Professor Dan Schwarz’s talk about “how to succeed in college and beyond” was apt for the start of the school year. I appreciated the balanced emphasis on the present and the future. Professor Schwarz talked about considering your future plans, but also living in the moment and having fun. While you need to have a focus on your future goals you should not let those long-term goals cloud shorter term goals. For example, having a goal of going to graduate school could cause you to loose focus on daily goals. Getting daily exercise or a good laugh every day help lay the foundation for attempts at more ambitious goals. I appreciated this prospective because sometimes I can get overly focused on larger goals and allow smaller goals to be pushed aside.

I also appreciated Professor Schwarz’s mention of the importance of resilience. I think resilience is and incredibly important quality that it deserved even greater emphasis. In talking about the goals and the future it is important to recognize the possibility of failure. When something does not work out as planned it is vital to accept the disappointment and try again. Given the ambitious goals that many people have, disappointments are inevitable. The challenge is how to respond to these disappointments and grow from the experience.

Ultimately, my greatest take away was to do what you love. It was clear that Professor Schwarz’s genuinely enjoys his job. His passion and excitement was palpable. I think loving what you do and finding meaning in life is a great measure of success both in college and beyond.