I wish I had spent time working with a career counselor while that resource was available to me. I loved my professors, I enjoyed my classes in both majors, but neither department did much to teach me how to turn the work I was doing into an actual job. Fortunately my one internship lead to a job, but if it hadn’t, I would have really floundered, I think.

I also went to a smallish private school that encouraged everyone to live on campus and eat using a meal plan. It resulted in a sort of extended adolescence where we all graduated and didn’t know how to go about adjusting to life where you find an apartment and a job and learn to budget and buy and cook your own food all at the same time. After graduation I realized how much our hands were held.

Overall, I just wish my college education, enjoyable as it was, had been more practical as a preparation for post-college life. High schools should teach all students how to do their taxes and keep their checking account balanced. College should really encourage students to be able to actually work and function in the real world. Then again, I went to a liberal arts school, so maybe I got exactly what I (read: my parents) paid for.