One of the main points of Jobs speech is that he dropped out of college, and in doing so he learned what he wanted to do in life. He randomly went to a typing class and realized he loved typography, so much that he included it in their computer designs. This shows that you can find fulfillment anywhere, you don’t have to go to college to do great things. You don’t have to follow the expected life track, and while I am going to finish college, I don’t have to go into the career I thought I would.
He also makes the point that you can only connect the dots of your life in the future looking back. For him, he got fired from Apple, which pushed him to create new companies. One company he started was Pixar, one of the most successful animated movie companies. Another was called Next, and ended up being bought by Apple, so he was back with his original company. There is no way he could have predicted such a series of events. Every thing I’ve done is a dot, even small things like people I’ve met may come back in a huge way in the future. I don’t plan on working in theater, but I have been working in carpentry for the TCNJ musical, so maybe someday I’d work on Broadway, there is no way to know until it happens.
His biggest piece of advice is to find something you love and not settle. He had a run in with cancer and realized just how little time we have on this world. It’s not worth it to work in a job you hate, or in an unfulfilling career. I need to follow my gut and do something I love. I need to remember that I can change career and I don’t have to go into any one job. It’s best to not waste the time we have when we could be doing something better.
Ciomara