LabKitty twisted in the this sudden wind of freedom and new responsibilities, a tillerless tall ship in a tumultuous tempest. Left without the sage advice and stern backhand of my guidance councilor, I made more bad choices than Pee-wee Herman in a Florida movie house. I wasted more time groping in the dark than Hugh Hefner during a solar eclipse.&
f I only knew then what I know now.
Well, I can't know then what I know now, but you can.
I distilled 5 lessons from my decidedly unhalcyon undergraduate days that might spare you some grief. These do not speak to big stripey multiple choice questions like: which school should I attend? or: should I live on- or off-campus? Additionally, I can't tell you how your meth addiction will affect your grades, or which firearm to bring to class, or how to slip your felony convictions past the admissions people (crikey, when did adolescence turn into a Tarantino movie?).
My tips are larger, softer, philosophical. Food for thought, if you will. Thoughts for eating.
It goes without saying that the usefulness of these thoughts will depend upon how much your situation resembles my experience. I mostly paid my own way through hard science at big state schools. I was no dummies, but neither was I an academic superstar. More hard-working than brilliant. So if you're, say, on a full scholarship to an Ivy or you are an übernerd who took graduate courses in high school then what I have to say probably won't have much bite. Or maybe you think college is playtime, in which case you are dead to me. Go run along and make us a sammich.
For the rest of you, LabKitty presents: Five things I wish someone had told me when I started college.
1. Don't Work a Part Time Job
Yes I know: easier said than done. But a part-time job steals the big three: 1) time 2) energy 3) focus. (I am of course talking about a McJob here; an internship related to your major is a different story and well worth the effort).
During the first year of undergrad I worked 20 hours/week at a grocery store, spread over weeknights and a Saturday afternoon. This sounds quaint now, but looking back I see how disproportionately disruptive it was. Evening shifts meant I studied late and studied tired. It rushed me out of afternoon classes and recitations and kept me from review sessions that were often scheduled at night. Saturday shifts cut exactly in half the number of non-class days available for catch-up. Working also meant having a car which meant having car expenses, creating its own vicious-circle weirdness. Not to mention end-of-the-shift often led to end-of-the-shift extracurricular activities rather than studying.
Was there honestly no other way?
Examine your motivations. Maybe your part-time job gives you some pocket money so you can go out more. Or you work to afford a Spring Break trip. Or the guys you work with are all your best friends. I worked to afford the upkeep on a sweet '67 Mustang so I wouldn't have to drive mom's Pinto station wagon (yes, the one with fake wood paneling).
Time for harsh scrutiny. Five years down the road none of these things will matter. And If it comes down to the difference between "crushing student loan" and "crushing student loan + epsilon", it may be worth it. As they say: debt is temporary, stupid is forever.
2. Easy classes that are boring are harder than hard classes that are interesting
We're talking electives here (you will have your share of unavoidable boring classes and unavoidable hard classes). It's often tempting to go the easy route with electives, especially if you're exhausted and need to recharge. There's nothing wrong with a truly easy elective. But I occasionally found myself in the position of choosing between a class that looked interesting but had the reputation of being a lot of work and a class I would not have given a second glance save for its reputation as an easy A.
Looking back, I am grateful for the times I chose door #1 and regretted the times I chose door #2. In fact, there were a few "easy" classes I barely passed because I just hated, hated, hated them. Thus the lesson: easy classes that are boring are (often) harder than hard classes that are interesting.
So if there comes a day that you're deciding between a numerical methods course and an elective on interpretive dance, it may well be that three exams and a term project will make for an easier time than expressing the plight of the proletariat while dressed as a barnyard animal.
3. Classes in the first two semesters are critical
In more-or-less every nerd curriculum, the first year includes the chemistry/physics sequence, the first two terms of calculus, and probably a programming course. These classes are the foundation of everything else you are going to do. And this comes right on top of you being new to the whole college dealio.
Here's the thing: do whatever you have to do to master the first year's material. Spend extra time, reduce your course load, take a summer class, go to the reviews, go to the recitations, get extra reference books, get a tutor. Whatever. Sure, every semester is important, but the first two semesters give super magic crazy big returns on your investment. Do them well -- study them so hard that you never have to study them again -- and the rest of your academic life will be rewarded.
4. Learn to Write
You've probably heard this before. But the one thing that makes a smart student stand out from a gaggle of smart students is the ability to write well. When we review applications for our lab, it is shocking how poorly many students write -- even bright ones. Writing is a skill separate from being smart or knowing the material. It takes work to become good at it. It takes help to become good at it. Even if your writing doesn't outright suck, everyone has weak areas that need work (even LabKitty!). Be aware that technical writing -- tech pubs materials, user manuals, journal articles -- is likely very different from the type of writing you faced in high school.
Your university has resources available to help students improve their writing. Seek them out. Yes, on top of everything else you have to do. A great writer may be born, but a competent writer can be made.
5. Think about what it Is you want to do
Maybe you've known you wanted to be a doctor since you were four, like Doogie Howser. But there's a surprising number of people who can't tell you why they went to college. Sure, with some smarts and a little motivation you can get though it, but "getting through" misses the point. College is a window of opportunity. This often gets lost beneath the money and the hassles and the applications and the money. The bluster of recruiting pamphlets notwithstanding, it's unlikely college is going to be a transforming experience unless you know what you want to get out of it.
Let's put it in equation form:
College + obsession = gold.
College - obsession = killing time.
College - obsession = killing time.
Ergo, find your obsession. I mean a useful obsession. Yes, there are people who parlayed obsessions with Xbox and booze into multi-million dollar empires. But there are also people who parlayed obsessions with Xbox and booze into living in a cardboard box. It's not necessarily easy. If it means switching majors, so be it. If it means taking time off, so be it. The whole enterprise is so overwhelming that it's possible to never give a moment's thought to the point of it all.
Corollary. Hey, you. Parent. STOP FORCING YOUR KIDS TO GO TO COLLEGE. Speaking as a former TA, these students are the Perfect Storm of bad student. They don't want to be there, yet they have to get decent grades because you'll flip out if they don't. Invariably, their chosen tactic is to make everyone around them as miserable as possible. Which, coincidentally, no longer includes you. So rather than hog tying your lil' scholar and dropping him or her off at the bursar's office with a blank check and some Lunchables, give them a little time and space. Let them figure it out. Coercion buys your kid about a meaningful an education as the athletes got in Hoop Dreams.
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