The College Experience

Term papers are being finalized and students are studying like mad preparing for the end of the spring semester.  For some it is a preparation for a much needed break to head home, catch up with high school friends and not actively think for a few months.  Others are taking summer classes, working or researching.  Many find themselves, for the first time, wondering what the next step is going to be.  On May 16th, Lawrence Tech will host graduation.  In lue of this upcoming event, I wanted to share some words from Bill Gates from an address he gave to Harvard’s graduating class (one note Steve Ballmer did attend Lawrence Tech!).  Gates was awarded an honorary degree for delivering the address.

Bill Gates:

“I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: “Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.”I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I’ll be changing my job next year … and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.

I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I’m just happy that the Crimson has called me “Harvard’s most successful dropout.” I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class … I did the best of everyone who failed.

But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I’m a bad influence. That’s why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.”

Bill Gates was not your typcial college student, however, he does have some great advice to graduates, Bill Gates Top Eleven things they do not teach you in school:

Rule 1: Life is not fair…get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000/year right out of college. You won’t be a vice-president with a cell-phone, until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He
doesn’t have tenure.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a word for flipping burgers-they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up it’s not your parents fault, so don’t whine about
your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are
now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and
listening to how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the
parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life
hasn’t. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give
you as many times as you want to get the answer right. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers and
Christmas break off, and very few employers are interested in helping you
find yourself. Do that on you own time.

Rule 10. Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to
leave the coffee shop and go to work. (This may date Bill Gates a little so I’ll update it for real-time) “In real life people actually have to leave the island, Jersey Shore, their mother’s house, the yacht, etc.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

I went down to San Antonio for the Women’s Final Four College Fair.  It was a great experience to participate in a college fair that was specifically for young women! I had the opportunity to meet with some pretty ambitious prospective students.

It was also great to see the festivities around the Final Four basketball game.  I met parents, grandparents and fans that travelled, in some case 1000s of miles, to watch their family members or favorite teams play at the Alamo Dome.  The strongest contingency was definitely U-Conn. After the college fair, I was eating dinner on the river walk with some colleagues and the U-Conn pep band and cheerleaders were making their way down the river.  They would climb onto overpasses and restaurant fronts to play the Hukies’ fight song and flocks of blue and white clad supporters would crowd the walk!

School spirit and the experience of being part of something bigger is definitely a huge part of the college experience!  Putting on your war paint and cheering until you are horse, not only shows school spirit, but pride for where you go to school! At Lawrence Tech our spirit outlet is our hockey team!  They don’t call our neighbor, Detroit, Hockeytown for our football team!  We are definitely a sports town and get very excited, not only for professional sports in the region, but our very own Blue Devils!

I am sorry I have not had any posts recently! I have been in the BIG state of Texas spreading some Northern hospitality! Stories and pics to come soon!

This coming week many high school students are going to be on spring break; (some students may have had their break this past week, but either way) many are taking a much needed break from the academic grind.  When I was in high school I would venture to destinations like South Carolina or Florida for a sports related trips.  It was always a much needed time to enjoy the sunshine and recharge my batteries before the final haul before summer break.  Most high school seniors have just over a month left before graduation!

Enjoy your spring break and come back ready to complete the final chapter of your high school career! How are you going to end your high school experience?  Are you going to end on an academic high note? Are you going to achieve all that you had hope to?  When you get back from break it is now or never time!  Be sure to take a few moments in the sunshine to think about your next steps and how you’d like to remember your senior year and high school career.  Along the way, don’t forget to thank those who made your high school experience worthwhile!

If you have walked around Lawrence Tech’s campus, you have come across our local wildlife: a pair of Canadian Geese.  They have been returning to campus each spring as long as I have worked here.  The photo below shows them crossing the street over by the field house; however, they are usually perched atop the Arts and Science building!  I may note that there are no water features on campus, so it is interesting that these geese call Lawrence Tech home.

Like these geese, Lawrence Tech founders and brothers Russell and George Lawrence were not the usual collegiate initiators.  Most universities were founded by scholars, policy makers or government officials; while Russell and George were two working class individuals who ended up creating an exemplary school that did not fit the typical college mold.  

I’m hoping that since these geese continue to return to Lawrence Tech year after year, that prospective students will join in the flock and investigate what makes Lawrence Tech a unique and exciting place to learn, work and grow!