My name is Tenzin Lama. To give you a brief background, I did
my undergraduate and master’s in Electrical & Computer
Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It is exclusively
an engineering college located in Worcester, an hour away from
Boston, MA. I also have a master’s degree in information-age
marketing from Bentley College.
My freshman year in college, I was the only kid from Nepal,
so I definitely went through the process of culture shock. Being
placed in a situation, where one has to adjust on the fly, has
definitely been a positive experience in my life.
| In
our society, parents assume that in college, all you learn
are what you learn in the books. Just think about it, tell
me who remembers what they exactly learned in their classes?
College is more about training one’s brain to think
in a systematic way and applying it in our daily life challenges.
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In our society, parents assume that in college, all youlearn
are what you learn in the books. Just think about it, tell me
who remembers what they exactly learned in their classes? College
is more about training one’s brain to think in a systematic
way and applying it in our daily life challenges. Every culture’s
point of view on specific topics is different and by engaging
in conversation and living with people who were raised totally
different from you, you start to see things differently and
appreciate what you have.
After college, when entering the real world, you are prepared
to face the challenges head on. In real life, if you want to
accomplish something, it usually boils down to who you know.
When you are in college, the students you mix around are the
student who are in your field of work and will those who you
will work with later in life. College is the most effective
way to build your network. I wish there was a simpler way to
tell parents that education is more than just books.
After I completed my bachelor degree, I immediately did my
Masters in Marketing. In my application process, I realized
the most important thing they look at is your grade point average
(GPA) and standardized test scores like GMAT, GRE, etc. For
your GPA, it all depends on how you do in your classes in college.
Also, the cool thing is that if you do well in college, you
are invited to join honor societies. By being a part of an honor
society, it’s a great way to build your résumé.
I would recommend students to take classes for the standardized
test. In my opinion, these tests don’t test how smart
you are, it’s more about the techniques you need to know
to ace these tests. I did take classes, and it helped me out
a lot. Luckily for me, I had an exceptional GPA and I did well
in my GMAT, so I got full scholarship for my graduate studies.
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I would recommend students to have experience in their respective
work fields. If you have enough work experience, you can
create a correlation between what you learn in class, and
how you could apply it to your work field. |
Another thing, I learnt in college, is that you need to be
good at making presentations. Students from our region, we are
horrible at it. Maybe it’s our culture. I would recommend
students to take classes in public speaking. It will definitely
help you in the long run. Also in the work place, it’s
all about presenting what you did and being able to explain
it effectively. If you are a good presenter, the probability
of you climbing the corporate ladder is higher. The regret I
had about doing my grad school was that I didn’t have
much work experience. I would recommend students to have experience
in their respective work fields. If you have enough work experience,
you can create a correlation between what you learn in class,
and how you could apply it to your work field.
My undergrad college has a program called the co-op. It’s
basically an internship program, but for a longer period of
time. If your college has this program, you should definitely
take advantage of it. While applying for an internship position,
you have to go through the exact process you would go to find
a job when you graduate, plus its good pocket money. While at
the work place, you create contacts and see first hand what
the real world is like. If you do well, it definitely creates
a pipeline for a full-time position, when you graduate. In life,
it’s all about creating opportunities for you and making
the most of it.
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I think one should share what one has learnt; By keeping
all to one self, one has nothing to gain. I won the Teaching
Assistantship of the Year award. What this showed me was
that if you put your 110 percent into something; you will
be rewarded in one way or the other. |
If you have the opportunity to be a Teaching Assistant, you
should definitely do it. I was a TA while I was doing my Masters
in Engineering. First I was hesitant, wondering if I would be
able to teach. To my surprise, it was the most fulfilling thing
I did in college. It teaches you how to interact with people
and how to impart what you learnt to other people. I think one
should share what one has learnt; By keeping all to one self,
one has nothing to gain. I won the Teaching Assistantship of
the Year award. What this showed me was that if you put your
110 percent into something; you will be rewarded in one way
or the other.
Lastly, I hope my few words of advice will aid you in making
your college experience as rewarding as it was to me. If you
have any questions, you can definitely email me @ lama_tenz@msn.com.
I would love to help you.
