What I’ve Learned in College

I have a counter on my computer that reminds me of the days I have left until graduation. I also have a corresponding jar next to my bedside table that holds the same number of paper stars that serve as a visual reminder. This number has been my rock during this semester, which has been one of the hardest semesters of my life, both in and out of school.

That number, by the way, is a little more than one hundred. I’ve been in school since I was six years old and I’m going to be done with my education in a little over a hundred days.

See? I wasn't lying.

One of the classes I’ve taken this semester has been “Ethics, Law and Diversity in Strategic Communications.” It is a capstone class here at the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. As I round my final days of this particular semester, I’m wondering what I got out of that class. How will I use the knowledge I have gained in my professional career? At what moment during the semester did I learn something that made me go “wow?”

Well, ethics, in my opinion, was a public relation’s driven class. As an advertising student, I sat there very fascinated by the case studies we read about, took what I needed to from these lessons, and moved forward. A lot of the advertising ethics we did learn about were things I was already aware of or things that felt like common sense to those in the industry.

I’m not saying I didn’t learn anything in that class. That’s hardly the point of this post. The point is that the lessons I have gained in this class during this class did not begin early January 2014 when this semester began. They began my first day of community college.

My Days at Tarrant County College

As a transitioning high school student, I was terrified of college. No one can tell you what college is truly like until you’re there experiencing it. Even as someone who is nearing graduation, I could not properly describe college to someone that would justify the experience of it all.

At TCC, I took a lot of basic classes in order to receive my Associates Degree. I can hardly say I’ll use my knowledge of the taste of halite in my career as a potential advertiser (if a client asks me this in the future, I can let him know that halite tastes like salt). However, I can say that I learned how to fend for myself in community college. I learned how to be proud of my work and praise myself in areas that no one else will. I learned the art of persuasion, symbolism, and a lot of tiny skills that I would have not known if it weren’t for those seemingly meaningless English and Speech classes.

Community college built up my confidence both as a student and as a human being. It taught me that it did not matter if I did not make the top ten percent in high school; I was still smart as a whistle. I took that same confidence with me when I graduated and moved onto university.

My Life at University of North Texas

University life excited me. After taking prerequisites for so long, I was almost yearning for classes that would legitimately apply to my future career.

That is where I learned another lesson.

The Terrible Triad - Young Free Michigan

See, I went to UNT because it was close and all my friends already lived in Denton. I had no idea how great of a school it was and was equally unaware of the brilliance of the Mayborn program. As a student of one of the best journalism colleges in Texas, I learned many valuable things that I hope to apply to my career. However, this discovery came with a sacrifice.

See, I held myself to a very high standard in terms of academics and I was not about to let that go. Mayborn is a very demanding program and not for the weak hearted. My main lesson, minus the career skills I have gained, came from time management. It taught me not only manage my own time, but the time of the students of the multiple group projects I ended up in. It taught me leadership skills that allowed my groups to complete tasks before deadline and with sparkling regime.

I did learn a lot of great things in both college and my ethics class. I learned that the world of ethics is not so black and white. There are many rules and theories that apply and a finely tuned system in order to make them work to your advantage. I also learned that Steven Colbert has talked about almost every subject and I desperately need cable again.  Most importantly, I learned that teachers like Samra Bufkins and the rest of the professors at Mayborn have easily challenged me to a level I never thought I could reach.

Class isn’t about taking notes and tests, but about you apply the tiny lessons you’ve built up during your academic career to your advantage. It’s about learning about yourself, how you work, and adjusting to the situations that life throws at you.

That, my friends, is what I learned.