Best advice to grads: Do what you love

By Nathaniel Woodward

Over the last several weeks I was invited to speak at a handful of different schools in and around the city I live in.
I have to tell you, it was a great experience that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy as much as I did. The school district approached me a few weeks before my first presentation and indicated that they were seeking out speakers who could get a group of kids excited about going to college.
Of course I jumped at the opportunity and I wanted to share with you some of the things I shared with the few hundred students I ended up speaking to.
The first things kids should know about college is that it’s not for everyone. I know that’s an odd point to make when advocating the necessity of a college education in this day and age, but what I wanted to convey is that college doesn’t define who you are.
Some people simply don’t learn in the way that colleges teach or they are not interested or passionate about the subjects that universities offer degrees in.
So I spoke with the student’s about technical certifications and courses, trade schools and apprenticeships.
There is a difference between being a university graduate and being educated. Not everyone can study and pass tests year after year just like not everyone can understand the art and craft of welding, different minds work in different ways so it’s important that in whatever you end up doing, you do to the very best of your ability.
If you opt for a career that does not conform with the standard university criteria, then you still must learn as much as you possibly can about your trade or craft. If that includes trade programs or simply working under somebody that has the required skills then so be it, if you are going to do something, do it to the very best of your potential.
For those who do choose university the best advice I can give is to remember that you only get one life, so spend it doing something you will enjoy.
Life is far too short to hate Mondays. If your first job doesn’t stick, and in all likelihood it won’t, then pick up your head and move on. There is absolutely a need in this world for more lawyers, doctors, engineers and chemists, but there is also a great need for more historians, artists, poets, writers, journalists, computer programmers and woman’s studies scholars who are all passionate and engaged in their fields.
It’s high time we stop this moronic hierarchical system of respect in America that places doctors above truck drivers and teachers above janitors and learn to respect and appreciate all career paths.
There’s no shame in knowledge, the important thing is what you choose to do with it.