Note: this isn't my work. But i do totally agree with it, and knowing that so many of my friends are approaching their big-days (graduation) i thought it would be appropriate to post. Take a look!
Link to BlogIn two weeks I'll be graduating college—leaving academia after 16+ years in the system. For the first time in my life, there will be no more classes, professors, tests, or grades—no
artificial benchmarks of success. If I fail, I'll get back up and try again; if I succeed, I'll receive the real benefits of my success, not just the letter "A" on a sheet of paper.
To me, this is extremely liberating. But I've noticed others in my graduating class, friends included, who look to the "real world" with trepidation. A few don't yet know what they want to do with their lives. That's okay—we're still young.
But many more know exactly what their career will be, yet have absolutely no passion for what they're about to pursue. For these passionless pre-professionals, college was simply an economics equation to be optimized: earn the best possible grades in order to get the highest paying job. But hey—most of these people will make great money in careers like investment banking. Mission accomplished, right?
Maybe. But… What if you pursued the thing that interests you the most…as your career?
What if work could be a source of happiness?
What if you could feel like your work is the very reason you exist?
Too many of my peers are discarding, or never discover, their passion in life. They're playing the academic game: trying to optimize their outcome by earning good grades. It doesn't matter if your job interests you—just do it well and make a lot of money.
Unfortunately, many educational institutions encourage this behavior by treating grades as incentives. As early as elementary school, my parents incentivized good grades by rewarding me with allowances and video games when I brought home A's. When I reached high school the incentive for maintaining a high GPA changed—now the goal was to get into a good college. But after I got into that great school, I started to fall off the track. Suddenly it was junior year and I found myself pursuing a major I hated. I stopped caring, stopped going to classes—I didn't want to play the academic game anymore.
I took a step back from the rat race and thought about what makes me tick. What I found was simple: I enjoy creating. Whether through design, programming, or writing, I find fulfillment in bringing new objects into the world. To that end, I started creating Web applications on the side, began writing about design, and sought out freelance clients that gave me more creative freedom.
I called these "side projects". But in reality, school was the side project.
When I started looking for a job last year, my GPA was in the toilet. But I had a portfolio filled with self-started design projects, a blog with my ideas, and an enthusiasm for the subject of design. I had no problem getting great job offers despite my bad grades.
You're the only person who decides how you're going to spend your life, so invest the time to discover your passion. Don't accept the path laid out before you by others—just figure out what you enjoy doing and do it.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life"
—Steve Jobs