Connecting the Dots with Steve Jobs

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” — Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs gave a very profound speech to Stanford University’s graduating class of 2005. Despite his enormous professional success as an entrepreneur and visionary, Jobs faced much adversity during his early adult life and spent years pondering over what he wanted to do with his future. From birth, it was ingrained into his person that he one day needed to earn himself a college degree. In fact, his biological mother put him up for adoption in order for him to do so. However, when it came time for Jobs to finally enroll and attend a university, he felt utterly lost.

Jobs’ college career was a prophecy chosen for him that he did not see the value in for himself. His mind was telling him it was the right thing to do but his heart was telling him a completely different story. Jobs sided with his intuition and dropped out of college his Freshman year. However, he decided to stick around just a little bit longer to drop in on some of the classes that seemed potentially interesting to him. While sleeping on friends’ couches, and eating microwavable noodles, Jobs lent his free time to his curiosities. In doing so, he decided to take a crack at a calligraphy class which taught him the beauty and refinement of typeface design.

Jobs was enamored and soaked in all the fundamentals of design he could get from his time spent in the class. Little did he know, just a few years later this information would become vital in helping him develop the first Macintosh computer. When it came time to design the look, feel and typography associated with the Mac, Jobs reflected on his acquired knowledge which resulted in groundbreaking developments. Jobs was able to connect the dots.

Overall, Steve Jobs is an excellent example of someone who could learn from everywhere, all the time, and essentially, this is what he was imploring the graduating class to do during his commencement speech. Everything you learn is a dot that will eventually be connected. Why? It is because everything we experience and the information we obtain will eventually be of use. We just do not know it yet, but we will understand when we connect the dots looking backwards someday. Therefore, there is never any harm in being curious.

At the same time, we do not know what the future holds, so our best bet is to always trust our instinct and intuition. Sometimes this means making tough choices or making life a little bit more difficult. But it is often worth it in order to learn something new, gain some experience or change our perspectives.

Connecting My Own Dots

When finding parallels between my own story and Jobs’, I can see how my intuition and curiosity has brought me to where I am today. I started my college career at a university that I quickly learned was not the place for me. It was not my home and I felt unsettled over the fact that this was a school I had chosen for myself. Like Jobs, my mind was telling me that I needed to live with my decision and push through, while my heart was telling me I should leave. When I finally came to terms with the fact that I was unhappy, I felt free and became more curious about what other options were out there for myself.

Eventually, I came across the Interactive Multimedia (IMM) program at The College of New Jersey. At this point, I was already starting to connect the dots. I had always had an interest in art and graphic design and had an already established background in animation, a track that appeared to be highly prevalent within the IMM department. It was a program that seemed perfect for me, melding a wide array of my personal interests into one major where I could pick and choose which direct career path was the most fulfilling. Looking back, if I did not struggle to find my footing at my original university, I would have never stumbled upon the IMM program at TCNJ. Now, I am able to use the knowledge I have acquired from my past, and the learning experiences and interests I have developed at TCNJ to drive the innovation needed for my senior thesis project.