If I meet you at a dinner party, there’s a good chance I’ll ask you where you went to college. The less famous the school, the more fascinated I’ll be, as the College of Wooster grad I met last night found out.
I ask where people went to college because I’m genuinely interested in hearing about their experiences, both good and bad. They inevitably say the same things our Collegewise graduates say about their college experiences; the vast majority loved where they went to school. Most would also agree that their schools weren’t perfect, but those who got the most out of their experiences took advantage of those four years when they could learn and try just about anything.
This Wooster grad majored in East Asian studies, spent a year studying abroad in China, and is now fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He went on to get a masters degree in the same field and is now a few remaining background checks away from a job as an intelligence analyst with the Department of Defense. Like many college grads I meet, he didn’t know what his future career would be when he picked his college. So he picked the school that felt right, majored in something that interested him, and used those four years to create a remarkable experience for himself.
High school students, here’s a good way to learn more about just how many colleges, famous and not-so-famous, can lead to success. Find adults you know and respect who are doing something you find interesting—your family doctor, your boss at your internship, your dad’s business partner, etc. Ask them where they went to college and what they majored in. If you don’t want to ask them, Google them. Either way, connect the dots from where they started and where they are now.
You’ll find there isn’t a lot of correlation between how successful they are and the relative prestige of their colleges. Some of them may have gone to prestigious schools, but a lot of them won’t have. Like most successful people, they probably got where they are today by working hard and making the most of opportunities that presented themselves along the way.
You may not be as eager as I am to get into college conversations with people, but give it a try and see what happens. You might be surprised by what you learn.