What you've learned that you may not know you've learned

While you’ve been busy going to classes, studying and otherwise getting your degree, you’ve picked up a few things that will stick with you long after you’ve forgotten exact particulars of European history or some of the intricacies of cellular biology.

You’ve learned skills that will be crucial as you go on to live your life and build a career, says Life Coach Alana Mikkelsen (BSc, 1992). “You’re constantly adjusting. You’re constantly juggling and you’re constantly problem solving and analyzing,” she says. “You may think you’re just studying for an assignment or an exam or writing a paper but really what you’re doing is learning how to evaluate and think independently.”

While at university, you’re picking up important life skills: critical thinking, organization and time management and life balance.

“Critical thinking is the ability to think through a problem or experiment with what ever is available to you and come up with solutions,” says Mikkelsen. “That’s invaluable.”

She says the organization and time management skills you pick up at school will carry you well into your work life. “How you manage your workload in university will influence your success throughout your career. If you thrive on cramming, you may want to find jobs with constant deadlines that will keep your adrenalin high.”

Mikkelsen says learning to juggle all the things in your life – school and studying plus recreation, fun and family – is another life skill you tackle in university.

Don’t think you stop learning when you pick up your degree. Quite the opposite, Mikkelsen says. You will be learning in your first job and every one that comes after. “As people move toward leadership positions in their jobs and in their lives they’re just refining the knowledge that they had before and building upon it," says Mikkelsen. “Having the mindset of a constant student makes life really exciting.”

She says the skills you’ve learned at U of C will take you far. “Companies out there are looking for innovative, independent thinkers, people who can adjust and create success in any kind of situation,” she says. “And that’s exactly what you’re doing in university.”