ISF Advice

From the desk of Dawn Strough,
ISF Student Affairs Officer

Regrets-I’ve Had a Few

As I’m sure you graduating seniors are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, before you run to the light with abandon, let's just take a deep breath and talk about my favorite subject: me…ok, don’t stop reading- what I really want to talk to you about are regrets, hopefully in a timely way so that before you walk away from this place you will make the kind of decisions that you won’t look back on with regret, as I, and many of my Cal friends and colleagues, have done.

As many of us were getting close to graduation there are a few things that we now wish we’d done, or maybe wish we had done differently. Speaking for myself, this is not to say that I wish I was somewhere else in my life. I simply wish I had taken that deep breath and thought about how my eagerness to finish school may have prevented me from having more options after graduation. These are not the kinds of regrets that keep me up at night - they are simply the kinds of regrets that make me think about how I wish I had known then what I know now. Yes, as an adviser, I have that “hindsight” advantage of spending the last 10 years learning about all the amazing things available to students, but I was also running towards the light so fast that I didn’t look around to see if I was missing anything. So, to benefit you, I asked around, and I have compiled a list of those things most regretted by my colleagues. So, take heed, my friends, and hopefully, you can learn from the things that so many of us wish we had done differently. This list represents a compiled consensus, but names have been omitted to protect the innocent!

I wish I had…

…gotten letters of recommendation from my instructors.

…used the Letter Service at the Career Center (they will store your letters of rec on file for up to 5 years and you simply contact them when you need them to be mailed out…so much easier than doing this yourself!)

…taken advantage of the Career Center more to discuss graduate school and career options out there and to get help marketing myself in a good resume.

…taken advantage of the Career Counseling Library at Tang to research what kinds of grad degrees were available in my area of interest. The Career Counseling Library can provide direct help in trying to find programs and can even help students identify Fin Aid or scholarships.

…taken an extra semester to enroll in fabulous courses just for fun (it felt like an eternity at the time I was graduating, but looking back, I enjoyed my time here and loved so many of my courses, but I focused so much on requirements).

…created a specific time line for going to grad school. Have you ever heard the term “golden handcuffs?” Once you start earning a salary, it becomes so much more difficult to unshackle those “handcuffs” and go back to being a poor student.

…taken the GRE during college or right after. I could never pass the math portion now, so I would have a difficult time preparing.

…studied abroad. I felt I couldn't afford to go. I wish I had researched my funding options and tried to figure out a way to do it.

…done internships. I think it's the best way to figure out if you like something or not and to get your foot in the door.

…chosen my work study jobs more carefully. There are a ton of options and I stuck with the same job for two years here at Cal instead of using that opportunity to explore possible careers.

…talked to my professors more and not been so intimated by them.

…studied a foreign language beyond what was required.

…had more faith that studying what I loved would not hinder my job search (it didn’t, but I worried about it).

…not mixed generic vodka and store brand root beer (I think my friend has offered some very important advice, here).

So What’s the Point?

Ok, before you think that I am living in a constant state of depression and regret, let me be clear: I probably would have ended up exactly where I am right now. I am so fortunate to have a job that I love and to have had a wonderful experience at Cal. However, what these regrets represent more than anything is the fact that my inaction (lack of research, awareness, etc) prohibited me from having more control in my decision making process. My inaction, in many ways, made decisions for me, rather than me weighing what options I had and making decisions more fully informed. My state of mind in my last semester was that I just wanted to be done, start paying off some debt, and not feel academic pressures for a while. That "while" has now turned into 10 years. This is probably my biggest regret. Maybe, when you graduate you won’t have any. But remember, store brands cost less for a reason!