what i learned in college

my four years of learnings, condensed.

I visited USC briefly last weekend to catch up with a friend before she left for Vietnam to teach English. It had been 7 months since I was last in LA, and it welcomed me beautifully—with the sun against the bright blue skies against the snow-capped mountains, and downtown in the distance.

But college wasn’t always bright and sunny. In fact, it was probably the most difficult four years of my life, as I wrote about here. If I could describe college through multi-sensory ideas, it felt like my heart and mind were being crushed, pulled, stretched, and remixed simultaneously. Fundamentally, it challenged my sense of self, my place in the world, and what I truly stood for—things I thought I figured out by the end of high school. But now I feel like I have conviction over what I hold to be true.

I wanted to write a brief summary of what I learned in college, sprinkled in with some college life hacks that maybe some USC students (or beyond) could use. If any of this resonates with you, feel free to shoot me a letter at hello@kevinzlu.com or at my socials.

1. Happiness isn’t real if it isn’t shared.

Please don’t gatekeep. Although one might think you’re helping yourself, you’re actually harboring deep-rooted emotions and insecurities within you. I say this knowing that USC was intensely competitive—there were always talks about where people would be one summer, and the next summer, and the next, and so on. Although I believe that competitiveness is great for growth, it can also stifle the one thing we need: community.

Cultivating happiness is a gift that needs to be given to those around you. Whether that be acts of appreciation or kindness, or if that means just reaching out to another person to see if they are really okay, it takes active work to share. Give to the world, and I promise, somehow, it will give back to you.

2. Your reputation is, in fact, a reflection of you.

This is a tough one. I don’t believe that one should bother with rumors or how others perceive each other, because who really cares. But, reputation is an alignment of various data points that can illuminate a certain aspect of yourself. A bad reputation, in hindsight, pins a red flag on your back, and points your moral compass south.

I’ve seen how a bad reputation shuts doors. If I hear through multiple sources a similar experience, positive or negative, I myself will choose to make a simple assumption trusting what I heard through the grapevine. People trust reputation because it’s a shortcut toward facilitating trust and friendship. Be sure to maintain it, because it takes years to build and seconds to destroy.

3. Study what fills your soul and learn from the best.

More specifically, make your academic experience centered around taking incredible classes with inspirational professors. I was so privileged to have taken classes across journalism, design, history, literature, film, and policy, and it all gave me so much color on how I viewed the world. But I was critical of who taught the course because I knew that a bad professor would make me dislike the topic without giving it a fair shot. I view them as my guides into worlds unknown, and like any guide, I want to make sure they’re a good one who can make me fall in love with anything they choose to lecture about.

For those who are actively applying to internships and jobs, I’ve seen so many students take on multiple degree objectives to bow down to employers and job prospects, just to find them siloed into taking classes that make them miserable (*cough cough, me freshman year).

Truth is, even if you’re actively looking for roles, choose the program that makes you the happiest because you can actually rebrand it to give you a competitive edge. In fact, I thoroughly believe that liberal arts students can be some of the best analysts, storytellers, and technologists, because they understand the human condition so well. And if I could go back and rewire my studies, I would’ve chosen anthropology, environmental studies, or media arts, all of which would still set me on the path toward pursuing social entrepreneurship and design strategy.

Also, at the end of the day, your major or minor doesn’t really matter. Your experiences do.¹

4. Advocate for the underdog, which, can include yourself.

Attending a private university made me realize that education in America is an uneven playing field. The stories I’ve heard about people’s upbringings at USC ranged across the socioeconomic spectrum, giving color to the array of talent in our world.

Even though talent is universal, opportunity is not. I didn’t even know about social entrepreneurship until I had to write about a potential career path in my college apps. This is why I was shocked coming into university at just how impressive everybody was—some had already founded multi-million dollar enterprises! Admittedly, this created horrendous imposter syndrome, but I’m still learning to fight it by reminding myself of two things: First, my path is on a completely different timeline, and I should move at the pace I know fits my capabilities. Second, I should take advantage of all resources currently present to supercharge my growth, and make sure that this growth is exponential.

This is why I love to recognize potential that can translate into a long-term impact down the line. It’s not necessarily about what you have done in the past, but more so your attitude and drive to learn and absorb from the best, who are hungry to change the world. These are the people who I admire the most.

5. Release judgment.

Some people don’t deserve to know your full story. Likewise, sometimes you don’t deserve to know theirs. Judgment is a powerful enforcer because it means you are creating an exaggerated self-constructed truth about another person or event. I’ve learned to listen to a story with a grain of salt, ranging from the ones in media to the ones through word of mouth. If you don’t know the full story, there’s no use in trying to construct a narrative. It’s better that you hear from the source itself.²

6. Your story matters. A lot.

I write because I know I matter, because I want to change the world someday, and because I hope to inspire others. This conviction is what personally drives me, and I’ve seen that if I can empower others to feel the same, the impact will be massive.

7. Let the river carry you.

This is what I say when I get stressed out about the millions of different paths I could take. I came into university with a pre-determined path about what I wanted to do, only to have it deconstructed and pieced back together hundreds of times.

College will give you moments that will open your eyes to all of the insane paths you could take. Designer, filmmaker, entrepreneur, activist, politician, you name it—it gets overwhelming. But I’ve learned to drop the search for titles and instead search for the work that makes me feel aligned with the world I want to see. This is why I say to let the river carry you: As you’re floating down it, you’ll be presented with turning points and different paths, and you’ll have to make a choice. Choose one and enjoy the view it will give you, and don’t look back.

8. Be your best friend, and take yourself on dates.

I found the university bubble to be obsessed with relationships and dating, but I learned that solace in your own self is incredibly empowering. Naturally, you’ll spend time eating alone in food halls and on-campus cafes, but it’s in those moments that you can learn to get comfortable with yourself.

I challenge you to take yourself on solo dates or trips. Although life is beautiful when you share happiness as I mentioned above, you should learn to be in full control of your happiness at every step of the way. Solo trips allow you to build a new kind of resiliency—an exploration of internal dialogue, thoughts, and musings that question truly who you are. This is a new kind of love that many don’t always explore, but it’s a love that I’ve embracingly learned to build over time.

9. It shouldn’t take your accomplishments for someone to value you.

This is probably the biggest critique I have of university life, but it made me realize how I needed to remain grounded and embrace humility. I noticed coming into USC how I could be brushed aside or ignored if I didn’t provide “value” to somebody’s ulterior motives (ex. career opportunity, persona building, introductions, etc.). It wasn’t until I started to take on more leadership positions at USC that people were willing to have conversations with me, whether that be to get advice or to learn about what I was working on.

Now, I completely understand that influence comes from experience, naturally attracting relationships centered around professional pursuits. But what bothered me was that, fundamentally, my values hadn’t changed. It was only when I was able to prove my worth that I was welcomed into new circles. But I wish it wasn’t always like that.

I trust that those who choose to be in my life are here because I’m simply a good friend and person. That’s what I hope the essence of who I am boils down to. And I plan on being the same way and treating everybody around me like they are truly worth my time, regardless of one’s accomplishments.

10. Go see the world. It’s waiting for you.

Yes, I’m basically telling you to go study abroad. But I’ve talked with so many industry professionals, and the biggest regret they always mention is that they didn’t study abroad. You only get one chance. If you’re terrified, good. It’ll help you grow in ways that you’ll never have imagined. And if you’re struggling with finances, please feel free to message me so I can connect you with scholarship opportunities or ways to travel on a budget. I promise you, it’s so, so worth it.

I hope this can be helpful to anyone at USC, in university, or way beyond the scope of intention. I’m very excited for what’s to come.

Warmly,

KLU

A special thanks to Amartya and Flora for helping me flesh out my thoughts here.

1. I understand that law, medical, and graduate schools have prerequisites to fulfill, so be sure to always prioritize those first if you are going down that route. 🙂

2. A story, in my opinion, is different from a reputation in that a story is a singular instance, whereas a reputation is centered on numerous instances and data points.