BREAKING FROM THE HERD

We are all very excellent SHEEP. We’ve been absorbed by the system, and we jump the hoops as the come.  We don’t love it, but we’ve never QUESTION it because we don’t know any better. 

Two years ago, when we were presented the IA, many were MOVED by the idea, it was something DIFFERENT and we were INSPIRED by it. However, when it was time to decide amongst the programs the school has to offer, many of us questioned this new system. For the first time we were CHALLENGING a system and critically thinking about it. We were scared about universities and how they would PERCEIVE this new program. We were already thinking about the next hoop, without even thinking of the PURPOSE first. The problem is that we are excellent sheep; since we saw that the current system was providing the OUTCOMES we wanted to achieve; there was no reason why we should SHIFT gears. 

During most of my time at school I was a SHEEP myself. I was accustomed to follow the herd. I was working hard to get good grades, so that when the time came I would be able to apply to prestigious colleges. I had already picked up my dream college without even knowing what majors it had, or even worse, what I wanted to study: I just knew I wanted a BIG name and cool campus. However, my thoughts completely changed after a year in the IA.

There is no doubt that at first I CHALLENGED the IA myself, but even so I found it AMAZING because it reinforced the idea of finding PURPOSE and a PASSION, something I didn’t have, so I decided to join. Like I’ve mentioned in my previous blog, the IA has allowed me to find myself (my strengths and weaknesses), and who I want to become. Through the IA, I began to realize that I didn’t have a CLEAR purpose why I was working so hard to get good grades, or why I wanted to go to elite schools. In the system I was blinded, and I had no sense of direction. 

When I entered the IA, the EXPERIENCE and FOCUS was totally different to the one I had been following. For the first time, I was genuinely passionate about learning. SUCCESS wasn’t defined by the grades, but by the hard work and relevant projects that enriched the classrooms learning. Instead of continuing to value big name schools and city campuses with no particular purpose, I began to value learning experience, innovative environments, real world experience, collaboration with experts, and more. I began to VALUE things that ENRICHED my education and learning more than my curriculum. 

When it was time to apply to university my vision gave a 360-DEGREE TURN, from NYU’s to TCU’s. I went from a vision of elite schools to a vision of project and experience based learning schools. I began to search for schools that had some of the things I VALUED from the IA like: real world experience, relevant projects, collaboration and internship opportunities, interdisciplinary courses/majors, small classrooms, and so on. When I finished creating my college list I knew exactly what I wanted to GET for my higher education and from the different institutions and their programs. 

After a long ride of applications and admissions decisions I have decided to attend PROVIDENCE COLLEGE. Something I truly value from the IA is the PERSONALIZED learning offered. Through a small classroom size I’ve been able to build close relationships with my cohort and mentor, who have given me feedback, and made me grow as a person. I see the value in constant feedback and I want that in my higher education. PC has SMALL CLASSROOM SIZES, and students THERE have told me how close they are to their professors and how small classrooms allow them to stay engaged. Then, another thing I valued from PC is that they have great connections, so students are able to learn from experts. Not only does the school provide you with internship opportunities, but also when professors know you really well they find you too offer you internship and working opportunities. I know students who have been able to intern at firms in NYC and Boston in their freshmen year because of their  professors reaching out to them. In the IA I’ve seen the VALUE of real world experiences, so I’m looking into taking this opportunity and getting some fieldwork since the beginning. Finally, PC also strives to help students FIND A PASSION in their careers. In one of the courses you take as finance major, experts come to give talks about what they do and how there life is. A current student at PC told me that he really enjoyed this class because he was able to see what his career was going to entail upon graduation, thus give him an idea if this was something he wanted to continue pursuing.

Thanks to the opportunity I've been presented, a new program at our school, I've learned to challenge and evaluate the hoops before jumping right into them. Even though I'm a sheep in some ascots of my life I feel that i've learned when to break apart from the herd to step back, grain perspective, and ask myself if there is a purpose to what I'm doing. There are great things about the system, but there are also something we need to be skeptical about. This two years have been extremely rewarding and I hope that my experience at PC continues enriching my life.