As college students, we all have one goal in mind for the end of the line: a career. By the time we could read, our parents and teachers had already told us that if we want go to a good college and get a good job, then we have to make good grades and decide what we want to do with our lives.
We have been threatened with a lack of security to motivate us to behave and do well in school. We have been trained to learn skills that can help us get a good job so we can provide for our family consisting of a father, a mother and 2.5 children. We have been so conditioned to fall in line as a specialized worker with long-term job for which we do one thing for the rest of our lives, and it is sold to us on a golden platter with the word career on it.
Unbeknownst to most, the word career does not solely have connotations of long-term stability. It is also used to describe the way vehicles would move down racetracks at full speed in a reckless and wild manner. In its verb form, career is nearly synonymous with careen–both involving rapid change and sway and an overall lack of control.
These antonymous definitions are an etymological mystery to me, but I do think we, as college students, should shift our attention more towards the verb meaning of career and not get ourselves caught up in finding one job so early in our lives.
The problem I have with falling into a specialization so early in life is that we miss out on so many opportunities to gain real world knowledge. As an engineering student, I feel like I run into this kind of person all too often–the person with a very strong GPA, an impressive resume, and vast knowledge of his field but nothing else. Ask him how to change a tire, oil, or brake pads on a car. Ask them if he can mend his own clothes, cook his own meals without using a microwave, and effectively clean a house. Ask him what he thinks about literature, art, and music.
When posed with questions like these, far too many are incapable of answering them or discussing such topics. This is a serious problem. None of those skills take long to learn, but they are all critical to being independent and self-reliant. Unfortunately, since so many people have been so focused on one thing, they never took the chance to learn these skills.
Instead of taking that odd-job working in a garage or taking classes outside of their field of study, these people have isolated themselves in a specialized little bubble with minimal exposure to the rest of the world. We have been led to believe that doing these little things is a waste of time since they don’t lead us to a high-paying, stable job. Maybe they don’t, but those random jobs, classes, and experiences that make us well-rounded, useful contributors to the world.
The next time you are presented with a unique opportunity, don’t hesitate to go for it. Carpe diem, carpe noctem ; just do it. You might never get the chance again, and you never know what you’ll learn. Don’t get stuck in a rut while you’re young. Go out and career down the crazy road of life.