Confession Time
For a long time, I've been saying that Berkeley was the wrong school for me, that I regretted going there, and that it wasn't worth it. I even said at one point that it wasn't worth going even for meeting Daniel which I didn't believe even then but still was rather severe.
I've done A LOT of thinking about my life in the last couple years...about where it's going and where I want it go and how I should go about getting there. I'm still working on the where to go and how to get there bit, but I have realized something about where I've been.
I'm glad I went to Berkeley.
Yes, yes, I can hear your smug "told you so"s from here.
The thing is, I still believe that Berkeley was the wrong school for me and that I would have been better off somewhere else.
The problem is that I think I needed to go to Berkeley to fully realize that.
I was an idiot in high school. I spent way too much time working my ass off for a reward that could never satisfy me. That girl wanted to go to Berkeley, needed to go to Berkeley, to feel like she had accomplished something with all her hard work.
That's not me today. I want a life. I want to do things because I want to. I don't want to think about tomorrow or consequences, I just want to do things and be happy.
That's not really me either. That's what high school and finding out that college didn't fix everything left me with. What I really need to do, I think, is to be that second girl for a while so that I can find a balance.
Berkeley taught me that.
And while Berkeley may not have prepared me for a vocation of any sort, it did teach me some really useful skills that I have to admit have helped me in the last year, both in life and in the workplace.
I never thought of myself as a leader. Whenever Berkeley pamphlets and such tried to turn me into one, I scoffed and thought I was just fine letting other people do the leading. I am not like that anymore. At every job I've had, I've tried to maximize efficiency, take charge when no one else is stepping up, and talked to my superiors about other ways we could do things. Mostly, it's just gotten me in trouble thus far, but I know it's going to come in handy someday.
Berkeley taught me to think and to learn and to get shit done. To have confidence that I could figure things out. This allows me to at least seem like I know what I'm doing, and most of the time, I figure shit out eventually. It's been really helpful in getting jobs and not looking as inexperienced as I actually am at them which is invaluable in a world where everyone has experience and is willing to degrade themselves for work.
I was independent before Berkeley, but being in college taught me to have confidence as well. I never would have gotten any of my jobs this year without being a confident interviewer. It's still something I'm working on, but at least I'm a lot better than I was before Berkeley (and before September as a matter of fact).
I still wish that Berkeley had offered practical courses that jived better with my interests, but I have to admit that it helped me be a well-rounded human being who is capable of making a real contribution. So as much as I complain about the uselessness of my degree, I could be a lot worse off this year.
At least I didn't go to Stanfurd.
I've done A LOT of thinking about my life in the last couple years...about where it's going and where I want it go and how I should go about getting there. I'm still working on the where to go and how to get there bit, but I have realized something about where I've been.
I'm glad I went to Berkeley.
Yes, yes, I can hear your smug "told you so"s from here.
The thing is, I still believe that Berkeley was the wrong school for me and that I would have been better off somewhere else.
The problem is that I think I needed to go to Berkeley to fully realize that.
I was an idiot in high school. I spent way too much time working my ass off for a reward that could never satisfy me. That girl wanted to go to Berkeley, needed to go to Berkeley, to feel like she had accomplished something with all her hard work.
That's not me today. I want a life. I want to do things because I want to. I don't want to think about tomorrow or consequences, I just want to do things and be happy.
That's not really me either. That's what high school and finding out that college didn't fix everything left me with. What I really need to do, I think, is to be that second girl for a while so that I can find a balance.
Berkeley taught me that.
And while Berkeley may not have prepared me for a vocation of any sort, it did teach me some really useful skills that I have to admit have helped me in the last year, both in life and in the workplace.
I never thought of myself as a leader. Whenever Berkeley pamphlets and such tried to turn me into one, I scoffed and thought I was just fine letting other people do the leading. I am not like that anymore. At every job I've had, I've tried to maximize efficiency, take charge when no one else is stepping up, and talked to my superiors about other ways we could do things. Mostly, it's just gotten me in trouble thus far, but I know it's going to come in handy someday.
Berkeley taught me to think and to learn and to get shit done. To have confidence that I could figure things out. This allows me to at least seem like I know what I'm doing, and most of the time, I figure shit out eventually. It's been really helpful in getting jobs and not looking as inexperienced as I actually am at them which is invaluable in a world where everyone has experience and is willing to degrade themselves for work.
I was independent before Berkeley, but being in college taught me to have confidence as well. I never would have gotten any of my jobs this year without being a confident interviewer. It's still something I'm working on, but at least I'm a lot better than I was before Berkeley (and before September as a matter of fact).
I still wish that Berkeley had offered practical courses that jived better with my interests, but I have to admit that it helped me be a well-rounded human being who is capable of making a real contribution. So as much as I complain about the uselessness of my degree, I could be a lot worse off this year.
At least I didn't go to Stanfurd.