Pahkcah02 on Being a Good Influence

"And to you 'C' students, you too can be president of the United States," - George W. Bush addressing student at Yale University

I went out to Amherst yesterday to help out my sorority with their formal rush. I've been out of school for 6 years and was almost certain that as an old fogie I would be ignored by most of the current 19 and 20 year old active members. I was pretty surprised when just about every single girl came up to me to ask me who I was, what I majored in (when was the last time someone asked you that?), and what I did for a living. A good number of them also asked me for career advice given the state of the current job market. Like any good sales rep there's no topic I find more interesting than talking about myself so I was eager to impart my widom to these little sponges of knowledge.

One major topic of obsession was my UMass resume. They were curious to know which professors I had, what classes I took, and other general academic advice. I chose to attend UMass-Amherst for a number of reasons, and sadly academics was not one of them. Had I known then just how worthless my operations management degree was, I probably would've chosen an easier path like American History or Judaic Studies. Instead I spent the vast majority of 1998-2002 attending class only when I had to, put the minimal effort into most assignments, and didn't make a lasting impression on a single professor. Grad school for a person with a 2.8 GPA and no academic references is pretty much a no-go, which is why my academic career never went further than the hallowed concrete jungles of 01003. The advice I gave to impressionable sorority sisters:

Study hard and go to all of your classes. Make friends with your professors because they're the ones who can hook you up with jobs and grad school recommendations. A lot of you will need to go to grad school so you can break into careers where you will be making a difference in the world. Take advantage of everything offered to you at UMass.

Or you could be like me and skip a lot of classes because your math intensive major bores you to tears. You won't graduate with a respectable GPA but by the time you turn 28 you will own a condo, drink way too much scotch, and drive a BMW.

Hopefully they will follow the noble path, whichever one it may be.