What A Ride.

Well the summer working season is drawing to a close. The time when in the past few years I would be finishing up my internship, preparing my final presentations, and then getting ready to move back to school for the fall. This year, however, is different. My job is moving into full swing and we are preparing ourselves for what looks to be an earlier than usual harvest and a busy fall. So, I figured, what better time for me to reflect on my four years at the University of Illinois.

I mentioned it in my first blog, but I really had no predisposition for where I wanted to go to school. I knew I wanted to study agriculture, and I knew I wanted to go to a land grant university. After touring the University of Illinois and Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity I made the decision to do my schooling in Champaign-Urbana and now I don’t know why I ever even thought about it. I had a truly awesome time and learned a LOT.

I had a multitude of experience both in and out of the classroom. I would say and still do, even if it is to the dismay of some of my professors, that I learned more outside of the classroom than I did in. This was not a function of bad classes as much as it was that I was involved in a lot and there is so much to be gained from those experiences. “What a ride you have had…” that is what someone that I worked with a lot told me at the end of my senior year, and it is true. I decided I would point out a few of my biggest takeaways from those four years.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, but appreciate the little things

It’s pretty easy to let things get to you, and often times they are things that are not worth your time. For the most part the best thing to do is to learn from it and move on. Admittedly, I was not always the best at this, but I would usually catch myself in the midst of it and be able to settle myself down and move on. Another thing that I came to realize is that all too many times I would get lost in all of my school work, emails, Facebook, etc. and would lose perspective of what was happening around me. You never know when or what is going to turn into one of your favorite memories of college. So, when it’s your friend’s birthday and you have a test the next day, take the time to go have a beer with them. It will mean something to them, and it will keep you sane.

People, people, people

You can’t do it alone, and it is definitely not as much fun on your own, so pay attention to the people around you, and take care of them. Everyone has something to offer, and even though respect is something that should be earned, everyone is entitled to your attention. I was on a few executive boards, and worked with a lot of different people and I learned something from all of them. I think the more experience I gained the more I started to pay attention to people’s tendencies and the way that they work, and in the end the more I was able to learn from them.

Trust yourself

Its pretty simple really, if you put your mind to it you can do it. It might not be easy but that is ok. The only way to improve on your weaknesses is to embrace them and challenge them. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, and it is also important to know your limitations, but a healthy disregard for the impossible never hurt anyone.

Now that I have graduated, I feel like a freshman again. I am going into an industry with about as much credibility as Illinois has in budget surplus. I am just another “hot shot” college graduate that thinks he knows it all, and once again I have realized that I have so much to learn. I’ll admit, some days it is hard to know what to do, but I think I can easily relate it back to my freshman year at school. I didn’t know anyone, or anything, but I just worked at it and it eventually worked out great. I think the most important thing for me to do now is listen, learn, and work hard. I am a believer that if you do things the right way and to the best of your ability, things will work out. I know that eventually things will start to make more sense and things will start to become easier. Until then, I’m just going to have to work my way through the growing pains.