As a college student myself, this inquiry couldn't be closer to heart. Contrary to popular opinion, the greatest gift of higher education is not "higher" knowledge, but two sets of skills: interpersonal and intrapersonal ability.

If I may backtrack a little here; while I was still the newly minted freshmen 18-year-old; it's hard to describe the feeling: a little scared yet truly and foolishly believing that finally I had become the master of my own fate. You wouldn't need me to tell you how wrong I was. It's funny, because those rules or "principles of life" so clearly defined in high-school was still there in college only invisible. And that was my first lesson.

My freshmen year was shaky to say the least, besides the kiss-of-death of procrastination most students contact at some point, I also had to face the decision of changing my major of study. It was difficult and I moped; but in the end the pain of resisting change became greater than the fear of embracing it, so I leaped - lesson number two.

The story doesn't end there however, because just because you want it doesn't mean it'll come (easy) your way. The professors taught differently, the classmates had their own unique culture going on, and I felt left out. It was then that college opened my eyes; it was then that I slowly but surely found the courage and patience to speak with persons that had radically contrasting ideas then my own. It was also then, that I begun to appreciate the full range of skills, experiences and achievements that the faces among the classroom crowd possess. All of a sudden I was living in color, and I learned lesson three: it's not all about me.

Yet with all blessings given I'd been ungrateful; but college just kept on giving even if the gift was a good smack across face, to open the mind but more so the heart. That was exactly what happened the day I discovered that the best professors bring a coffee and a bottle of water to lecture - one to ignite the spirit (of teaching), the other to calm a throbbing sore throat. It was what I'd come to understand the day I learned some students have to juggle college life with full-time jobs, language barriers, and learning disabilities. It was that day I received lesson number four: how to say prayers with just two words - thank you.

Last but not least, college taught me about acceptance. About accepting my defeats, my mistakes and my shortcoming with honor. To forgive those in others as well with grace. In essence college is the training ground of life, and when its gates close behind you; you may walk away with a degree of not just your major, but a degree of LIFE itself.

Learn more about this author, Bonita Du.
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