You Cant be the Best Version of Yourself Alone
the moment i came into college
i had to watch enough movies read enough
college confidential
and talk to enough alumni to know that
college is where i was gonna find
my true self i was craving so much to be
independent and eager to not have to
depend on anyone
i’m a fourth year now and i really wish
i didn’t come in with that mindset
for me coming into college i was almost
certain of the path i wanted to take
business and i was going to do
everything in my power to get there as
quickly as possible
on my own despite the seeming lack of
resources i continued to search for ways
that i could grow
through classes books workshops seminars
you name it
so in my winter quarter of my freshman
year of college
when i was able to land a really
competitive marketing internship despite
competing with upperclassmen
i honestly felt like i had made it that
was it
and similar to devonshi i felt like i
had to learn everything myself
i spent hours every day taking marketing
certificates watching youtube tutorials
trying to learn the ins and outs of
marketing on my own and when i finally
landed my dream internship at amazon i
was so excited
and felt like i had achieved that golden
independence and accomplishment that i
was looking for in college
but that feeling quickly went away and
again i felt like i had made enough
opportunities for myself and that was
all there was i didn’t really know how
to grow myself anymore and i couldn’t
figure out what was next
i was going out of my way to find more
professional opportunities and to learn
more
concrete skills but by doing that i was
really missing out on one
big thing building connections with
people to fuel
my own growth both of us felt like we
had learned what we could learn on our
own
i took all the certificates and i read
all the books that i could on my own
and we both had that same question now
what
that all changed in may when i reached
out to amy
for a 20 minute coffee chat the quick
chat
ended up turning into a series of
hour-long calls for the next couple of
months
we shared how difficult it was to find
professional opportunities at a school
that didn’t have a business program
and all of this conversation led us to
realize that actually a
ton of ucsb students faced a similar
struggle
we reached out and met tons of students
with specialized
skills in business entrepreneurship and
design
they were all experts in their own craft
who had so much to offer
and they had so much energy and passion
but nowhere to channel it to
so we created goucher creative uc santa
barbara’s
first and only student-run marketing
consulting group
i alone would have never been able to
start capture creative if you’ve ever
met me i’m a risk taker i take ideas
popping here and there
i don’t plan i don’t outline i strive
off of ambiguity and learn on the way
and what that means is i suck at taking
notes staying organized and i would
always lose track of the details and
chase for that bigger picture
and if you’ve ever met me i love big
ideas but i over plan
almost everything i’m always looking for
concrete structure
and ways i can get there i suck at
letting go of the little details
and i hyper focus on the little things
and i need to make sure that everything
is perfect before doing it
but our talents they synergize together
perfectly
i would bounce ideas off of davonji
pitching new ways we could get clients
how to engage students davanji would
process it and then map that project end
to end so that we would remember
after our four hour long calls each day
and have an actionable plan
by merging our complementary skills
together we created strategies that were
both large at scope
but also detailed in action items and
through gadget creative we’re able to
provide a space
where students can come together to
further their business knowledge and
their provided recruiting support and
professional development unlike ever
before
it’s all about synergy the more
differentiated
talented people you surround yourself
with the more you’re going to learn and
the better you’re going to do
amy and i both felt like our personal
growth was stifled when we tried
so hard to rely on ourselves our goal
was to perfect our craft in
everything and take on every challenge
on our
own and in our mind that was the only
way to succeed
but when we decided to work together we
elaborated to create something that we
could have never
done individually in turn i learned that
i may never be as
organized and detail-oriented as
devonshi but now i’m more confident in
seeing that my big picture ideas could
actually be implemented into something
real
through all of this i found someone to
bounce
crazy ideas off of in a judgment free
zone and in turn i could take my crazy
planning every little detail self and
just make it happen
look for the people that fuel your
talents and are unafraid to learn and
grow with you
and i know everyone just tells you all
these arbitrary things so i want to give
and provide you guys with some
actionable items that you can do and
implement today
so here are three things you can do to
find people that help build that best
version of yourself
so the first most obvious thing you can
do is to find communities that fuel
your own personal growth here’s where
it’s less obvious
these communities aren’t restricted to
your
professional frauds or your dorm room
floor
you can find a community just about
anywhere so think bigger
find online communities for example if
you’re super interested in venture
capital
join the gen zvc slack group yes that’s
a thing
or if you loved thrift flipping get on
thrift talk
once you’re involved in these
communities put the work in get to know
the people
you’re around on a one-to-one level
schedule
coffee chats shoot your shot on
instagram and go above and beyond to
learn
from and with your peers the next thing
you can do is reach out to those people
you admire and ask the right questions
reaching out
to them on linkedin or send them a cold
message share your roadblocks
and personal or professional struggles
appropriately of course
and lean on someone who’s been there to
guide you through what you’re facing now
it can be really intimidating
approaching people you admire so be sure
to do your research on the background
and expertise
and be prepared with questions that
really make them sit back and think it’s
also
super important to remember that
sometimes you’re not going to be able to
find your perfect fit
right away in terms of communities or
people
and that is completely okay in this
scenario you can do
two things number one keep putting
yourself
out there and putting yourself in
uncomfortable situations
because those are the best opportunities
to grow
and number two if you’ve really been
looking a while and can’t find a
community to truly
fit your interests build your own just
like we did
we’re not gonna lie it was not easy at
all but it was
so so worth it nothing was built by one
person alone and similarly you’re unable
to even build that best version of
yourself alone
surrounding yourself with the right
people really accelerates your growth
more than you think it does
and in that process you’ll be able to
meet incredible people and create
something
and feel something bigger than yourself
you’ll meet people that you can
learn and grow with at the end of the
day there’s only so much you can do
and learn on your own you have to
venture out and seek those people
when it comes to your college career
find people that bring out the best in
you
the amazing thing about college is that
you’re meeting so many people
so take the opportunity and make
something you may never
have on your own
you