Learning

Almost three weeks ago, I was sitting in the library equipped with two paperback books, a spiral notebook, and a trusty Number 2. Friends Ben and Nick sat with me at a private study desk against the wall, all of us freshly rejuvenated from a recent trip to the coffeehouse for Americanos, Iced Mochas, and whatever Nick drinks. Twas a late night for all of us. As Conan O'Brien's opening monologue aired across college television sets nationwide, the three of us were studying for final exams.

The notes in front of me were a culmination of facts and theories taught to me over the course of the semester. I scanned across my notes many times that night, reviewing things I had learned in the past days, weeks, and months. None of the material was novel to me. I would never receive any more education at the University of Florida. They were done teaching me, and I realized that whatever I had in my head at that moment was all the knowledge I would intake as an undergrad. My college education was complete.

I found it scary, to think that on May 1 I would be receiving a Bachelor's degree from a highly regarded university.

And this is what I have to show for it?
This is all I learned?
What I know now, that's a college education?
That's all?
What the hell?

For the rest of the night, I would ponder on that during study breaks. I felt puzzled and almost angry over my college education. I felt I hadn't learned much. And not to sound conceited, but I was an exceptional student, and if this is all I had to show for four years of college, I could imagine how easy it was to get a college education. Suddenly a college degree meant significantly less to me.

But luckily for me, college has helped me better examine myself and others, and over the following days I realized how ignorant I was to disregard all I had learned here at UF. It hit me as I was reading over my resume. There were several invaluable experiences listed on that single sheet of paper. The time I debated PhD and law school students on legal policy, helping firsthand with studies run by one of the founders of Behavioral Analysis, writing a professor's literary review, working in a facility for the criminally insane: these are all things that would have been unattainable to me if not for UF and my professors. I wouldn't be one-third the person I am today, scholastically or otherwise, without these last four years.

If anything, I realize now the most important lesson my professors taught me here: do not settle. Don't settle for anything less than whatever is needed to fulfill your potential. I haven't. This is why graduation didn't feel like a culmination of my accomplishments. When I walked across the stage, that merely felt like an award ceremony for making it this far. When I shook the president's hand, I didn't just stop there and retire. I kept walking. I'm not done yet. There's more for me to do, more to learn in the ivory towers before my venture into the real world.

The next stop is Penn State.