There are times when college can get very difficult especially in courses where we lack the interest to be able to focus on the materials. There are going to be plenty of occasions where courses are required and there's no way out of it, and that's just life. By taking a variety of courses, it empowers our knowledge in different areas depending on your chosen concentration or educational interest. It gives us the ability to know bits and pieces of the whole process evolving around our chosen career. If we talk about the differences between textbook smarts and the real world, there is a major disparity between both parties but the difference is what makes them uniquely required in order to succeed.

The majority of our educational system focus on textbook with minimal hands-on work and taking the exams are required to assess our knowledge from the things that we have learned from reading the book. It's a repetitious process of challenging our aptitude, so we can earn remarks depending on the amount of time invested in studying. In reality and in general, the educational foundation is built to teach us knowledge in establishing a solid ground so we can apply it in the real world. The exams provides a daunting experience so we can experience the same level of pressure that might be required in the real world up ahead.

While school provides us with a variety of courses, the learning aspect is 90% of the time only  retained in the short-term memory. Although education is crucial to an individual's career, it will never replace the level of "education" that will be encountered in the real world environment. While school education enriches our problem solving skills, there are crucial elements that can only be learned through repetitive actions and demands that experience beholds. The other way around is also true though as far as school education is concern as an individual's experience will never be replaced with that of education in the school environment. While experience through work gives us the trial and error aspect of our career, an actual education provides us with the basic fundamentals with courses aimed to trigger and assess our strengths and weaknesses. By knowing our strengths and weaknesses, we can then evaluate further the areas of our ability that we can develop more and the strengths being a footprint on the path where our career should lead into. I found out earlier in my college years where my career was heading but didn't fully realize or understand until years later where my true passion was. It took years of taking several courses before I developed a level of commitment into few subjects in business. I later found out that business is where I want to be and I would have not known that without taking several subjects. I started out in computer science and learned later on that my interest is in between that and of business, so I learned that my career will be based in the field of MIS (management information systems) and it should evolve around it.

In conclusion, while classroom education is important, the profound knowledge that can be developed in the real world environment cannot be replaced and vice-versa. I commend students who goes through college and work at the same time since this requires a higher degree of dedication instead of just attending to college. Balancing the time between both (school and work) can be tough and the effort of struggling and juggling will pay off in the end regardless of any circumstances. The fulfillment is not only achieved in paper but also go beyond as a personal achievement.

Live life to the fullest!
- Dennis