Gen Y Gives Thanks: Both formal and informal education

 A lot of Gen Y'ers may have formal educations, but still
realize a lot of learning happens outside of the classroom.
(Photo: Photoxpress.com)

Generation Y is widely known as the most educated generation, but they know everything they are learning isn’t just coming from books.

Tyler Durbin, 23, marketing consultant in Columbus, Ohio, is very grateful for the formal education he received, he just graduated from college in May, but realizes he has learned a lot outside of the classroom to prepare him for his career.

“Without my family, my friends, the faculty and alumni of Miami University, I would not be so fortunate as to graduate from the highly respected Farmer School of Business at Miami University, a wonderful institution, with so many great memories and experiences. One of these experiences was participating in a study abroad program in Cambodia. The program also took me to Vietnam where I was able to make friends with students whom I still communicate with and learn from daily. It was a truly unique experience.

I thought graduating without a job would be a curse, but it turned out to be a blessing. Throughout the summer I was able to travel to the beautiful cities of Tampa, Colorado Springs and Chicago and learn new about different cities, people, businesses and travel.  I am now working on a wonderful team of sales and marketing professionals--a true blessing.”

Rich DeMatteo, a 26 year-old in Philadelphia, Pa., gearing up to start a new job as Director of Operations and Business Development at MyPartTimePro.com, identifies how important it was to receive his formal education and obtain his master’s degree.

“I'm proud to say I've received education through graduate school (I will obtain an HR master’s degree from Villanova University in December). Teachers from every educational level have influenced me in more ways than I could ever fathom. They've influenced my interpersonal skills, my self confidence and how I react to and solve problems. So, thank you to the many brilliant teachers, professors and educational mentors I've encountered in life.”

DeMatteo also is thankful for the things he learned because of experiences his parents ensured he had while growing up, experiences he plans to give his children some day.

“My family built an environment focused on love and commitment. The love my family shared opened me up to love others I would meet in life. I'm told I'm easy to like, lovable, and friendly and I really do believe it's partly because of the love I received growing up. My parents were committed to providing my siblings and I opportunities to take part in any extracurricular activity we desired. My brother and I played almost every sport there is, with practices starting at 5 in the morning at a practice facility over an hour away. We also played on traveling competitive teams that played games two or three states away from our own. My sister competed nationally in cheerleading and also was a wonderful violinist. We kept our parents busy, but they loved every second of it. Looking back, I see how large of a commitment and sacrifice it really was for them and I’m so grateful.”

Gen Y’ers believe in the concept of life-long learning and look for ways to learn in basic, everyday life. Durbin says he learns from challenges and is grateful for them because he now knows without challenges opportunities would be scarce. DeMatteo said has learned experiencing negative emotions such as sorrow, anger and fear teaches him to truly appreciate the amazing moments in life and bask in joy, excitement and love.

Durbin and DeMatteo are Gen Y’ers with formal educations, but plan to never stop learning. Read more about what they’ve learning on their blogs: Durbin’s The Path of an Emerging Leader and DeMatteo’s Corn on the Job, a job search/career advice blog.
 

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