My Intro to Literature professor last year told our class that she once read an unpublished story written by her friend and stole one of the details in that story to use in one of her own, which she eventually had published. When my professor’s friend confronted her about it, my professor responded with, “It’s not about what you write. It’s about what you do with it.”
Maybe my professor and her friend were close enough not to make a big deal out of the issue, or maybe her friend never had intentions of getting any of her own writing published in the first place. I’m not trying to justify plagiarism, but what my professor said that day has stuck with me ever since. I think this is true regarding all areas of life; it’s not always about the tiny details as much as it’s about what you do with/ make of them, and this is especially true in college.
In high school, we spend so much time researching different college facts and statistics from acceptance rates to prices, but what really matters once you’ve been accepted? What comes after making it into that 18, 43 or 78 percent? And then what comes after the scholarships or all the loans you have to take out? Well, I can’t answer that for you, but I can tell you this: it’s not about where you go to college. It’s about what you do while you’re there, and it's about what you do with that experience once you graduate. This is a time to stop defining yourself and your abilities by the grades you earned in high school or how you did in comparison to your friends. This is a time to focus on what you love doing and how to become a professional at doing whatever that is.
While it’s true that top universities provide more opportunities for students to reach beyond their comfort zones and gain real-world experience in their chosen professions, there are also students who don’t take advantage of all their schools have to offer. There are also people who never finished high school, and some who dropped out of college and became experts in their fields all on their own. We need to get rid of the idea that a person’s abilities in their area of expertise is measured by where he/she studied to receive his/her BFA, PhD or plumbing certificate.
Therefore, if you are looking for a job or internship and your school has a career services office, schedule an appointment. If you have an advisor, ask for help in choosing which credits to cross off your major’s requirements list first. If your school has an open art studio, spend an entire Sunday painting and order Chinese takeout when you get hungry. Take out books from the library. Get something published in one of your school’s magazines. Find new passions, learn how to be OK with changing your mind and put a lot of extra effort into the things you love doing. Try to enjoy eating at the dining hall because before you know it, you’re going to be eating pasta and frozen burritos every night when you move into your first apartment. It’s not about where you go to school, it’s about what you do with your education.
