Imagine waking up every day to learn: what you want to learn, what you chose to learn.

That’s the opportunity you have in college. And it’s a beautiful opportunity that a lot of college kids forget about.

High school, college admissions, college itself. All these places are competitive. And if you are interested in Empowerly, chances are you are a competitive person. But sometimes competing or even winning often brings you farther and not closer to what’s most ideal for you.

 Don’t study because you want a ‘competitive gpa’. Study because you want that which a completive gpa represents—strong knowledge. Receiving a high gpa is just an ancillary benefit to the primary goal of being well educated.

You will realize life becomes more fulfilling when you start doing things because you want to be smart and not because you want people to think you are smart.

That being said, study and learn the things that you believe will enhance your life and make you a more informed and engaged person.

For instance, I wish I would I have taken a Computer Science class. But I was concerned about my GPA and did not want to risk a low grade for my grad school applications. But now years later I find myself wishing I understood more of what makes up the world around me—but wasn’t that the point of college.

So study as many interesting things as you can in college. Your goals should be more that landing a place in a top graduate school or at a rich company. The goal is to be educated, informed and engaged in the world around you. Because the top graduate programs and the rich companies appreciate succinct values in the same way they appreciate competitiveness.