Today is the 20-year anniversary of my college graduation (it was the day after the OJ Simpson car chase that half the world watched on television). It actually doesn’t seem all that long ago. And while I’ve still got plenty left to experience and to try to achieve, whatever personal happiness and professional success I’ve managed to find in the last 20 years since I walked across the stage and got my diploma, my alma mater, UC Irvine, had both nothing and everything to do with it.
UC Irvine never gave me (or anyone else) a map with step-by-step instructions to creating the post-college life I wanted. I think that’s an unrealistic expectation many high school students have of potential colleges, especially the prestigious ones—go here, get a degree, and the world will throw jobs and fulfillment at you.
But it was UCI that give me all the opportunities and a platform to take advantage of them. I studied English and history, and learned that while I didn’t necessarily love dissecting classic works of literature, I did love to write. I volunteered for the summer orientation program, later got hired to run it, and found my calling in the world of education. I learned in my fraternity that if I stood up in front of a room full of people, I could get them to listen to me. I found a part-time job teaching SAT prep at The Princeton Review, where I met my friend, mentor and Collegewise general manager, Paul Kanarek. And this August, I’ll be heading to Austin for our semi-annual reunion with my three closest buddies—Jim, Keith, and Dr. Shane—all of whom I met in college.
Not all of those opportunities were predictable. They weren’t described in detail in a college guidebook or on a tour. But they were there at the right college waiting for me to take advantage of them. I also did some stupid things in college (most people do). But I’m glad I had the good sense to grab the valuable experiences when they were right there in front of me.
High school students, the gravity of your college preparation can sometimes make you feel like one grade, one SAT score, or one admissions decision from one college has just predetermined what the rest of your life will be like. It hasn’t. Life doesn’t work that way.
Instead of viewing your college process like a win or lose proposition where the only acceptable outcome is an admission to your dream school, view it like life prep. The harder you work in high school and the more time you spend finding the right colleges for you, the more prepared you’ll be to take advantage of the opportunities and the platform once you get there. And when you graduate, you’ll take those lessons with you and keep building on them.
Life prep never stops. But you sure can accelerate it if you’re at the right college. And it doesn’t matter whether or not the school is prestigious.