the bigger picture. Our success is measured in degrees, diplomas, and pay stubs, but that is only a diminutive variable in defining who we truly are. It is through our experience of hardship, fun, learning, and failures that we begin to paint an image of the characteristics that embody our beings.
The great Mark Twain once said, “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”
Professors and advisors serve as guides, and through education, they give us the necessary tools to flourish. Education is a powerful gift, arguably the most powerful trait one can consume. But even education is pointless if you don’t know what to do with it. That motive varies from every individual, but a number never reach their aim because they are still trying to figure out their purpose. This is why self-development is the reason we go to college. To gain an understanding of ourselves in the absence of our parents and mentors who are there to define that for us. It is an individual process only one's self can endure. The reality is, when we leave college and enter the world, no one is going to care. Advisors and professors don’t exist in the real world because everyone is essentially after the same thing. Everyone is competing, and everyone wants to win.
Now some make the argument that one's education is the defining variable. Take for instance applying for a job; jobs look at your resume, experience, and education. But I disagree. Those are important, needless to say, but they are not the defining characteristics that will make or break an opportunity. It is knowing who you really are. Someone with the best credentials could very well get the job, but if they do not know themselves, their opportunity will be short-lived. The person who will then keep that job and progress with no boundaries is the person who has a vision of who they truly are and what they stand for. A trait only reachable through self-development. And it is through the college experience that we unravel our desires, passions, and self-defining characteristics that prepare us for the real world. This goes far beyond a job opportunity. Knowing yourself, and more importantly, loving yourself, makes for a happy family, marriage, and any imaginable desire.
