Go to college, study hard, get a degree, find a job. Such have been the words of wisdom handed down generation to generation about how to make the most of your time as an undergraduate.

More and more, however, students are placing emphasis during college on life experiences and non-academic opportunities outside the traditional scope of class and teacher. Attending the University of Wisconsin is no longer considered just a utilitarian method by which to advance oneself in the workplace later on. Nowadays, it is often considered an experience in and of itself to foster self-discovery and sample a wide array of subjects and opportunities.

Many even argue that those students who pour themselves into just their classes — in hopes a high GPA will garner them a top job come graduation – are missing out on real world lessons that will eventually prove the real key to success.

“In college, you are so many times told you are special,” said recent UW graduate Kevin Roth. “[Y]ou don’t realize until later that you have skills that so many other people have, and you need to set yourself apart.”

Roth pointed to his experience studying abroad in Germany as well as his involvement in organizations on campus as some of the activities he took advantage of to supplement his class work.

According to many students, by utilizing the many opportunities outside the classroom, young people can learn much more than they could by devoting their time solely to coursework.

“There are some people that go to class and don’t even pick up a campus paper and then go home,” UW senior Eileen Lalor said. “They are so disconnected from the campus community and therefore missing out on what it can teach them.”

Lalor, who spends most of her free time working in the campus sexual assault awareness organization PAVE, said students all too often get caught up in thinking the “ivory tower of academia” will eventually turn them into qualified job candidates. She thinks classes can prove useful in teaching students how to think, but it is those life experiences where theory meets reality that really count in the end.

“I think the purpose of academics is to give you a framework with which to view the world,” she said. “[But] unless you have the opportunity to put those theories into practice, you are missing out.”

More than ever, academics alone just doesn’t cut it for students. Instead, undergraduates are determined to make college a valuable life experience rather than just a ticket into the working world.

“I always ask myself what is going to count more in the long run: the ‘A’ I got in a class or the friend I made who can support me down the road?” said UW senior Erin McKenna, adding life experiences and connections she made during college are more valuable to her than the letters on a transcript she earned.

In fact, academics can often prove to be the least difficult component of a college “education.” Frequently, it is adjusting to the transition from childhood to adulthood that teaches students the tougher — and more valuable — life lessons.

After taking a year to study abroad in Mexico and Cuba, McKenna said it was the challenge of living on her own, and often completely out of her element, that was the most difficult part of her four years at UW. But she said since a college degree is rapidly becoming the status quo for so many young people, it is those more unusual and difficult experiences that are increasingly valuable, both to her and to potential employers.

“College isn’t the wondrous opportunity it used to be,” she said. “You have to supplement it with all these other things.”

Nevertheless, McKenna has still poured herself into the academic opportunities afforded by UW, triple majoring in political science, Spanish, and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies. She admits her broad academic credentials could help in getting a job later on.

But at the end of the day, McKenna thinks it is the indispensable life experiences during college, which both sharpened her interests and developed her goals, that will eventually lead to a rosy future.

“It’s more my passion for things that will lend me to get certain jobs, rather than the majors on paper that make me look good,” McKenna said.