If you walk into any beginner level graduate course, you’re likely to find several things. First, you will undoubtedly pick up on the fear. There is a certain level of anxiety that accompanies nearly all major shifts through life but the fear you find in newbie graduate students is unique. You’ll most likely never hear it vocalized explicitly but it will be evident via the tension in the room. It presents itself differently to each student but ultimately it all comes down to the same question “what did I get myself into?” Aside from the fear, you’ll probably notice the overwhelming amount of ambition in the room. At first glance, it’s intimidating, each student with some aspiration, each more unrealistic than the last. But as you progress, it becomes charming, almost inspiring. You notice that each of these individuals hope to change the world in some way… and then classes start.
When
students begin their program, eager to become masters of their art, they each
have some interest, some idea or concept that has motivated them to pursue this
degree. In our program, it’s typically anything from leadership, training, or
teams or in our degree’s case perhaps it is just the fascination for the human
mind coupled with the practical desire to make a living. However, as the
students move through the various stages of the program, taking the required
course load each semester something interesting, and most likely intentional,
occurs. These interests change. This may seem like an obvious happening but
keep in mind that these interests were what drove these people to commit two or
more years of their lives to this program. What is really happening is that the
professors of the courses are enlightening the young minds as to what “training”
or “leadership” really is. And more importantly, what a career in those topics
will look like. From this, you get a sort of refinement process where the
students are continuously narrowing down their lists of interests to, at times,
what is the least painful project I worked on.
With
all that said, at the end of the day, you get a very different person than the
one that started the program. What you ultimately find, in most cases, is an
analyst of some sort. You get an individual who has been through hell and back,
beaten the dead horse to death, and has learned more than they ever really
wanted to. Those who have endured this trial will come out of the other side
with a view on life that is altered to forever be viewed through a particular
lens. In our case, upon graduation, we will never look at statistics on
medicine commercials the same, we will never be able to observe a group
interact without thinking of Asch and Zajonc, and most importantly, we will never
set foot in an organization again without leaving it a better place than when
we started.
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| Kyle at the 2014 Society for Consulting Psychology Mid-Winter conference in San Antonio. |
