Looking back after 8 months
For those of you who make not know me, my name is Josh Gentry. I was a graduate assistant for the Center last year, and worked with Dr. Kovac.
I've been thinking lately about the journey I've made since graduation last July. In this short time I have realized many things that were not completely clear to me while I was a candidate in the program.
I might blog on some of those topics later on, but for now I'll leave it to one of the most important. While I was a student at the Center, I had a hard time letting the whole thing sink in. The values, the professionalism, the curriculum, etc. I had spoken to numerous alums about their reflections on CICS from their career perspective when I was a student. I heard the same answer over and over again. "You'll appreciate some things more after you graduate." Now I am seeing this phenomenon from their perspective and I totally agree. It can be difficult to see the benefits of things you learn at the Center. But when you enter a career and notice the differences between you and your new graduate peers you will understand.
In the 7-8 months that I've been working I've noticed a dramatic difference between my professionalism and that of my peers. I've found that the work ethic instilled in me from the laborious projects and studying from 601, 602, 620, 642, 691, from being Kovac's GA, etc is greatly different from my peers.
I could go on for some time on the things that CICS has done for me in my short time in the career world, but I am of the opinion that blogs are supposed to be short and sweet. So to sum it up... you might not appreciate what you are going through now, but you will later.