Steve Jobs College Grad Advice

Listen to Steve Job's commencement address to the Stanford Class of 2005 -- some sound advice from someone who despite dropping out of school at age 19 and becoming homeless for short stint has done pretty well for himself!


ADVICE WORTH LISTENING TO:

If you follow your heart + tap into your passion + and jump (risk a bit) = a passionate, successful future will follow.

UC Berkeley / UC Davis College Tour

This past fall I had the opportunity to travel to UC Berkeley and UC Davis with a group of young journalists from Santa Barbara Middle School. They were there to interview college students and uncover the secrets of a successful transition from high school into college. (see their complete interview coverage @ sbmsteenpress.org)


Here are some of the responses college students gave to the questions that were asked... Think of this as some free college advice ...

Q: What helped you with the transition from high school to college? What do you recommend?
A:
Be yourself
Define your own priorities
And above all else..... get connected, and get involved

Q: What do you wish you would have known or done your senior year in high school?
A:

• Don't waste your time just waiting for your senior year to be over.
  
• Use this time to rediscover a long, lost passion, rediscover who you are and really ground yourself in this awareness, explore some creative outlets (photography, yoga, art, blogging, biking) -- there won't be time for creative exploration or much play once you hit college.
• Leadership matters-- make sure your skills continue to evolve
• Good high school friends will stay good friends -- Don't worry!
  

Q: How did you decide to go to UC Berkeley? UC Davis?
A:
I chose my college based as much on heart and gut, as on intellect and image. This is good advice. Your heart and gut always know what is best when it comes to really big decisions. Listen with your heart.

Q: Did you get into your first choice college?
A:
No, I didn't and I was devastated. It really took me down for a while. Even though everyone around me kept telling me, and reassuring me, that in the end it will not matter. What matters is that you find a sense of home and connectedness on your college campus, so that you can relax and really settle in, connect, and learn. We cannot always connect the dots or make sense out of what life gives us looking forward.... only when we look back can we understand that what was given to us was totally meant to be all along.

Q: What's the best piece of advice you can give incoming freshmen?
A:

• It takes time to settle in, so be patient

• Get involved

• Sign up for classes that interest you early on... don't wait

• Call home once a week

• Study first, party second

• Real education exists beyond the classroom's four walls so experience all that you can in the next four or more years

• Plan to travel abroad if you can-- Travel is the best teacher

• Find your own people

• Balance fun with work -- you need both to be happy
  

Do Scary Things in 2010

I have decided that 2010 is the year to do scary things. That's right..... Do SCARY things! Risk a bit. It the stuff that exhilarating dreams are made of. I am convinced that once you do the first scary thing, that it will lead to the next unexpected thing, the next new adventure, a new dream will be born because of the experience, and before you know it you will be living a life worth sharing and celebrating.

Make the idea of taking chances, putting yourself out there, and being vulnerable an integral part of how you are going to do 2010! And let's face it.... if you're willing to take chances, well sometimes you will win and sometimes you will trip, stumble and fail miserably-- but if you practice RISK now while you are still young, curious and ambitious, the fall isn't as far, and the rebound is usually quick.

So get up right now and do something big, bold and scary.... NOW, I said do something SCARY right now. Go!