03 The Long Game

During the first few weeks of graduate school, I remember feeling like I was trying to drink out of a firehose. There was so much new information that it seemed impossible to take it all in. I took a lot of notes at that time, scribbling furiously as though I were trying to grasp water as it ran through my fingers.

About a month in, a mentor of mine shared a thought: quit trying so hard to capture every new piece of information. You’ll hear some of this stuff today, but it won’t make sense until four or five years from now.

That was sound advice. The long game is to understand that the experiences you all are having will resonate with you for the rest of your life. That may sound like a cliché, but I assure you, the experiences you gather in college and beyond have a long tail.

We are quickly approaching the craziest part of the craziest semester any of us has likely ever had. Before Monday morning sets in, I wanted to add to my mentor’s advice in the era of coronavirus:

The experiences you’re having right now might not make sense for four or five years, or maybe longer. But this won’t be a time you’ll forget.

So don’t worry about taking the notes, making the grades, or over-analyzing the details. Do the work with integrity and to the best of your ability and the next few weeks will take care of themselves.

Until next week,