As I move steadily toward graduation, I reflect on why we are here at IU South Bend. Eventually, we all have to move on to other things, such as getting a job in which to use the skills we learned here, or in some cases, to pay off our student loans.
So the question arises, what have we learned here? While I agree with the general education department that it is necessary to be a fully rounded student, no, you will probably not completely use the skills you have learned in Q110. Unless of course you continue on in academia.
Most IUSB students will go on to be nurses, engineers, teachers, dentists, and doctors, not professors. So what skills will we all use in our futures?
One skill is professionalism. By the time you graduate - five years taking 12 credit hours, four years with either a heavy work load or summer classes, and even longer going part time - you should be able to properly address a boss as you would a professor, both in e-mail and in person. The words ‘doctor,’ ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir’ should not be foreign to our vocabulary.
Even though many professors at IUSB eschew formality, one should still refer to them formally if the occasion calls for it. In person, in private, first names are permissible if the professor or supervisor assures you it is okay.
However, when introducing one’s boss to others or speaking about him or her to others, erring on the side of formality will never let you down. This shows respect to the person and the position they hold.
Over the course of our years here, we all have had the need to ask other people for favors, students or faculty alike. In doing so, one is reminded of lessons that go even further back, like the fact that ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are incredibly effective in persuading people to oblige us of that favor, write that letter of recommendation, go that extra mile. Although it is called ‘common’ courtesy, these small gestures may be what set you ahead of the pack of other applicants for the job you desire.
Another skill we can take with us is the dedication to getting the job done that is required by much of our coursework. When taking a full load, it is not inconceivable to have four midterms in a week, or a few classes with readings over 100 pages long or large projects or papers all due at the same time. This pattern repeats itself in the workplace, where tasks do not always show up in a measured, regulated Monday through Friday , 9 to 5 type of pattern.
Although it may not seem like it on the surface, the ability to manage your time efficiently, which is promoted by this type of coursework, is in fact a form of good manners. If all the workers on a task or in a store can order their priorities and manage their time, then no one is left picking up the extra work or waiting around for their colleagues to finish before they can move on to other business.
Sometimes we look at the little things like good professional manners and wonder why we should practice them. It seems like effort put toward intangible rewards, a whole lot of work for nothing. However, one can look at it this way: while you were paying for credit hours, textbooks, and your parking permit, this is something you got for free, without even needing to ask for it, sign up for it, or spend any time at all doing homework on it.
Without raising a finger, without speaking a word, you received four - or more - years worth of training in how to be a professional person. Wherever you go in life, on to more education, into the workplace, or into the home, that training will always be yours to draw upon at any time you need it.
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