Spring is here, and this is the time our area universities host their Junior Days. I took three of our high school juniors to one a few weeks ago, and my husband took the fourth to one this past weekend. David and I ended up going to our alma maters, but not because of any fierce college loyalty. It came down to what worked best for our schedules and exploring the universities that offered the most fitting majors for each of our kids as individuals.
College visits can be a lot of fun, and ours certainly were, but deciding where to attend college is a major decision, and for most 17-18 year olds, this is the first major decision they have ever had to make.
The process is made much easier when you have a firm grasp on how you’re wired by going through an objective assessment process to discover your unique pattern of aptitudes, core personality characteristics, and interests. This allows you to target the universities that offer the majors and learning environments that are the best fit for you and to seek out the most personally relevant information when you are visiting each campus.
I have to tell you that a highlight of the junior day I took part in was a terrific informational session that focused on knowing yourself. I would have yelled “Amen” from the audience if I could have done so without embarrassing my kids… or myself.
Kristen Partridge and Quy Nguyen at the University of Oklahoma shared a wonderful motivational message. They spoke of the importance of focusing on becoming “You 2.0” in college, a better version of yourself. They shared three elements in the journey to “You 2.0”:
- Knowing yourself,
- Investing in others and seeking out mentors to invest in you, and
- Becoming a person of gratitude.
I think that’s great advice, not only for college students but for each one of us.
Blessings,
