Since it’s unlikely that anybody is going to tell you this, we thought we would: one of the best things that university will teach you is how to be resourceful. That’s right — they will tell you that it’s your classes that are the most important teachings. We tell you that it’s what you learn for yourself when you’re trying what they teach you. Learning how to navigate in a new environment, learning how to make friends quickly, learning how to do research, learning how to write an exam when you’re hung-over… All of these are excellent examples of resourcefulness, also known as ingenuity, imagination, inventiveness, originality, creativity, wits. This is one skill that will see you through all phases of your life no matter where it takes you. Just imagine these careers if resourcefulness was not a key skill to the person involved:

1. Confucius: philosopher and really deep thinker who blended originality into a host of fab phrases that have lasted around 2500 years.
2. Sir Isaac Newton: finally, a guy who knows that the apple never falls far from the tree and is able to prove it without spearing any one of his subjects in the eye.
3. Ben Franklin: “Hmm, I’ve got a kite and a key and there’s a storm a-brewing. What wonders can I discover with this combination?” Something pretty amazing Ben, thanks…
4. Houdini: this guy could climb his way out of a sealed barrel tumbling over Niagara Falls. We don’t know how he did it, but he did. Now that is ingenuity at its best.
5. The Wright Brothers: these guys learned how to fly! Everyone told them it couldn’t be done. How did they do it? That’s right: resourcefulness
6. MacGyver: this action adventure hero was a troubleshooter who could wrangle himself out of any danger with only a roll of duct tape. Now that’s inventiveness at its finest.
7. Britney Spears: how does a woman with no talent become a mega-star? Okay, so she’s not the first. Plus there may be some things that she did that we can’t print here. But without talent, one needs imagination and wits to rise to the top of the white trash heap.

Whoever you fall in line with on this list is up to you. Just know that you are — right now — in the most fertile soil for learning how to develop your resourcefulness. Be aware of it, dig into it and develop your ingenuity, imagination, inventiveness, originality, creativity and wits here and now.