How to Spell College

College hides its real lessons. They dress themselves up as lectures, tests, papers, oral presentations, projects, social interactions, new settings, new people, roommates, and extracurriculars. While you may be taught chemical formulas, assigned a paper about Freud, given a group project about economics, challenged by very different roommates, living far from home, or given the responsibility of leading a club, what you’re really learning is how to learn, think, write, listen, talk, manage time, manage people, care about and shape the world-at-large, be an active citizen, and be independent—all crucial skills relevant to every workplace.

Your major plays a small role in your college experience and an even smaller role in the years following graduation. As long as your university provides a haven that allows you to learn from your mistakes and develop your strengths and weaknesses—all in a nurturing environment—then you’re getting a valuable education.

Remember that in college, everyone is rooting for you. Take advantage of it before you head off into the “real world.” Learn everything you’ve always wanted to learn, grow in all the ways you’ve ever wanted to grow, and change in all the ways you’ve ever wanted to change.

Dare to be vulnerable, wrong, adventurous, curious.

Have faith in being confident, right, independent, influential, social.

And have pride in being yourself and developing your full potential.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

I hate that question.

I’m very goal-driven with the things I think need direction. And I have a strong sense of my personal and career-related values.

But I still hate that question.

So years ago when the teacher in charge of my high school yearbook asked it to me and everyone else in the Top 10, our conversation was quite interesting:

Nathan: I don’t know.
Yearbook Advisor: You have to know.
Nathan: No, I don’t. I don’t know.
Yearbook Advisor: Everyone else has something listed.
Nathan: And that means I have to follow the crowd?
Yearbook Advisor: Yes. The Top 10 should be setting an example for everyone else.
Nathan: Well, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know and I think this is as much of a good example as everyone else’s answer. If you’re that desperate, you can pick something for me and include it in the yearbook.

Well, months passed and the yearbook was finally published. I flipped to the career plans page for the Top 10, and apparently the advisor wrote “Engineer or pro wrestler” under my photo. Nice joke, but way to be stereotypical. I’m Asian and had a reputation of being good at math, but an engineer was possibly the only thing I knew I didn’t want to be.

Okay, back to that ugly question and all its flaws. What do you want to be when you grow up? If you’re aspiring to be something like a writer, musician, anthropologist, chef, teacher, mechanic, or social worker, you better own up to it and correct your interviewer. You already are that writer, musician, anthropologist, chef, teacher, mechanic, or social worker. It’s not something you want to be when you grow up. It’s something you live and breathe already.

If you want anyone to consider your seriousness for a career, you need to give a role to yourself. You could say you’re a “teacher” if teaching others is what you often do, even if you don’t stand in front of a chalkboard every day. I suppose you can’t really say you’re a doctor or politician to people yet, but you could still say you’re a healer or a liar…

Instead of asking yourself what you want to be, ask yourself who you are and what you value. Take an inventory of your strengths and personality traits. Then reflect on what kind of effect and difference you’d like to make in the world. While the answers to these questions are open to change throughout your life, they will stay a lot more consistent than “what you want to be.” In addition, they’ll invite you to explore a lot more opportunities that will help you act on your values.

Years after my high school graduation, I finally figured out part of my life. Some of my main values are educating people, inspiring people, and empowering people. When I leave this world, I want it to be a more loving, compassionate, understanding, and forgiving place. I act on these values by mixing some careers together: teacher, counselor, consultant, writer, filmmaker. These titles may change–and I may encounter new ones I like–but my values will always stay the same.

I think it’s perfectly fine, and probably even normal, to not know what you want to be. You have plenty of choices in the future, and you wouldn’t want to trap yourself into just one. But it’s to your own disadvantage not to think about what gift you can give to the world.

Life is about acting on values, not chasing titles.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

When they go to class the first week…
Upperclassmen wear normal clothes.
Freshmen dress up.

When they don’t know where a building is…
Upperclassmen wander around confidently.
Freshmen pull out their handy-dandy maps.

When it’s time to buy textbooks…
Upperclassmen save money by buying them online. (This is how.)
Freshmen sell their souls to the campus bookstore.

When it’s time to study…
Upperclassmen skim the readings.
Freshmen try to read every word assigned.

When it’s time to take a shower…
Upperclassmen seem to carry nothing.
Freshmen carry full shower totes.

When they look through their closets…
Upperclassmen have college clothes related to clubs they’re part of or events they’ve attended.
Freshmen have generic college sweatshirts, as well as “senior” shirts from high school.

When it’s time for nightlife…
Upperclassmen are fine with “just” hanging out at a friend’s place.
Freshmen feel the need to explore the city or get into a party.

When it’s time for the parties…
Upperclassmen have all the connections already.
Freshmen are eternally searching for them.

When it’s time to get from point A to point B…
Upperclassmen travel alone or with a few friends.
Freshmen travel in packs of 10. Maybe 20. Sometimes 30 if they’re real kinky.

When they meet someone new…
Upperclassmen ask “You look familiar. You were in one of my classes last semester, right?”
Freshmen ask “Hey!! Aren’t we friends on Facebook?!?”

When they say good-bye to strangers…
Upperclassmen say “See ya around.”
Freshmen say “What’s your last name? I’ll find ya on Facebook!”

When they see someone they know…
Upperclassmen ask “How was your summer?”
Freshmen ask “What was your name again?”

When it’s time to talk to their parents…
Upperclassmen call home at the end of every week.
Freshmen receive calls from home at the end of every day.

When it’s time to talk about post-graduation plans…
Upperclassmen become clueless and scared—and secretly wish they could do the whole college thing all over again.
Freshmen think that graduation is a long time away.

Cherish your short time in college!

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student