Some of the hardest lessons I ever learned at University were that a) no, I’m not perfect, and b) even Super Woman couldn’t get all this reading done on time.
You have to pick and choose what’s more important. Look at your course outlines and figure out how the prof handles the exams. What is the layout? How much is each question worth? A perfect example of what I am talking about is my Ancient History course. You want to try reading 50-100 pages of ancient texts for Monday’s class, then 40 more for Thursday’s class? Of course not.
My prof set the exam up so that we had to identify 3 historical readings out of 5. For each, we had to give the name of the author, the historical context, and the importance of the passage. I got away without doing the readings because I knew that the midterm would be OK with only Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch. Now Plutarch only wrote bibliographies, so that was easy. Herodotus wrote everything up to the end of the Persian War, and Thucydides wrote about the Peloponnesian War. Each author only wrote about one topic. Knowing only this, it would be easy in the exam to identify the passage. I was able to pass up on reading hundreds of pages of reading that I had no time for.
Seriously, take a good look through your course outlines, figure out how the exams are done, and see if there are shortcuts. For most of your courses you won’t be able to do this, but if you can, I highly suggest it.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Stickies Saved My Life
You see that title? Yeah, I’m not joking; they really did.
I’m one of those people that requires lists to stay organized. No matter what, if I don’t have them, at the end of the day I’ll feel as if I’ve forgotten something. Did I get that history reading done? Did I remember to email my prof about that assignment? Did I go through all those books, or just look at the one? My mind would be plagued with doubts, I wouldn’t be able to sleep properly -- and if you learn anything at University, it’ll be that without a good night’s sleep every now and then, you can’t function.
My advice? If you need to remember something, use a sticky note and put it where you can’t not run into it. I always stuck them to my laptop or on my mirror. For me at least, electronic lists or electronic stickies don't work, because they wouldn't be insistent enough. You can’t hide from the persuasive power of florescent pink, yellow or green notes wherever you turn. Do it, it’ll help. Especially when a due date is fast approaching. Trust me.
I’m one of those people that requires lists to stay organized. No matter what, if I don’t have them, at the end of the day I’ll feel as if I’ve forgotten something. Did I get that history reading done? Did I remember to email my prof about that assignment? Did I go through all those books, or just look at the one? My mind would be plagued with doubts, I wouldn’t be able to sleep properly -- and if you learn anything at University, it’ll be that without a good night’s sleep every now and then, you can’t function.
My advice? If you need to remember something, use a sticky note and put it where you can’t not run into it. I always stuck them to my laptop or on my mirror. For me at least, electronic lists or electronic stickies don't work, because they wouldn't be insistent enough. You can’t hide from the persuasive power of florescent pink, yellow or green notes wherever you turn. Do it, it’ll help. Especially when a due date is fast approaching. Trust me.
Boys will be Boys; Respect Yourself
University is full of surprises. When I came to school, I had this deluded idea of finding Mr. Right. Everyone seems to leave University at the end of their four years with a partner and I figured I would meet mine during my first year. Wrong. Boys in first year only want sex. They just want to get your pants off. At least the ones I met anyway. They were usually blatant about the fact that they just wanted to fool around.
Is it my fault I thought I could change his mind? That I stuck around long enough to get hurt? Yeah, it is. If someone is honest enough to tell you the truth, take it at face value and be friends. Unless all you want is to fool around – in that case, all the power to you.
The first boy I didn’t believe. I figured that he would be won over by my sheer awesomeness and fall for me. He didn’t, and I held out. In the end, holding out was all that mattered, but I did continue to go out with him. I was right about him though; he ended up moving on to another girl in a few weeks. He probably did get to sleep with her pretty quickly.
Now the second boy, I had actually grown to really like over the course of the year. But he was another one of those dastardly boys who didn’t want to be tied down. I didn’t tie him down and I didn’t sleep with him. He remained intensely frustrated with me until I left for summer break. I’m over him now. He’s probably moved on to someone more willing to get naked for him.
Seriously, if he can’t like you for more than what’s in your pants, then move on and find someone who respects you and values you. I guess there's nothing wrong with it if you sleep with someone who wants nothing else from you and then can still look at yourself in the mirror the next morning. But I couldn't.
Is it my fault I thought I could change his mind? That I stuck around long enough to get hurt? Yeah, it is. If someone is honest enough to tell you the truth, take it at face value and be friends. Unless all you want is to fool around – in that case, all the power to you.
The first boy I didn’t believe. I figured that he would be won over by my sheer awesomeness and fall for me. He didn’t, and I held out. In the end, holding out was all that mattered, but I did continue to go out with him. I was right about him though; he ended up moving on to another girl in a few weeks. He probably did get to sleep with her pretty quickly.
Now the second boy, I had actually grown to really like over the course of the year. But he was another one of those dastardly boys who didn’t want to be tied down. I didn’t tie him down and I didn’t sleep with him. He remained intensely frustrated with me until I left for summer break. I’m over him now. He’s probably moved on to someone more willing to get naked for him.
Seriously, if he can’t like you for more than what’s in your pants, then move on and find someone who respects you and values you. I guess there's nothing wrong with it if you sleep with someone who wants nothing else from you and then can still look at yourself in the mirror the next morning. But I couldn't.
University will Change You
University will change you! No matter what. Some days you struggle so much that you just want to drop out; you have so much homework that you are working at it for hours straight, often right through the night, and then have to run to class to have your paper in on time. Other days, mostly Fridays, will be exhilarating. In the morning you get a much laboured over essay returned with a good grade, and in the evening, an awesome party. It can be a very demanding life, but a good one as well.
Class doesn’t end when you leave the lecture hall; it continues when you get home and have to do homework. Some would say that what's really important only begins when you get down to work at home.
There's the cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping; it was a pain in the beginning but after a few months, it has become natural -- in fact it feels like a holiday from the severe demands of the previous few hours. I still get the urge to eat out during exams or when I am feeling lazy, but I have now discovered online recipes for easy dining which has really motivated me to cook at home instead of pig out on fast food.
Since I moved to school, I have turned into a clean freak. I cannot sleep or study in my room without it being clean, and I hate a dirty kitchen with dishes everywhere. Yet when I lived at home, it didn’t bother me at all. Ask my mom.
I get along really well with my roommate. We both have flaws; her main one is that she is a little messy. It never gets out of hand, so I do a little extra on that side of things. What I do that irritates her -- no, you'd need to ask her about that! I have gotten used to the fact that trying to please each other will always take work on both our parts.
One thing that was really shocking to me is the amount of damage that can be done to your residence floor. I found it crazy how a bunch of drunks could ruin such a nice looking floor in one night. I didn't like that one bit.
Nothing has really frightened me yet. Despite occasional run-ins with my roommate and the stresses of exam time, I have had a great experience thus far for the most part. Even though I wouldn’t have said it in September, I love being here, far from home, where I can be independent and do everything for myself.
My piece of advice. If you really want to go somewhere, do it. Sure, you'll miss your old friends at first, and it will be hard to arrive knowing no one at all. But with all the new friends you make so quickly, all the new classes given by people with absolutely awesome knowledge, and all the challenges to overcome, you will grow to love it.
Class doesn’t end when you leave the lecture hall; it continues when you get home and have to do homework. Some would say that what's really important only begins when you get down to work at home.
There's the cooking and cleaning and grocery shopping; it was a pain in the beginning but after a few months, it has become natural -- in fact it feels like a holiday from the severe demands of the previous few hours. I still get the urge to eat out during exams or when I am feeling lazy, but I have now discovered online recipes for easy dining which has really motivated me to cook at home instead of pig out on fast food.
Since I moved to school, I have turned into a clean freak. I cannot sleep or study in my room without it being clean, and I hate a dirty kitchen with dishes everywhere. Yet when I lived at home, it didn’t bother me at all. Ask my mom.
I get along really well with my roommate. We both have flaws; her main one is that she is a little messy. It never gets out of hand, so I do a little extra on that side of things. What I do that irritates her -- no, you'd need to ask her about that! I have gotten used to the fact that trying to please each other will always take work on both our parts.
One thing that was really shocking to me is the amount of damage that can be done to your residence floor. I found it crazy how a bunch of drunks could ruin such a nice looking floor in one night. I didn't like that one bit.
Nothing has really frightened me yet. Despite occasional run-ins with my roommate and the stresses of exam time, I have had a great experience thus far for the most part. Even though I wouldn’t have said it in September, I love being here, far from home, where I can be independent and do everything for myself.
My piece of advice. If you really want to go somewhere, do it. Sure, you'll miss your old friends at first, and it will be hard to arrive knowing no one at all. But with all the new friends you make so quickly, all the new classes given by people with absolutely awesome knowledge, and all the challenges to overcome, you will grow to love it.
A Word to the Wise: Registering for Classes
One of the most important things you can do in university is this: when you receive the date and time you're allowed to register for next year's classes, do it! I don't care if you have to take off work or get up early. It's so important to register the second your allotted time starts.
I found this out the hard way going into second year. I registered a few days after my selected time, and pretty much all the classes I wanted at the times that fitted together were full. My second year sucked because I got stuck with mostly essay courses, early times, late nights, no breaks, and bad professors. I learned my lesson and the following year registered at the time they assigned to me, 9am. Needless to say, I had a much better third year.
Although you can't help but take some classes at crappy times or get a professor you don't want, you can still manage to have a pretty good schedule if you just simply register when you're supposed to.
I found this out the hard way going into second year. I registered a few days after my selected time, and pretty much all the classes I wanted at the times that fitted together were full. My second year sucked because I got stuck with mostly essay courses, early times, late nights, no breaks, and bad professors. I learned my lesson and the following year registered at the time they assigned to me, 9am. Needless to say, I had a much better third year.
Although you can't help but take some classes at crappy times or get a professor you don't want, you can still manage to have a pretty good schedule if you just simply register when you're supposed to.
Crisis Averted:
When you’re in University you will meet all kinds of different people and they will all affect you in different ways. You may meet the outgoing socialite, or the friendly stoner, or maybe you’ll chum up to the tall, broad-shouldered jock. But of all the people you meet, beware of the unstable.
During my first year of University I knew a guy named Rick; he seemed like a nice guy yet there was something about him that made me wary, made me hesitate about forming a friendship with him. But in this day and age, of the hundred people you run up against frequently, maybe half (if that) are your close friends or even friends that you hang out with on a regular basis. Well Rick was one of those guys on my msn that I knew, may have hung out with in a group a few times, but who I really wasn’t close with.
One day in late March I had the bad luck to randomly start a conversation with Rick online. It started out normal, you know, “how’s your day going?” etc. Then he turned on me. I wasn’t a good enough friend. I didn’t care enough. Everyone hated him.
I didn’t know what to do. He started talking about killing himself; I told him he was overreacting. He said he’d tried it before and he’d do it again. I wanted out -- this wasn’t my problem, he wasn’t my friend. But I couldn’t stop talking to him: what if he was serious? I didn’t even like this guy; he was a jerk! But he was another human being and I couldn’t just leave, couldn’t just back out. If something happened I would forever blame myself.
I started texting everyone I knew who was closer to Rick then I was. No one was replying. I was starting to lose it. My chest was tightening, tears were welling up at the corners of my eyes and I was starting to hyperventilate. I wanted nothing to do with this; I was completely out of my depth.
Then my phone beeped. I had finally received a reply!
My buddy Kyle was going to take care of it. He was talking to Rick online and was trying to calm him down. He told Rick to stop screwing with me, to stop messing with my head and to leave me alone. He went over to Rick’s, pounded on his door and told him straight up that he was overreacting, that all his friends were there for him.
I turned off my computer, sat down and cried. I was scared.
You see Rick was somehow making me feel like all of this mess revolved around me and like it was all my fault. He was trying to guilt-trip me in a futile attempt to make himself feel better. What had really happened was that he had gotten into a fight with his best friend and didn’t know if they were going to be friends anymore. He had panicked, and that can happen to people. But that doesn’t mean you turn around and target someone. You need your friends more now than ever, so don't antagonize them. If you need to talk, if something is bothering you, there is always someone willing to listen.
In the end everything turned out fine. Kyle told me that he'd persuaded Rick to get some help from the University Clinic. But I never talked to Rick again; I had such bad vibes from him, and I didn’t need that kind of emotional stress on my plate. Some people may think what I did was cowardly, but then you’ve probably never had someone that wasn’t a friend, who wasn’t someone you liked, threaten to kill themselves and tell you that it was because they were angry with you. That is not your battle to fight if you can’t win it. I couldn’t, but I found someone who could and that is all that matters.
Crisis averted.
During my first year of University I knew a guy named Rick; he seemed like a nice guy yet there was something about him that made me wary, made me hesitate about forming a friendship with him. But in this day and age, of the hundred people you run up against frequently, maybe half (if that) are your close friends or even friends that you hang out with on a regular basis. Well Rick was one of those guys on my msn that I knew, may have hung out with in a group a few times, but who I really wasn’t close with.
One day in late March I had the bad luck to randomly start a conversation with Rick online. It started out normal, you know, “how’s your day going?” etc. Then he turned on me. I wasn’t a good enough friend. I didn’t care enough. Everyone hated him.
I didn’t know what to do. He started talking about killing himself; I told him he was overreacting. He said he’d tried it before and he’d do it again. I wanted out -- this wasn’t my problem, he wasn’t my friend. But I couldn’t stop talking to him: what if he was serious? I didn’t even like this guy; he was a jerk! But he was another human being and I couldn’t just leave, couldn’t just back out. If something happened I would forever blame myself.
I started texting everyone I knew who was closer to Rick then I was. No one was replying. I was starting to lose it. My chest was tightening, tears were welling up at the corners of my eyes and I was starting to hyperventilate. I wanted nothing to do with this; I was completely out of my depth.
Then my phone beeped. I had finally received a reply!
My buddy Kyle was going to take care of it. He was talking to Rick online and was trying to calm him down. He told Rick to stop screwing with me, to stop messing with my head and to leave me alone. He went over to Rick’s, pounded on his door and told him straight up that he was overreacting, that all his friends were there for him.
I turned off my computer, sat down and cried. I was scared.
You see Rick was somehow making me feel like all of this mess revolved around me and like it was all my fault. He was trying to guilt-trip me in a futile attempt to make himself feel better. What had really happened was that he had gotten into a fight with his best friend and didn’t know if they were going to be friends anymore. He had panicked, and that can happen to people. But that doesn’t mean you turn around and target someone. You need your friends more now than ever, so don't antagonize them. If you need to talk, if something is bothering you, there is always someone willing to listen.
In the end everything turned out fine. Kyle told me that he'd persuaded Rick to get some help from the University Clinic. But I never talked to Rick again; I had such bad vibes from him, and I didn’t need that kind of emotional stress on my plate. Some people may think what I did was cowardly, but then you’ve probably never had someone that wasn’t a friend, who wasn’t someone you liked, threaten to kill themselves and tell you that it was because they were angry with you. That is not your battle to fight if you can’t win it. I couldn’t, but I found someone who could and that is all that matters.
Crisis averted.
Be Careful, Be Safe:
When in University you will meet many people that you may want to instantly trust. Don’t. I’m not normally cynical, but no one deserves your trust until they’ve earned it and many people will end up surprising you.
I had a friend in school, Mark, whose good friend and roommate turned on him three quarters through the year. You see, Mark’s friend Greg was slightly unbalanced but no one truly realized to what extent. Sometime in February, Greg was cheating on his girlfriend, Susan, with a girl named Hannah and the only person he told was Mark. He gave Mark details. Now when Greg found out that Susan was also cheating on him, he flipped. It didn’t seem to concern him that he was being a hypocrite, and there was no reasoning with his fury. Obviously, it was a complete and final end to their relationship.
One night at a party, Hannah had too much to drink and got in a big argument with Mark about Greg. She absolutely lost it, and freaked out at him. Mark, whose nerves were also shot from the constant drama of living with Greg, went up one side of her and down the other. He called her countless names which clued her into the fact that Mark obviously knew she was sleeping with Greg.
Hannah left Greg.
Greg went from having two girls to having none. He was furious at his girlfriend for cheating on him, Hannah for leaving him, and Mark for spilling the beans. Who do you think got the brunt of all this anger? Mark.
The same day that Hannah left, Greg tried to stab Mark with a pair of scissors. Lucky for Mark, he was twice the size of Greg. Mark contacted campus security and Greg was kicked off campus. His mother came and collected his things within the week.
Greg went through some therapy over the incident, changed rooms, and is doing fine now. It just goes to show that you can’t trust everyone. If someone doesn’t seem “right”, they probably aren’t. Don't be like Hannah and Mark and Greg. Be careful, be safe.
I had a friend in school, Mark, whose good friend and roommate turned on him three quarters through the year. You see, Mark’s friend Greg was slightly unbalanced but no one truly realized to what extent. Sometime in February, Greg was cheating on his girlfriend, Susan, with a girl named Hannah and the only person he told was Mark. He gave Mark details. Now when Greg found out that Susan was also cheating on him, he flipped. It didn’t seem to concern him that he was being a hypocrite, and there was no reasoning with his fury. Obviously, it was a complete and final end to their relationship.
One night at a party, Hannah had too much to drink and got in a big argument with Mark about Greg. She absolutely lost it, and freaked out at him. Mark, whose nerves were also shot from the constant drama of living with Greg, went up one side of her and down the other. He called her countless names which clued her into the fact that Mark obviously knew she was sleeping with Greg.
Hannah left Greg.
Greg went from having two girls to having none. He was furious at his girlfriend for cheating on him, Hannah for leaving him, and Mark for spilling the beans. Who do you think got the brunt of all this anger? Mark.
The same day that Hannah left, Greg tried to stab Mark with a pair of scissors. Lucky for Mark, he was twice the size of Greg. Mark contacted campus security and Greg was kicked off campus. His mother came and collected his things within the week.
Greg went through some therapy over the incident, changed rooms, and is doing fine now. It just goes to show that you can’t trust everyone. If someone doesn’t seem “right”, they probably aren’t. Don't be like Hannah and Mark and Greg. Be careful, be safe.
Striking A Balance….
One of the hardest parts of first year university is striking a new balance in your life. From moving away from home to sharing a bedroom to having classes that are much more challenging and involve way more independent work than ever before, to meeting all new friends and finding your place in a new environment -- first year presents enormous numbers of new experiences, good, bad, and a mixture of the two.
My residence floor stayed up the entire night after move-in day talking and getting to know each other. We became like a family almost instantly and bonded more throughout frosh week. And then, of course, there are all the random people you’ll meet and grow to love over frosh week. Frosh week is one of the only times, ever, where you’ll be able to go up to anyone at all, introduce yourself, and instantly have a new friend. This was one of my favourite parts of coming to university, and also, with the possible exception of the exams, the most intense.
The week ended with the faculty of music serenading the campus with “Frosh Week Forever” to the beat of a song by some heavy metal rock group. And it did seem like frosh week could go on forever, but then those dreaded classes started. Wasn’t university supposed to be all about the social scene? My first round of midterms said otherwise. Fortunately, in most programs, you can redeem yourself as long as you don’t leave it too late before taking action.
My favourite (and most academically destructive part) of first year was living with all of my new best friends. When I was tired of studying, tired of chatting on msn or facebook, or even just tired in general, I could walk next door and hang out for hours on end. Spending 3 hours in the dining hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (each, of course) seemed natural. And then there was that ‘S’ word that everyone seems to forget about when they come to university…sleep.
My first two months of university were amazing. There had been so many things that were so enjoyable. I don’t regret anything, and wish I could relive every moment. But after that first midterm I realized that if I was going to continue on to second year, I needed to strike a better balance. I had enjoyed partying as much as I wanted and eating as much as I wanted. But now payback time had arrived in the form of my low midterm marks. I realized that I needed to set boundaries and learn some sort of discipline. I could party every night and have fun, I could lock myself in the room and study, or I could find a happy medium. The key to my taking control was realizing the consequences.
I didn't find it at all easy to organize my life in a more efficient way. It was a real struggle to balance things. I began to schedule some library time into all my days. Instead of using that two-hour afternoon break in class to go back to residence and nap, I hit the library and got readings done. I was shocked that I could get almost all my prelabs and reading done by just using the time I had between classes. I also started printing off my notes before every class, getting at least 6 hours of sleep every night, and studying on a weekly basis instead of cramming before exams.
Now that everyone reading this is probably snoozing, I need to point out that because of all this I actually felt like I had more time to hang out with my friends. My evenings and weekends were basically free because of the way I scheduled my days, and I never had to feel guilty about all the work I should be doing when I was procrastinating and wasting time. I boosted my marks after midterms, ended up getting the marks I'd expected of myself, and still had a BLAST!
Frosh week should be one of the best weeks of your life. So should the first month of school when life can go by in a more agreeable way than ever before. Enjoy it and make the most of it. But don't let it go on too long.
My residence floor stayed up the entire night after move-in day talking and getting to know each other. We became like a family almost instantly and bonded more throughout frosh week. And then, of course, there are all the random people you’ll meet and grow to love over frosh week. Frosh week is one of the only times, ever, where you’ll be able to go up to anyone at all, introduce yourself, and instantly have a new friend. This was one of my favourite parts of coming to university, and also, with the possible exception of the exams, the most intense.
The week ended with the faculty of music serenading the campus with “Frosh Week Forever” to the beat of a song by some heavy metal rock group. And it did seem like frosh week could go on forever, but then those dreaded classes started. Wasn’t university supposed to be all about the social scene? My first round of midterms said otherwise. Fortunately, in most programs, you can redeem yourself as long as you don’t leave it too late before taking action.
My favourite (and most academically destructive part) of first year was living with all of my new best friends. When I was tired of studying, tired of chatting on msn or facebook, or even just tired in general, I could walk next door and hang out for hours on end. Spending 3 hours in the dining hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (each, of course) seemed natural. And then there was that ‘S’ word that everyone seems to forget about when they come to university…sleep.
My first two months of university were amazing. There had been so many things that were so enjoyable. I don’t regret anything, and wish I could relive every moment. But after that first midterm I realized that if I was going to continue on to second year, I needed to strike a better balance. I had enjoyed partying as much as I wanted and eating as much as I wanted. But now payback time had arrived in the form of my low midterm marks. I realized that I needed to set boundaries and learn some sort of discipline. I could party every night and have fun, I could lock myself in the room and study, or I could find a happy medium. The key to my taking control was realizing the consequences.
I didn't find it at all easy to organize my life in a more efficient way. It was a real struggle to balance things. I began to schedule some library time into all my days. Instead of using that two-hour afternoon break in class to go back to residence and nap, I hit the library and got readings done. I was shocked that I could get almost all my prelabs and reading done by just using the time I had between classes. I also started printing off my notes before every class, getting at least 6 hours of sleep every night, and studying on a weekly basis instead of cramming before exams.
Now that everyone reading this is probably snoozing, I need to point out that because of all this I actually felt like I had more time to hang out with my friends. My evenings and weekends were basically free because of the way I scheduled my days, and I never had to feel guilty about all the work I should be doing when I was procrastinating and wasting time. I boosted my marks after midterms, ended up getting the marks I'd expected of myself, and still had a BLAST!
Frosh week should be one of the best weeks of your life. So should the first month of school when life can go by in a more agreeable way than ever before. Enjoy it and make the most of it. But don't let it go on too long.
Rehab: Just in Time
Profs aren't going to keep telling you to stay off your phone or stay off facebook. They're not going to remind you about what needs to be done. Their job is to teach you, not to be your parent. They won't normally even tell you you're at risk of failing. If you don't pay attention, or fail to hand things in, or hand in mediocre work because you didn't give it the time it needed, it’s not their problem. It's yours. The decisions are all your to make; you just have to plan well enough, and control yourself well enough to decide what’s more important (easy), and then to do it (not easy at all).
Of course, you'll have learned by now that almost everything needs more time than you expected, never less. Maybe previously in your life, you had someone to help you make decisions like this, or some routine that you were used to and could stick to. Now you don't.
First term, I fell into all the traps. I had a lot of hangovers. I missed a lot of lectures, and even when I went I didn't make proper notes. I didn't begin my papers soon enough, and I didn't spend nearly enough time on them. I was never prepared for classes, or seminars, or tests.
Or the December exams.
Rehab was hard for me. Christmas meant feeling humiliated and sorry for myself. Then I realized that University is all about learning to take responsibility for yourself, to manage your time, and to improve your self control. It's about learning not to need crutches to keep you on the road and out of the gutter. Do that, and the rest follows.
Now it's almost the end of the year, and I feel great! But I look back a few months, and it scares me to think how close I came to losing everything.
Of course, you'll have learned by now that almost everything needs more time than you expected, never less. Maybe previously in your life, you had someone to help you make decisions like this, or some routine that you were used to and could stick to. Now you don't.
First term, I fell into all the traps. I had a lot of hangovers. I missed a lot of lectures, and even when I went I didn't make proper notes. I didn't begin my papers soon enough, and I didn't spend nearly enough time on them. I was never prepared for classes, or seminars, or tests.
Or the December exams.
Rehab was hard for me. Christmas meant feeling humiliated and sorry for myself. Then I realized that University is all about learning to take responsibility for yourself, to manage your time, and to improve your self control. It's about learning not to need crutches to keep you on the road and out of the gutter. Do that, and the rest follows.
Now it's almost the end of the year, and I feel great! But I look back a few months, and it scares me to think how close I came to losing everything.
Should You buy a Laptop?
When I came to University, a big concern for many students was whether or not laptops were necessary. Most people asked this question because they didn’t have one and wanted to know whether pestering their parents for a new computer was necessary for their university education. After all, this wasn’t high school anymore and for some reason using paper and pencil seemed archaic and unsophisticated. You can’t really blame people for feeling this way. We’ve all seen college movies where students at Harvard or Princeton are sitting in some eccentric professor’s lecture typing away on their laptops. But do the movies really represent reality? Do you really need that laptop for your first year? Simple answer: No. Complicated answer: It depends.
I say no, because you can get by without having one. I know a few people who chose to only bring desktop computers to university, and they do just as fine. I’ll take this moment to offer a mild digression. I think that computers these days are indispensable. You will need something to type your essays on at 3 am in the morning when your library is closed, or when looking at whatever it is that you want to look at on the internet in the privacy of your own home/room. Without any computer whatsoever, you really lose out on the independence of what is considered a necessary tool for anything these days. So I am not saying you don't need a computer at all. You do.
Back to the question at hand: it differs from person to person. People who have laptops tend to take them everywhere they go. (Well, maybe not to drunken binges). That would be fine, except for one important thing: the internet. The internet is google, so that if there's something about what the Prof says that you want to know more about, you can. It's the University site, with all the Prof's PowerPoint slides and notes on it. But it's also movies (yes, you see people watching them during lectures), chat, Skype, email, and worst of all of course: Facebook. All addictive as heroin. Especially Facebook. Lectures are full of students just feeding their addictions. Some say they can multitask. But most Profs really need your complete attention if you want to get the most out of what they're teaching.
Sometimes they might seem to be droning on, reading off the screen, or just talking about things that are completely boring. They see it as important, though, and they're the ones writing the exams that you'll be taking. Even when you have the lecture notes in front of you and it seems like nothing relevant is being added to the notes in lecture, every prof drops little hints about what's more likely to come up on the exam. They might be as obvious as a green star popping up next to a point, or as subtle as a raise in tone and extra few minutes spent on a concept. Picking up on these cues can save you a lot of time studying!
Even if you can’t find the cues, actually listening in lecture is extra exposure to the material in a different form than just reading notes, and it helps! I began turning off my cell, and disengaging my wireless internet as soon as I downloaded lecture notes to avoid the temptation of distractions. When finals rolled around a month and a half after my “technological epiphany,” I had to study less and seemed to remember a lot more when reviewing my notes. It was a huge stress reliever when I realized that the word "FINALS" didn’t really have to just be an acronym for, “F$#%, I Never Actually Learned this Sh#@.”
I suppose the University could line all the lecture halls with foil, or put in transmitters that fatally interfered with wi-fi signals. But that would spark a huge revolt. Besides, there would still be smartphones, texting, and so on unless they cut off that signal too.
But some people have more of a need to take a laptop to classes. Take me for example. My handwriting is akin to a 5 year old trying to write for the first time. Sometimes it’s so illegible that even I can’t read it. Not to mention that my hand gets cramped because I never learned how to properly hold a pencil and as a result I can’t write notes fast enough and I think it might give me juvenile arthritis if I actually tried for too long. However, I have been using chat sites since I was about 10 and I’ve gotten really good at typing things very fast. Not to mention I practically live on the internet, so computers are second nature to me and I feel a lot more comfortable with a keyboard at my fingertips than with a stack of paper.
That being said, I know plenty of people who choose to bring only paper and pens to class because they say that they can remember things a lot better once they physically write them out. A girl I know even writes them out fully in class and later that day goes home to copy them verbatim onto her computer. Different people, learn very differently, and you might find that the electronic way of keeping data doesn’t cut it for you. Have you ever got completely immersed in an e-book the way you have with a paperback? Me neither. (To the ten of you who answered yes to that, kudos to you – your focusing skills must be extraordinary.)
It really is all about preference. If you feel a laptop won’t suit your needs or your desires, don’t sweat it. There is nothing pressuring you to get one or to change your study habits to go with the latest flow. But know yourself, and don't be weak. I guess students have always found something to be distracted by. But I think it's easier to do that now because of the technology. So control it; don't let it control you.
I say no, because you can get by without having one. I know a few people who chose to only bring desktop computers to university, and they do just as fine. I’ll take this moment to offer a mild digression. I think that computers these days are indispensable. You will need something to type your essays on at 3 am in the morning when your library is closed, or when looking at whatever it is that you want to look at on the internet in the privacy of your own home/room. Without any computer whatsoever, you really lose out on the independence of what is considered a necessary tool for anything these days. So I am not saying you don't need a computer at all. You do.
Back to the question at hand: it differs from person to person. People who have laptops tend to take them everywhere they go. (Well, maybe not to drunken binges). That would be fine, except for one important thing: the internet. The internet is google, so that if there's something about what the Prof says that you want to know more about, you can. It's the University site, with all the Prof's PowerPoint slides and notes on it. But it's also movies (yes, you see people watching them during lectures), chat, Skype, email, and worst of all of course: Facebook. All addictive as heroin. Especially Facebook. Lectures are full of students just feeding their addictions. Some say they can multitask. But most Profs really need your complete attention if you want to get the most out of what they're teaching.
Sometimes they might seem to be droning on, reading off the screen, or just talking about things that are completely boring. They see it as important, though, and they're the ones writing the exams that you'll be taking. Even when you have the lecture notes in front of you and it seems like nothing relevant is being added to the notes in lecture, every prof drops little hints about what's more likely to come up on the exam. They might be as obvious as a green star popping up next to a point, or as subtle as a raise in tone and extra few minutes spent on a concept. Picking up on these cues can save you a lot of time studying!
Even if you can’t find the cues, actually listening in lecture is extra exposure to the material in a different form than just reading notes, and it helps! I began turning off my cell, and disengaging my wireless internet as soon as I downloaded lecture notes to avoid the temptation of distractions. When finals rolled around a month and a half after my “technological epiphany,” I had to study less and seemed to remember a lot more when reviewing my notes. It was a huge stress reliever when I realized that the word "FINALS" didn’t really have to just be an acronym for, “F$#%, I Never Actually Learned this Sh#@.”
I suppose the University could line all the lecture halls with foil, or put in transmitters that fatally interfered with wi-fi signals. But that would spark a huge revolt. Besides, there would still be smartphones, texting, and so on unless they cut off that signal too.
But some people have more of a need to take a laptop to classes. Take me for example. My handwriting is akin to a 5 year old trying to write for the first time. Sometimes it’s so illegible that even I can’t read it. Not to mention that my hand gets cramped because I never learned how to properly hold a pencil and as a result I can’t write notes fast enough and I think it might give me juvenile arthritis if I actually tried for too long. However, I have been using chat sites since I was about 10 and I’ve gotten really good at typing things very fast. Not to mention I practically live on the internet, so computers are second nature to me and I feel a lot more comfortable with a keyboard at my fingertips than with a stack of paper.
That being said, I know plenty of people who choose to bring only paper and pens to class because they say that they can remember things a lot better once they physically write them out. A girl I know even writes them out fully in class and later that day goes home to copy them verbatim onto her computer. Different people, learn very differently, and you might find that the electronic way of keeping data doesn’t cut it for you. Have you ever got completely immersed in an e-book the way you have with a paperback? Me neither. (To the ten of you who answered yes to that, kudos to you – your focusing skills must be extraordinary.)
It really is all about preference. If you feel a laptop won’t suit your needs or your desires, don’t sweat it. There is nothing pressuring you to get one or to change your study habits to go with the latest flow. But know yourself, and don't be weak. I guess students have always found something to be distracted by. But I think it's easier to do that now because of the technology. So control it; don't let it control you.
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