“I think you are set for success, whatever you decide to
do with your lives... you all have a competitive advantage
by attending and graduating from Bryn Athyn College.”
walking out with today is a brain that’s been trained to learn. In many fields,
the skills you need to do the job, you learn on the job. If you’re wondering what
skills you might have that can be applied to something, don’t be dismayed. You
have some. First and foremost it’s the ability to learn. College never ends.
Here’s my little observation from 17 years at Microsoft: brains or genius
are not a substitute for hard work. Genius is a subjective term and we’re all
actually quite smart in our own way – but not all of us work hard. Advice:
Work hard – constantly educate yourself.
A couple of years ago I had the privilege of taking a business school class
at Harvard University on launching new ventures – essentially start-ups.
Awesome class. One of the core tenets we learned is that a startup company is
basically a series of experiments, most of which won’t work. But never think
of them as failures. Each thing you learn that doesn’t work out means you’re
one step closer to something that will work. A job or a career is no different.
Here’s a quick practical tip. Once you figure out your field – and many of
you may have done this already – be a subject-matter expert in something.
It doesn’t matter if you have experience. Create an online presence that
demonstrates this. This is more important than a résumé. It shows passion,
collaborating with other people in your field, and that you’re already involved
in the field and have some knowledge. Don’t wait for someone to give you that
first break; assume the position and jump right in.
I think you are set for success, whatever you decide to do with your
lives. In fact, I believe you all have a competitive advantage by attending and
graduating from Bryn Athyn College.
My upper educational path started right here. Discounting people I met –
including my wife at the University of Illinois – in terms of raw content I would
not trade the time spent in Bryn Athyn College classrooms with anything I
learned at any other school.
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