What My Degree Didn't Teach

Zoe is one of the writers at The Point, and I enjoyed this article she has written. Made me think of my own soon-to-be-graduating daughter, and her entrance into the big wide world as it were.

The first day of the rest of my life began on July 5, 2005. And for some reason, I felt much older that week than I had ever felt before—or have ever felt since. I climbed the marble steps of the lobby, my pumps clicking as I followed my new boss to the second floor. When we got to the third floor, I heard that ever-incessant clicking of keyboards and the almost jolly jingle of telephones, but all I saw was an unending labyrinth of cube space—almost as if I’d stepped into a horizontal knickknack shelf, each fuzzy gray wall connecting to the next in a seemingly infinite corridor.

Zoe is a good writer, and you really should read the whole article, but the gist of it is

And I even began to learn a few things—things that my college degree never taught me.

I learned that a few days of monotony will always grace my cubicle door.

But I also learned that good friends aren’t simply found in college dorms (they may be in the cube next door).

I learned that my calling comes from filling my small space with excellence—by writing each letter, answering each phone call, and completing each assignment as if it were my last. . .

. . .And, I am learning that the lessons I will be taught here in my 6’x10’ classroom will not be the appendix to the textbook of my life. As it turns out, I’m only in Chapter 2.

Whatever chapter we are in, may we view it as a calling to fill that small space with excellence!