Some unconventional advice
Kelly Muscolo
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Opinion
You read these every year. The end of second semester comes rolling around, and a long list of students reflect on their years at the college. And, frankly speaking, they're usually pretty boring. So, instead of listening to me ramble on about learning more than what was printed in textbooks, I'm going to offer some advice you probably haven't heard before.
One of the biggest mistakes I ever made in college was learning how to knit the night before a midterm. Though it was incredibly empowering to make something out of string, I forced myself to put down the needles and yarn at a reasonable hour to be rested for the exam. But all the while my eyes were shut, for the life of me I could not stop imagining the knitting motions in my head. I laid wide awake until three or four in the morning, and was so exhausted when I finally did nod off that if it weren't for a friend passing by my room, I would have slept through my alarm and missed the midterm entirely. Bad stuff.
At the beginning of every semester, your professors will give you syllabi, and more often than not, it will say somewhere that roughly three absences are allowed. USE ALL OF THEM. The one semester I made Dean's List was the one in which I followed through on this. Not only does it give you a little break from your professors and classmates, it gives you more time. Use this time wisely. If it would benefit you to use that time writing a paper for the class you're missing, do it. But if it would benefit you more to use that time relaxing with buddies at the 40, do that, instead.
If you are trying to double-major, be sure you know exactly how many of what classes are required. And then double-check. And then triple-check. Even if your advisor tells you that you're good to go, analyze the hell out if it for yourself, and then maybe take it to another professor for kicks. I spent three and a half years of my college education working towards two majors (and a minor), and it was not until early last semester that I found out I wouldn't be able to double-major if I wanted to graduate in four years. You can imagine how frustrating that is. (Well, at least I have a Sociologist consciousness now.)
One of the biggest mistakes I ever made in college was learning how to knit the night before a midterm. Though it was incredibly empowering to make something out of string, I forced myself to put down the needles and yarn at a reasonable hour to be rested for the exam. But all the while my eyes were shut, for the life of me I could not stop imagining the knitting motions in my head. I laid wide awake until three or four in the morning, and was so exhausted when I finally did nod off that if it weren't for a friend passing by my room, I would have slept through my alarm and missed the midterm entirely. Bad stuff.
At the beginning of every semester, your professors will give you syllabi, and more often than not, it will say somewhere that roughly three absences are allowed. USE ALL OF THEM. The one semester I made Dean's List was the one in which I followed through on this. Not only does it give you a little break from your professors and classmates, it gives you more time. Use this time wisely. If it would benefit you to use that time writing a paper for the class you're missing, do it. But if it would benefit you more to use that time relaxing with buddies at the 40, do that, instead.
If you are trying to double-major, be sure you know exactly how many of what classes are required. And then double-check. And then triple-check. Even if your advisor tells you that you're good to go, analyze the hell out if it for yourself, and then maybe take it to another professor for kicks. I spent three and a half years of my college education working towards two majors (and a minor), and it was not until early last semester that I found out I wouldn't be able to double-major if I wanted to graduate in four years. You can imagine how frustrating that is. (Well, at least I have a Sociologist consciousness now.)
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