I was impressed by Andrea’s nice gesture of offering more than a piece of advice to Edgeryder Di in response to her story. Both Di and me feel we have made a not-so-good choice when opting for an undergrad programme in our fields - mine Communication & PR, hers Law school. She was courageous enough to take this year off and volunteer in Serbia, and although still is insecure about her future, this experience is very likely to pay off.
Andrea says that a crisis like this about a professional path, is particulary valuable when you are young, because you are plent of time to restart, even from scratch.
Try and fail is the only possibilty we have to find our path. It is normal and it is absolutely right to fail. It is our society that is telling us that failing is for losers, but in fact it is just the way has to be. Failing without changing, that is for losers!
Not only is he encouraging her, but also recommends at least 3 resources as guidance : a book (From Good To Great" by Jim Collins), self-interogation as means to succeed:
1) What are you deeply passionate about?
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What are you are genetically encoded for — what activities do you feel just “made to do”?
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What makes economic sense — what can you make a living at?
The intersection of the three answers/circles could be your lens to check if your decisions are coherent (and so they are probably creating a better value, a bigger possibility to success).
and finally taking up a mentor… I like this idea very much, never thought of it in an active way. Sometimes when we are in school we are encouraged to think of role models. But role models and mentors are not the same thing. While role models are just there, passive and most of the time untouchable, mentors can have a much more active role in our development. I like this idea very much and I begin to think fondly of our edgemappers as some sort of mentors… If anybody here wants to talk about the meaning of mentorship I would gladly take part in such a discussion.
Thank you Andrea very much, both for your story and for your thoughtful comment on Di’s. I think your role here as Edgeryders and Edgemapper is just beginning 