Take advantage of your student status

Many times I find myself asking, "Just how much can I get away with in this situation?"

Yes, I am actually considering going into law; imagine getting paid to try and get away with as much as possible by convincing people that you're right. I've been doing that pro bono for years.

But really, it's a natural question. It may in fact be the very first introspective question we ask, and I see nothing derogatory about it.

We have just been given business mentors in UCF's Progress Energy Leadership Institute program.

You all just must run out and get yourselves one! They're indispensable!

They are men and women that have been very successful in their respective fields. It seems sophisticated, and it's so old school that it seems almost romantic.

It also helps us get a better feel for what we're actually getting ourselves into.

Facing the real world without real guidance is something similar to reading The Art of War and then getting dropped out of a helicopter with an M-16 strapped to your back.

But let's face it, the chances of them volunteering as a pure form of goodwill are quite slim. Someone somewhere, most likely their boss, has told them that they are mentoring a student.

Acquiring a mentor is one thing that most likely only a student can do, unless mommy and daddy have a family friend who wants to do them a favor.

Once you've landed a job, you could get a mentor within the company, but not before.

They aren't going to benefit from mentoring a college graduate who can't manage to find work.

They're successful, and while successful people sometimes love the underdog, they don't particularly like the stray with rabies.

Yes, I am aware that by writing this I will quite possibly end up a figurative stray with rabies.

I am at this moment knocking on wood.

I find it amazing just how much power the word "student" holds and just how much a student can get away with using the title that's normally thought of as bottom-rung.

It is astounding.

And I'm not just talking about every fifth haircut free at the Aveda Institute if you're a student.

I'm talking about opening as many doors, using it for the small window in your life that it can legitimately be used.

Once the diploma is handed to you, all the unopened doors may lock, and you could be left holding your diploma in one hand but needing a crowbar in the other.

A good start would be finding a mentor.

Please do so.

I risked losing all possible partial credit on tests for the remainder of the semester by sharing this little discovery and publicly proclaiming how I try and get away with as much as possible.

Next time you're at a job fair  — May 13 in the UCF Arena — take advantage of your innocent, inexperienced, student title.

Ask a recruiter if they wouldn't mind meeting you for a cup of coffee to give you some insight as to what it's like working in your planned career.

Don't mention wanting to hear about their company; they may not even have any jobs to offer at the moment.

With the market as it is, there's the possibility that they are only there to save face for the company — as they are surrounded by competitors.

If kept simple, I bet they will have a very hard time saying no to your request.

But when they accept, just try to contain your excitement.