Thoughts from 1st month of college...
Unpacking my unconventional approach to UBC so far
Happy Sunday!
Just noticed “The Mielke Way” hit over 100 subscribers! Nothin’ too crazy but I appreciate y’all for joining me on this fun ride. 🤍
Anyways, it’s been a month since I’ve started class at UBC.
College life has been fun and my perspective has grown in many ways, and it’s been nice to do a weekly update on Twitter where I’ve noted the biggest insights from each week 👇🏼
…and reflecting on these top experiences / “aha moments” of school has taught me lots of stuff, which I’m hyped to get into!
Here are my 3 biggest takeaways so far:
A good college network (and social environment) is damn hard to beat
The “education” isn’t what you pay for… (which I’ll explain more in a bit)
The design path > the default path
1. The college network (aka social environment) is hard to beat…
Traveling around Europe exposed me to many of great people and amazing places that I’ll never forget, yet living up in a college environment has taught me something new:
When you jam over 50,000 people together on a campus with intellectual chemistry and similar ambitions, some great things can also happen…
I’ve already met 4 people working on crypto startups, 1 vlogger and many smart biz students…and it’s definitely reminded me of the incredible power IRL communities will always have.
While I’ve met many great friends on unconventional paths (and online!), I’ve noticed that universities still do a great job of A) curating an amazing group of students, and B) maximizing connectivity between the students…so in this sense, it’s a pretty hard system to *currently* beat. 🤷🏼♂️
(But my motivation to contribute to an internet-curated community of co-working and co-living retreat (or hackerspace) is big, and I’ve tried to get the ball rolling on discord and twitter already.)
2. The “education” isn’t what you pay for
…it’s the degree and the social environment.
I like to think about the value proposition of college like this: If you were to compare every single component of college and compare those components (i.e. social life, credential, or education) to the next best option for each, what would be the easiest part to replace?
My answer = the education.
As I’ve said before, the internet has dematerialized the means of learning and democratized access to all sorts of new content (+ connections) across the globe.
Credentials have basically been monopolized by traditional universities—but there certainly are some alternatives (i.e. cloud computing certificates, internship experience, online reputation, etc.) that I hope to benefit from.
“Learning is cheap. Education is expensive.” - Naval Ravikant
…so I’ve taken a pretty light course load (only 3 college courses: Econ, Philosophy and Psychology) while also learning many things on the side, which brings me to the next point:
3. Design > default
I’m currently doing my best to take advantage of Udemy (for learning JavaScript) and I plan to get my Microsoft Azure (cloud computing) certificate soon within the next few months.
Self-disciplining isn’t exactly easy though. It’s a bit of a struggle to balance intrinsic and extrinsic motivators—but experimenting with like-minded friends online for co-working sessions in the mornings has been lots of fun and very valuable.
Another principle: Actions follow intentions—and placing my intentions towards the right long-term benefits has been a huge unlock for me.
Lastly, here’s a great quote from Eric Torenburg to sum it all up. (which I’ve now re-read 4+ times🤣):
To wrap things up…
As Sahil Bloom says, “Your 20s is for saying yes. Your 30s is for saying no.”…so yep, it’s been quite the ride ;)
Look forward to updating more here in the future…
Until next time, keep exploring🥂
Jack
The third point is a valuable gem that should be instilled in everyone hehe
Great update, Jack! It's super fun to see your path evolving, and we love watching you continue to grow.
And congrats of Phi Gamma Delta. We look forward to meeting them!