So my cousin – the art college student came to me (the writer) with problems she’s having in her 2nd year English rhetoric class. She’d been given an assignment: Write a three page informative paper on any topic. She found this to be quite easy and started slamming away at the keys creating some mess about alcoholism – nothing that she holds particularly dear to her heart. But she finished it.
Then her teacher quit.
Her new teacher assigned an eight page paper and threw out her three page masterpiece. The new piece needed to be persuasive. So, my cousin thought about trying to persuade her reader not to drink. Or to drink (i.e. the health benefits of alcohol). Eventually, she had to scrap the subject all together and come up with something else.
She loves pets. So, now she’s writing a paper about the healing powers of dogs and cats.
Her main issue is that she is not a writer and her teacher has not elaborated on what he really expects out of the paper. My cousin’s stress levels have exploded because of upcoming deadlines – and she’s never written anything eight pages long before.
Why are we given assignments that seem to have no bearing on what we plan to do with the rest of our lives? And, if we are given assignments that we don’t understand or feel personally connected to — how can we reason getting through them.
I’m stubborn. I gave up on a lot of assignments that I decided weren’t worth my time. When teachers didn’t spark my creativity or teach me something new – I often opted to re-do the class. I’m not saying that I recommend this. Lord knows it can get expensive and time consuming. But, if we want to get the best out of our college experience –shouldn’t we expose ourselves to courses, teachers and assignments who have an understanding of our entrepreneurial drive?
It’s so easy to get discouraged while sitting through a two hour seminar – especially if you know you could be networking your business. My cousin would rather paint a sistene chapel’s worth of dogs than write a paper on them.
Most colleges and universities offer a variety of courses – so chances are you are not as stuck as you may sometimes feel. I don’t recommend quitting what bothers you – but I do recommend knowing and using all of your options.
I transferred from a large university to a private art college in Chicago, after a horrendous freshman year. I did get straight A’s for the first time in my life that year, but I felt like my talent was being wasted and ignored. The one on one attention at my new school helped solidify my career goals. That transfer was the most beneficial career move I’ve made.
Don’t under estimate the power of your college education. But don’t settle for less than what you deserve, either.
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