In honor of my last hurrah before graduation (my final piece in the Observer), I thought I’d close with four small takeaways from college. While I’m no one to give advice, I think they may speak to more than just the professional.
First: Listen to your mom.
Freshman year, I was set on econ. I spent the entire semester convincing myself — and everyone around me — that I loved macro and micro (I didn’t). I practiced case studies and pictured myself in finance. All the while, my mom kept telling me, quietly and persistently, that I wasn’t being honest with myself. Of course, at 18 and newly untethered, listening to my mom was the last thing on my list. Until I realized that — as with everything else — my mom was right. So, had I listened to my mom earlier — about this and many other things — instead of insisting I could figure it out alone, I am certain my troubles would have been far fewer and much shorter-lived. Listen to your mom.
Second: Being uncool is cool too.
This took me a while to learn. There is enormous pressure to perform a certain version of college life. The parties, the effortlessness, the “not-caring-too-much.” At some point, I realized that pretending not to care about things I genuinely cared about was its own kind of loss. Some of the best things I did in college looked boring from the outside. Some of the most interesting friends I met didn’t fit any obvious mold. Sometimes, being uncool is cool too.
Third: Be open, be flexible, be curious — don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself.
I came into college convinced that I already knew myself — what I valued, what I believed, where I came from. The most important thing I did throughout these four years was open myself to questioning everything. Whether that was through a philosophy class that dismantled assumptions I didn’t know I had, a conversation with someone whose life looked nothing like mine, a professor who pushed back when I was certain I was right or simply sitting alone long enough to ask myself harder questions. This way, I either strengthened my beliefs and values or re-evaluated them. While setting my ego aside was hard, doing so made room for the person I actually wanted to become. So, be open, be flexible, be curious — don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself.
Fourth: Lead with the heart.
There will always be something technical demanding your attention — a paper to submit, an exam to study for, an application to send — the to-do list never stops. But alongside it, make room for what actually moves you. The friendships you show up for, the places that make you feel something, the work that means something beyond the grade. What made my time at Notre Dame irreplaceable wasn’t any single achievement; it was the moments I chose presence over productivity. The lessons stay in my head, but the people and the moments — those live somewhere deeper. Lead with the heart.
And while my takeaways are innumerable, these are a few worth saying out loud before I set down my pen — or, well, close my laptop.
So one last time, Go Irish!
And here’s to everything still left to learn.
