Dear college freshmen

A few days ago, I got a notification on Facebook that, 6 years ago, I posted the above photo, reflecting an exciting time in my life - the first week of freshman year at a campus that would become my home for the next 4 years and enable me to reach some of my at-the-time far flung dreams.

I've also seen a number of posts recently on social media that show a new generation of students is descending on college campuses for their freshmen years. So, that got me thinking, what have I learned in the past 6 years that could serve as a framework for this generation of college freshmen, from my perspective as a first generation college graduate (uc berkeley college of engineering & haas school of business '19) in the US who has been now working at Microsoft for 18 months as an engineering PM and is deferring admission to the Stanford MBA program?

But first, some basic information about me is that I'm from Southern California, my mom's Armenian family came to the US after the Lebanese Civil War in the mid-1970s, my dad is from New Zealand, and I am an identical twin (proof pictured below). ??

I've organized my thoughts into a few tips - here it goes.

Dear college freshmen:

Congrats! University is an exciting time, where you'll meet interesting people, explore intellectual horizons, and develop some independence (in life, your perspective, and more). Here are 4 tips I've learned over the years.

1. Foster your curiosity.

In high school, I didn't really have the opportunity to take classes I enjoyed and found myself on a treadmill of a-g requirements, AP courses, tests, essays and college applications. Fit in volunteering and a tutoring job and there really isn't time for much else. At university, though, you'll live pretty close to campus, have access to an enormous library of first hand sources, and an expansive course listing of topics from introductory physics to advanced theater. Those courses are much harder to find in the real world; if you have an interest, pursue it.

2. Find your community.

Classes are going to challenge you, but they're more fun when you are pushing yourself with people you like hanging out with. I recommend changing up your study groups for different classes so you can learn about the class in different ways (based on the variation in how people think or approach problems) and so you can learn from people's unique life experiences, food tastes, and obscure knowledge of fun places to go near campus. For me, I joined a cultural student organization on campus and explored clubs with real-life applications of engineering.

3. Push yourself.

I've noticed there are a few types of people when it comes to academics - those that take all the hard classes and those that stay in their comfort zone. There's a way to balance doing well in subjects you know you need for your future career and want to focus on and pushing yourself to take a more advanced calculus, statistics, or anthropology class. Give yourself the opportunity to prove you can handle more than what you expect.

4. Don't compromise on your ambitions.

When you applied to the school, there was something you wrote in your application - a big ambition you wanted to achieve with the education this university was going to help you get. Remember that as you go through this system. One thing I've realized about life is that people sometimes operate from their frame of reference, which isn't typically ill-intentioned, but may not be coming from the perspective you have on what you're trying to do, are interested in, or are capable of. One example in my life is regarding a project I wanted to work on at Microsoft - I noticed it, thought it would be interesting to work on, asked to do so and just completed it and it was a success. It's good to seek advice from others, but I'd recommend developing a strong sense of belief and to be aware of whose advice you integrate into your life - at least make sure you agree with it.

In the words of Gen Z, maintain your main character energy. ??

And that goes for the advice in this article too. ??

Do you have any advice you'd give to your freshman self at university? Comment below. ??

Cheers,

Mark

Mark Ansell is a UC Berkeley Class of 2019 graduate (Mechanical Engineering & Business Administration), current Program Manager at Microsoft, and future MBA student at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.