COLUMN: Talking about your plans
So, today, I want to talk to you about plans.
I’ve been a columnist for this paper for two years and my topics never seem to change much. I still love what I’ve always loved, dream what I’ve always dreamed.
The column has been, in the past, almost a personal outlet for my concerns, frustrations, hopes and memories. I’ve always justified it by telling myself that my readers and I share a common bond. As students, even as people, we all dream, love and fear the same basic things. The only difference is our view, what is in front of our eyes at any given moment.
The thing in front of my eyes right now is grad school. I spent four years at USU getting my bachelor’s degree in journalism. They were good years. I loved it. But the day after graduation, I found myself looking back with a sting of regret. It was hard for me to figure out why. I did well. I graduated with honors. I’d been involved in different clubs and activities. I wrote for the Statesman. My college experience should have been complete. To quote one of my favorite movies, “by all accounts, it didn’t make sense.”
This feeling isn’t the reason I decided to go on and get my master’s degree, but when I was accepted I decided I didn’t want my masters to be a repeat of my undergrad. I wanted to walk away from USU at graduation day with no regrets, perfectly content with my experiences and my education. So I came up with a plan, more or less, a list of goals to ensure my success. Some of these are educational. Some are not so much, but are equally important.
Goal 1: Try something you wouldn’t normally do. This goal was at the top of my list. It comes from one of my favorite sayings, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll be what you’ve always been.” I didn’t want to leave with my master’s as exactly the same student and person I was in my undergraduate studies. I want be better than I was, which means I had to expand, be brave and try things I wasn’t willing to before.
Goal 2: Absorb knowledge like a sponge. I did just fine in my studies as an undergraduate, but I left knowing I could have done better. I don’t want to leave with this feeling. I want to know, no matter the grades, I did as much as I could. I learned as much as I could fit in.
Goal 3: Choose carefully what you participate in, and do your best in whatever you choose. I guess this one is a little self-explanatory. But it was easy for me to get caught up in doing things that didn’t matter and missing out on what I wanted to do. There are so many opportunities in college, it’s impossible to get to all of them. But it’s not impossible to get to all the ones you really want.
I imagine school is what most of you are looking at right now. We have students on campus who are just starting, who are almost finished and who are coming back after a long absence. It doesn’t matter where you are starting from. It’s a new semester and you can make the best of it. These might not be your goals. That’s OK. But I encourage everyone to make some. Nothing set in stone, of course. All good plans must be flexible, and a little surprising. They have to fit and work.
Happy trails to you in your time here at USU. May the road you take lead you where you want to go.
Mikaylie is a graduate student in instructional technology. She loves writing columns for the Statesman and would love to hear your thoughts, comments and ideas so send them to mikaylie.k@aggiemail.usu.edu