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In college what was one of your toughest things you had to overcome and how did you get past it?

I am wondering about something you may have struggled with sometime in college and how you overcame the problem. #college

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Michael’s Answer

Hi Katie,


The biggest difficulty for me was the fact that I did not really know what I wanted to do with my life and I was unsure if my Major was correct. And this was Junior year (pretty late in the game). I went on a fact-finding mission and spoke with my friends about their majors, future job prospects and ultimately I decided to switch to Business. I decided to go the practical route and I changed my Psychology Major to my Minor and I switched my Major to Finance. It was difficult, but it was a very worthwhile choice that led to a good career.


If you ever find yourself in a bind in college, the best thing to do is to ask those around you for help and advice. It's the time of your life where it is most beneficial.


Thanks!


Mike

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Ken’s Answer

The toughest thing that I had to overcome was the fact that I did not know what career I wanted to follow in college. However, I discovered that it takes a special person to enter into a specific career field and meet the demands which that career area presents. The first step I found was to get to know myself to see if I shared the personality traits which make one successful in that area. The next step was doing networking to meet and talk to and possibly shadow people doing what I thought that I wanted to do to see if this was something that I really wanted to do, as a career area could look much different on the inside than it looks from the outside. Later, when I was doing college recruiting, I encountered too many students, who skipped these important steps, and ended up in a career/job for which they were ill suited.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college, which you might be considering, who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Rachel’s Answer

Hi Katie!


I found the toughest thing for me was balancing my school life and my social life. You are meeting so many new people and there is always something going on that you will want to go to with your friends but can't put your school work on the back burner.


I started to use a calendar to schedule time during my day to do homework or study so that if there was something fun I wanted to do in the evening all of my work was out of the way. I would also commit my Sunday's to homework and studying. I would try to schedule study groups or partner work on Sunday so that I was held accountable to show up to these meetings and get work done!

Rachel recommends the following next steps:

Get a planner.
Schedule time to study and do homework during the day.
Put all major social events in planner to help plan ahead when you need all of your school work done by.
Reach out for support from study groups to hold you accountable to school work.
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