-: I think how the U prepared me was
I took a lot of different segues.
I started off as an aerospace engineering major.
It turns out I was really bad at chemistry,
like probably a lot of folks realized going into O chem
and anything of that nature, terrible at it.
So, I took a switch.
I was like, okay, well, I like video games at the time.
Now I don't have time for 'em,
but maybe I'll just design them.
I'll be a programmer, I'll be a developer.
Turns out I'm super bad at coding too.
So, I was like, all right.
We're learning things, got it.
The U is like this metaphorical Mississippi River
that was just beating the hell out of me
and turning me into this river stone that was smooth
and not rough around the edges anymore.
I think that's how it prepared me.
It was like, what are you going to do
when reality slaps you straight in the face
and how are you going to pivot?
'Cause that's even what I have to do now in meetings.
They say something, like you go in with an assumption,
I think this is going to be the solution for you.
Absolutely not, that doesn't pertain to me at all.
Okay, let's take this conversation in a different turn.
A lot of the different aspects of what the U provided were
just different opportunities, different challenges,
that really bolded the way that I was as a person,
as well as every single person you talk to in here
is going to be dramatically different from the next,
personality-wise, communication style,
engagement style, what have you.
So, learning how to deal with different people,
the U's a great place to do that,
because you're going to literally talk
to every type of person you could possibly imagine,
from faculty to student.