I sometimes ask myself why we decide to study. Is it out of obligation? To comply with someone or something? To receive leftover scholarship or student loans? Or simply for validation?
A few months ago, after extended research and excellent conversations with friends, I decided, it was time to go back to study. It was time to follow my intuition and continue living faithful to me, and to what I want, start my master’s degree.
Throughout my university studies I’ve come across many people studying just to study, “because it is what needs to be done.”
I know a lot of people who have master’s and even doctoral degrees who find themselves performing tasks that don’t fulfill them as human beings and don’t help them achieve their goals.
Likewise, I know some people who have been clear about what they want to achieve since they started college and how they can get there. One way or another, they already had a plan, vision and direction that helped them stay true to themselves even when they feel discouraged.
We live in a privileged era where we have complete accessibility to a number of resources that our families before us likely did not have. Today, there are countless tests and all sorts of counseling meant to help us identify career fields based on skills and abilities already innate within us. All of these well-identified skills can save us time when we want to select a major or career and set personal or work-related goals.
Throughout my life, my personal and professional experiences as well as those of my family, friends, co-workers have taught me that planning is everything. Life seldom works out in the manner in which it was planned, but the important thing is to have a guide to follow and remember why you do what you do.
I invite you, too, to reflect. What do you really want from your college experience and out of your degree or certification? Will you just have it hanging on the wall? How will you benefit from what you get? Who else will benefit? Are You Studying What You Really Want to Study?