Keeping yourself on track

Nearly two decades have passed since I graduated from UC San Diego, fees were about $600 a quarter and yes the budget situation was the same. The university declared it needed to continue to raise fees and students protested. My time at the university were some of the best years of my life.

We studied hard, and as athletes loved the thrill of competition. Knowing we had our entire lives ahead of us, at graduation we threw our hats in the air as a signal to the world that our dreams were about to transform into fabulous realities.

I recently read in a newspaper that the economy we are experiencing today is the worst since 1993, the year I graduated.

At the time of graduation, I was one person looking for one job. I did not have a sense of the larger picture, but could not understand why jobs were so scarce. Looking back, I admit the only reason I succeeded was that I was too stupid to know that I could not. Determined to realize my dreams, I packed my bags and moved out of the states for a chance at setting a course for myself that would prove to be a powerful and lucrative path. I named my price, chose my contracts, and stepped into a business world unlike anything I could have imagined. It was a bold move. By letting go of the proverbial net and jumping into a space that I could define who I was, proved to show me the freedom that I desired.

As graduation nears, students once again prepare to move into the next phase of life. The one piece of advice that I might offer is to define what you want and find a mentor to mirror to insure success.

In this economy it is easy to find oneself pushed off course, yet just as a plane flying across the sky or a sailboat across the ocean, one must constantly reconfirm the course, correct direction, and have faith in the outcome. The great news is that you are not alone; many have treaded the path before you. By selecting a mentor and mirroring their success, you can be sure that your dreams can be realized too.