"Learning," "Not Learning," and "Lessons"

High school was easy.  Besides for a few places where math tripped me up, I really never had to work at it.  Even stressful periods seemed to be a breeze back then.  I enjoyed small challenges, like 8-page A.P. History papers and extemporaneous essay and speech contests.  Even among panic attacks and stress and concerns like test scores and college, it all seemed so fun and easy.

Now I'm realizing how hard things really can be.  I have no study skills, and the concept of doing homework ahead of time seems foreign to me.  I used to be the student that waved off everything...the one who got everything done with time to spare.  Now, I'm that student that gets a text with a question about a paper and I respond with, "What paper?"  College is hard, and I didn't do a whole lot to prepare myself for it in high school.  At least, not in the traditional means of developing study skills and time management capabilities.

What I did learn in high school is helping to compensate for that, though.

I learned dedication.  I learned not to give up.  I learned work ethic.  I learned determination.  I learned to follow my passions.  I learned to count on my friends.  I learned to be the best person I could.  I learned these things in classrooms, to a point.  However, most of that education happened outside of my classroom.  It happened when I was caught up in the blur of planning a National Honor Society fundraiser.  It happened when I was tutoring kids during band class, before hopping into my car to make the bus for my soccer game.  It happened when I was dazed into a machine-like productivity in the days before our FFA chapter's first ever awards banquet.  It happened when I was completely overwhelmed with excitement to leave high school, but still found a million and one ways to stay lodged firmly into that community.

I never thought of that as learning.  I thought of it as doing.  I thought of it as fun.

I may not be the best at doing homework.  I may not have superior note-taking skills.  I may not be the 4.0 student I was when I graduated high school, but those other lessons have really kicked in.

And, while I struggle with some things, I'm finding that "hard" doesn't always equate to "bad."  I may sit in the lab working on a project that leaves me completely overwhelmed and feeling defeated, but there are few things that beat the moment when you've realized you got it right.  There isn't much that can replace the feeling of accomplishment that you get when you do something you thought you never would.

It's easy to say this now.  It's easy for me to sit back and say all of the challenges are worth it in the end.  It's simple to think about the end result, and overlook just how emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausting the "during" was.  I won't always be able to feel this grateful.

However, in the past few days, and even the past few weeks, I've found myself doing "the impossible" more often.  I never could have done these if it weren't for those lessons I learned when I was busy "not learning."

College will not get easier.  There will always be things that seem impossible for me to do, to handle.  However, as I go, I hope that these instances will continue to make me stronger.  They'll continue to be the lessons I learn when I don't think I'm learning.


"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." -- Walt Disney 

Be a Sponge

You're a young professional. You want to become a BETTER young professional. You want to build a strong resume' and you want to be honest about it. How do you do this?

You become a sponge. A human sponge. A human sponge designed to soak up the knowledge, wisdom, and experience of those around you. The best way to learn is on the job, and usually this is done through others.

For example, I've (accidentally) surrounded myself with people who are gifted at the productive use of social media. Many of these folks are the figureheads of the agriculture-social media movement. Some of them are marketers and advertisers who are knee-deep in the communications world every day of their lives. Regardless of how or why I've connected with them, they've all had things to teach me.

Some have shown me what not to do. More often than not, however, they're role models. They're good examples of how to do things right. They, collectively, are the most valuable tool in the Snap-On box of your early career.

Treat every experience as a learning experience. Whether it's through a screw-up that leaves you a little humiliated, or a success that boosts your ego, they're all valuable. Every moment can teach you something, and every co-worker is a possible mentor.

With that in mind, I'm heading off to do some research. Some folks on Twitter coughed up some rough info on something of interest. I'm going to soak up what I can! Good luck, fellow sponges!

Bite the Bullet

No internship is created equal. No learning experience, no job, no endeavor will ever bring the same amount of satisfaction or education.

There's no such thing as a perfect internship, but there definitely are experiences that may be "less-perfect" than others.

My "at home" job, the one I'm so in love with...well, it's one of the closer-to-perfect ones. I love the work I do, and I'm trusted enough to be given hefty tasks without overt baby-sitting. Other experiences, though, have not been so good.

I've held down jobs where menial tasks involved hand-holding and babysitting. I could have shown my worth a million times over, but the title "intern" or "student worker" automatically dictated a need for constant supervision. Micromanaging is not the way, people!

However, as the intern, as the "lesser experienced" student of the world, it's your job to shut up and learn. Sure, there are instances where enough is enough. Of course there are times when the practices are so incredibly wrong that you have every right to complain or report. The plain and simple fact is, though, that a lot of the time, interns and student workers are brought on to do the work that "real" employees don't have time for.

Let's face it, not every position we get is about our learning experience. Many times, it'll be about the company or organization's productivity. Cheap labor can get things done.

So, hang in there. I was once told that "Today's interns are tomorrow's CEO's." If that's true, then aren't those awful experiences worth it? I think I can handle some micromanaging and coffee-fetching if it means I'll be the one running the company someday.

Bite the bullet, swallow a bit of ego, and step into your future. Sometimes, the worst jobs bring the best opportunities.

Learning to Deal with Co-Workers

My current internship puts me in a unique position. I've been here long enough to build up some credibility and authority in my specific field, but I'm still an intern. This position, this expert-and-intern conundrum, creates some awkward situations with co-workers.

I don't blame them in the least. It's probably tricky for an adult who has a degree and has been a professional for years to be instructed by a college kid. I ran into one such problem with a co-worker here, and it's still being slowly hashed out. In fact, we'll probably still be smoothing out wrinkles when I return over spring break or summer vacation.

This is a valuable lesson. For my entire career, I'll be facing co-workers, employers, superiors, and equals, who may or may not want to hear my opinions. They may not appreciate my feedback. Regardless of how smoothly we'll work together, we'll have to continue to do just that: work together. This specific co-worker and I have a very good relationship when we don't work together on specific projects without being overseen by our supervisor. We both know that we can get along well. There's just a gap that we have to continue to work on.

I'm happy with how things are going on that front, altogether. I've gained important experience on how to handle a difficult co-worker, and we reached the end of a fairly big project in record time. The outcome is great, the product is awesome, and our supervisor is satisfied.

Mission accomplished, and lessons learned. I'd say that a good outcome all around.