10 things I learned in college (other than my Social Security number)

One topic I enjoy talking about on my radio show is education. It’s my belief that it’s the key to a better life.  Knowledge is power. And applying knowledge is harnessing that power.

Every once in a while, someone will question whether college is worth the expense. As any parent who has college-age kids knows, tuition is skyrocketing. And sorry Isaac Newton; it’s the one thing that goes up and won’t come down.

But is it worth it?  I emphatically say, “YES!”  I have been out of college for 21 years now and I can look back on my time at the University of Tennessee and realize it shaped me into who I am today.

Here’s a list of 10 things I learned in college that made my diploma worth every single penny.

1. The dare of a special professor. Dr. Faye Julian was my speech teacher my senior year.  (she also was one of Peyton Manning’s favorite professors).  I remember her handing out the first graded test of the class. I took mine and noticed I had gotten a 95 — a solid A.  While I was happy, she looked me in the eye and said, “You can do better.”  That was the first time I had been challenged like that. And I did better. Every time I speak before hundreds or thousands of people, I hear Faye Julian’s voice. And I try to do better.

2. Finding my niche.  I was a marketing major, so it only makes sense that I took a few marketing classes. I wish I could remember the professor’s name (somethings fade with time) but the lesson he taught sticks with me.  We were doing a group exercise. We owned  a small craft-beer brewery.  We wanted to build a new facility and had two choices: In an industrial park in the suburbs (where we could produce high volume to compete with the big breweries) or in a redeveloped, trendy section of downtown (think Beale Street). We, of course, chose the suburbs.  And got clobbered by the big breweries.  It was the first time I was exposed to the concept of finding your niche and pursuing it. It is a lesson that has stuck with me for over 20 years now.  Know what you are good at and being the best at it you can be.

3. The Daily Beacon. I wasn’t your typical journalism student.  In fact, I wasn’t a journalism student at all. I was a business major.  I did, however try out to be the editorial cartoonist for The Daily Beacon, the student newspaper.  Best move I have ever made.  I learned how to produce under deadlines (five cartoons a week), I ended up being Journalist of the Year my senior year. I won awards and I learned how to deal with numerous editors’ personalities. I still count the staff at the Beacon as some of my most beloved friends.  For five years I drew cartoons and jumpstarted a career.  I learned my craft in Room 5 of the Communications Building.

4. I learned self-discipline. In high school, you are spoon-fed your responsibilities. In college, you are free to sink or swim.  It was my first true dose of personal responsibility.  No one was going to wake me up and make me go to class.

5. I learned that when pushed to the brink, I would not fail.  I graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee. But I had one big, fat D.  And that D was in Accounting II.  I’ll admit, I initially didn’t do the work — accounting was tedious and completely polar opposite to my right-brain way of thinking. And I stopped going to class. I failed my first exam, digging a hole I could barely climb out of. But I did. I busted my butt and ended up getting an 82 on my final exam.  So yes, I got a D. But I’m as proud of that D as I am of the dozens of A’s I received.

6. Don’t be a water bug. I had an English Comp. professor who went into a strange lecture one morning about the meaning of life. But it was one of the most profound lessons I learned in five years of college. He said,” don’t be a water bug. Don’t skim along the surface of your life. Live each moment.  Dive deep into the cool waters of your world.”  Most people think that you learn lessons from a textbook in college.  Mine seemed to pop up in the strangest places.

7. The value of a great advisor. My first college advisor wasn’t very good (that’s being kind). She even told me not to bother to try out for The Daily Beacon (I did after she said that and got the job).  My second advisor got me out of college. Her name is Dr. Sarah Gardial (she’s now the head of the University of Iowa’s Business School and still a friend).  She realized I was not a typical business student and she rewrote my schedule, having me take classes as diverse as persuasion, history, speech, logic and branding.  Every class she suggested I use on a daily basis.  She was like an angel guiding me out of the wilderness.  My last two years of college were amazing because of the path she put me on.  We all need advisors like Dr. Gardial.

8. The value of engagement. No, I don’t mean the diamond-ring kind. I mean really participating in what you are doing. My first quarter (we switched to semesters halfway through costing me nearly an extra year of college), I took one of the dreaded large classes at UT: Western Civilization. I was blessed to have a great teacher, Dr. John Bohstedt. (who later was a hero during the church shooting at the Unitarian Church in Knoxville by tackling the shooter.)  I sat up front, visited his office, got to know him and ended up getting a high A. I know if I had not engaged, I would have gotten a B or lower.  But I learned a valuable lesson about making an effort.

9. The value of friends. College was a place where I met a new group of people and created a new network of friends.  I met Charlie Daniel, the cartoonist at the Knoxville Journal (now the Knoxville News Sentinel). He and his wife Patsy took me under my wing and treated me like their third child.  I am a cartoonist today because of Charlie.  If I had not gone to University of Tennessee, my life would have charted a different course.  I’d probably be a laid-off advertising copywriter.

10. I learn more when I stumble than when I soar. There is a common thread through many of the other nine things I learned in college: My most valuable lessons use usually came when I was making mistakes or needed help.  I learned the value of failure to serve as a catalyst for growth.

I get to go back to Tennessee occasionally and when I do, I remember the good times. The parties. The football games. My friends. And I remember the bad times. The bad tests. The challenges I had to overcome.  I walk around campus and feel the currents that shaped me. And then I smile.