Having recently completed my Bachelor's and currently working full-time while pursuing graduate studies, I wanted to share a couple tips and lessons I've learned throughout my undergraduate years. I have never been an overachiever, nor did I even have close to a perfect GPA. These tips are not about how to pull straight A's but to have a better attitude towards school and help you find what motivates you.
1. Do not view it as something you are doing for someone else (your parents for instance) or because everyone around you is also doing it. You are doing this for yourself.
I grew up with traditional asian parents. Going to Chinese school on weekends, taking extra math classes during the summer, taking figure skating/ tennis/ swimming/ piano/ etc lessons, the WHOLE KIT. As I went through with all of that, I always had the mentality that I was doing it for them, to satisfy them and to make them proud. I felt the same way about school. That's NOT how you should feel. It's hard to see it early on but as you start doing internships or working full-time, you start realizing how you shouldn’t take for granted the chance to just be able to sit down and learn something new every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s irrelevant to your major or if it even seems like your major is irrelevant to what you envision your career to be. It’s easy to overlook all the transferrable skills that can learned throughout school and university and the value of the relationships built and solidified. So take a moment and look back at the free time you have right now to just learn, without all the other responsibilities to come later. Even if you feel like what you’re studying is completely useless, you are one increment smarter than you were yesterday.2. Your school or major doesn’t define you and should not limit you. Find ways to get involved in what you're passionate about.
Although I chose accounting as my major in undergrad, I do think the knowledge I’ve gained on the field is useful but there are other things I’m passionate about. Good things take time and finding what drives and motivates you is a constant work in progress. Always have an open mind about trying new things and get involved. Don't join clubs for the sake of it, it is really not worth your time. Trust me, you will feel way more fulfilled finding one that truly interests you rather than getting a VP position stamped on paper just to look good.3. Don’t get stuck on the mentality that you're just not made for school or can't achieve something because “some other people are just intrinsically smarter and book smart”.
It’s true, many recognizable individuals through history have been known to be exceptionally smart. However, on a day to day basis, you will more frequently meet hard workers over people who happen to just miraculously know everything and learn everything in one night. People love to say that they haven’t even started studying for an exam but really, they have been up to date the entire semester. Instead of complaining about who has the worse exam schedule (admittedly we all love a little pity party especially during finals season), work towards what you want for your own self. Review your work ethic and make changes to study more efficiently.4. Accept the fact that there is a luck factor to grades but that luck factor will not affect your overall grade. Ultimately, the outcome should be relatively proportional to your effort.
A teacher who has a history of not giving A's, a brutally unfair midterm that covers unrelated material, a bad finals schedule; we've all had that at some point. You can be unlucky, share your bad experience and blame your grade on that. But most of the time we overlook the fact that on the other side, you may have been lucky in another class where you guessed answers and got them right. Luck factor goes both ways but we find ourselves most likely pointing it out only if it goes the wrong way. In the end, the overall turnout of your cumulative GPA will still reflect your work beyond those luck factors. You will earn what your efforts were worth in the long run.5. Stop comparing yourself to others and focus on your own progression. Everyone has different majors, minors and side hustles.
We've all done it at some point, comparing yourself to someone you think is more successful. We tend to compare the best sides of others to the worst sides of ourself which can lead to self deprecating behaviour. There is simply no fair ground to make comparisons as each person has various weaknesses that they do not tend to broadcast to the world. Instead, reflect on what makes someone else successful and how you can apply it to your own objectives in school or career-wise.6. Finally, give yourself credit for the things you’ve achieved and remind yourself of what you’ve accomplished once in a while.
When I got my first internship at a big firm, I constantly kept thinking was I just lucky? Did I just happen to talk to the right people? Or maybe they only cared about my GPA and not my actual life skills? It’s easy to overlook the good things you’ve done and only remember negative events. These can all be attributable to something called the Imposter Syndrome. I first heard about it during a Microsoft conference that I attended and was surprised at how many people experience it on a frequent basis. Here's an interesting article about it. Always take the time to look back at your accomplishments and give yourself some credit when you feel unmotivated. You know you’re on the right path if you can do something you could never have thought you’d do a year or two ago, whether it’s as simple as finally getting a leadership position or finding an internship.
Photos taken at Cafe La Finca (highly recommend this spot if you're looking for a nice place to study! )
