Confront What's Obvious
An unexpected outcome of listening to every Conversations With Tyler episode? Getting lots of advice on how to advise students from top-notch profs like Esther Duflo:
COWEN: Yeah. What advice do you give to your talented undergraduates that differs from the advice your colleagues would give them?
DUFLO: I give almost all of them the advice to take some time off, in particular if they have any interest in development, which is generally the reason why they come to see me in the first place. But even if they don’t really, to spend a year or two in a developing country, working on a project. Not necessarily inner city. Any project spending time in the field.
This is what Michael Kremer did before he went back to graduate school, and I think that was a determinant to him. This, to some extent, is what I did with my little Russia experience. And this was clearly very central to me.
It’s only through this exposure that you can learn how wrong most of your intuitions are and preconceptions are. I can tell it to them till they are blue in the face to not let themselves be guided by what seems obvious to them. But until they’ve confronted what they think is obvious to something entirely different, then it’s not clear.
Whether or not this is different from what my colleagues would say, I don’t know. Maybe some of my colleague would say that you’re better off staying home and cranking some data and getting these types of skills.
I took a gap year after college to live near Washington, D.C., with a group of guys who I never met before. Most of the time we were traveling around the country, and the world, meeting people for lunch and coffee. We did some studying and service along the way too. Many of my assumptions were challenged during this time. I learned so much about myself and the world that college, while an amazing experience, hadn’t taught me.
Worth noting, I left college, thinking I would never become a graphic designer. Instead, I wanted to run an NGO or become an elected official. My thought was that a graphic designer couldn’t change the world (and I was going to change the world). During that gap year, design opportunities came up. Often, they were of service toward a cause that needed the help of design and communications. Eventually, I met Paul Rustand, who was running a design shop in Chattanooga. The work he was doing was contributing to the urban revival happening in the city. He showed me that design could change the world, even if it were a little section of the world.
After the internship, I went to work for Paul. That was over 10 years ago in 2008. I've been a graphic designer (in some capacity) ever since. Once again, I'm questioning whether or not it's the career for me. Perhaps, I should take another gap year?