Parents are always a plethora of knowledge. If you think about it, they know us better than we do.

However I recently had a conversation with my mother I found to be inaccurate, to which I called her out.

I grew up in small town, rural USA and graduated high school with a class of a mere 82 people. I made good grades, played first base on our varsity softball team and was a member of almost every club and organization offered. And to be completely honest, nothing is accomplished in those organizations.

Goals are set, plans are laid out and still not one single objective is met. So when I went to college I found out I had been a big fish in a small pond. College classes were difficult and finding friends did not come as easily as planned.

I spent my freshman and sophomore years shacked up in my dorm room studying and making good grades to appease my parents when in hindsight I can tell it was my biggest mistake.

Before my dad passed away the best piece of advice he gave me was to never allow classes to get in the way of my education. But isn’t going to class the main objective of getting an education? Professors teach you everything, right?

Wrong.

As I got involved with The Flor-Ala I realized while professors can set good foundations for learning, nothing compares with real-world experiences. In my journalism classes we are taught how to find sources, what questions are the best to ask and how to formulate articles from gathered information. After my first “real” interview, I knew the thousands of multiple choice questions and fill-in-the-blank answers I jotted down was no match for the actual situations.

Aside from my dad, my mom believes grades are an accurate representation of lessons learned. Yes, mom. There is some truth to that. But I can say with 100 percent certainty that I have learned more from my trial-and-error journalism at The Flor-Ala than in any of my communication classes.

With that being said, take your nose out of a book, converse with an actual human being outside of technology, join a group that pertains to you and your newly-found friend’s career choice and get involved to better yourself as a professional.

Let your grades dip and your social life exhilarate because not only do involvement and accomplishments look better to an employer, a degree is simply just a piece of paper.