intermissions: deuxieme
Source: http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=21527897
“Proper story’s supposed to start at the beginning. Ain’t so simple with this one. Now here’s a kid whose whole world got all twisted, leaving him stranded on a rock in the sky.”
Second year. Nothing but a busy year in the making.
I see some of you guys will be, or are entering into college. Or soon enough anyway, because time flies fast.
Proving to be a tough year, for sure. A really important year for some, especially in my case. The year you have to pick and declare your major for many universities out there. I’m hoping the anime club this year will be better under new management.
Calmed down quite a bit over the course of the day, since my schedule’s been shifting around here and there. If I made a post four hours ago it would’ve been an emotionally blinded post of frustration.
I could rant about school all day, but I’d rather turn it around and give some pointers I think would be helpful for new college attendees this intermissions week, since I wrote what I wanted to write in my introspectives post.
Some short tips. I’ll keep it simple. Based on what I learned from my acts of stupidity in the first term.
- Scheduling. An agenda, calendar, your pick. University/high school isn’t that different as you think it is. Split the readings (you don’t really have to read through all of them) and research projects/essays and you’ve got homework sized homework just like in high school. Don’t underestimate or let your guard down at any moment since new assignments can be lying just around the corner.
- Suffer now and do the notes in class! Review, review, review. All nighters suck and cramming tires you out fast. Just think of the satisfaction you’ll get at the end and walking out with a smile from the final exams instead of walking out like a zombie like I did for my econ exam.
- It’s a bigger place. Network. Anime club. Et cetera. You get the point. It’s easy to stick to old friends.
- Bug your advisers and professors for no end. I know it can get frustrating at times, but you’re a human being, not a student number. You’ll get to learn a lot more, since some students can be clueless about what the heck they’re doing. Know deadlines, credits, the works.
- And maybe try for scholarships? Not enough people apply for them so it’s not really the credentials. Out of two applicants for a scholarship I applied to, I was one of the recipients, since the award was for ten people…
- Ganbatte like isshou kenmei. In other words, work hard first year. That way, if you set a high average, it;s easier to maintain than raising it from the bottom up. I say this because I screwed up first year and have to kick up my average for a major I really want to get into.
- And if you pretty much know this, good job! Share some advice in the comments, yeah? Good luck, hope this helps.
No podcast, because my standards have been severely raised and set by 2DT’s podcast on watching anime together. Excellent quality cast. It stars Scamp from The Cart Driver, Foshizzel from Metanorn, and Tim from Ephemeral Dreamer, good names out there. Marked as “a revising work in progress” for now.
Now to invest some hours into some League of Legends. It’s the weekend, don’t criticize me! Actually, this week’s episodes anime wise have been pretty awesome.
P.S. Wow, coincidence. More advice!
This. Professors are just people who are really obsessed with one particular subject. If you get them started, they’ll go on and on and on. The one-on-one format you can get during office hours is so much better than just listening to lectures and taking notes. Students should bug TAs too. I’ve always been bored out of my mind ’cause no one ever comes in to talk about anything. And I know the students have questions because they wouldn’t otherwise email me questions the night before the final.
What do you mean? Do they become clearer when you speak to them one on one?
And yes, forgot about TAs. TAs can be so helpful sometimes when the professor just rants on and never stops. I’m looking at you, integral calculus. Face to face is so much more better. But I haven’t really found an engaging professor, yet…
Not exactly clearer, but in a lecture, the professor can only scan the room (if they even bother to) and guess at how the students might be faring with the particular subject. In a one-on-one session, if I say something complicated, I can immediately look at your face and see whether or not this particular topic needs more clarification. And of course, we humans just absorb knowledge more naturally in a conversational format.
Plus, when a student has a chance to butt in and contribute to the topic, the student will be more engaged. In class, lectures are more heavily slanted in one direction, i.e. professor to student, rather than striking a balance. I mean, professors will always say “I want you guys to raise your hand and ask me questions in class,” but, as they say, “the best laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry.” There’s something about a large lecture hall that keeps students quiet, but they can open up during office hours.
Agreed. The few times I met with the professors face to face, he knew what I needed help on when I asked, and went over quite in detail. The other topic that weren’t picked up on just have to be asked, of course.
There’s always hesitation going on in classes. Sure, there’s no stupid question, but you don’t want to humiliate yourself in front of a crowd. Nor do you want the prof to pick on you. One on one time can really do wonders if you seriously don’t understand something and need clarification.
Both the poem and the book which took from the poem were splendid.
Students…how refreshing to hear again about them…:D
Good luck with it. :E
Thanks! Man, being a student is tough enough. Then jobs…whew.
Professors want their students to do well, especially in smaller colleges. But even in large universities, if a professor lectures really poorly and nobody gets it and everybody fails, that goes on his/her record! But if they have office hours, then there’s no excuse to fail! Just bug them for answers and explanations (and in my case, summer jobs), and you’ll get ‘em all.
As for scheduling… I’ve found that simply getting stuff done ahead of time works wonders. I don’t like to schedule things, so I just do everything way early so I have buffer time to spend screwing around. (But then again, I often get caught in an always-have-homework-to-do mode, so…)
Good idea. Maybe they’re seriously ronery in their offices and might spill the beans.
It seems that I’ve been slightly overlooking my schedule and have to keep on re-scheduling to strike a balance. Urgh. You’ve been doing everything early? No wonder you haven’t been posting.
Yeah, but the thing is, I somehow always have stuff to do (especially for this one-credit lab class that takes 7 hours/week outside of class GAERRHAGRAHRGARH) so it’s not like my “do stuff ahead of time” mentality really pays off. In the form of free time, at least.
Wow, one hour a day for one credit. Harsh.
Hey, thanks for including my post into yours. You also got an awesome write up here to light up the path for fellow freshmen.
Seem interesting. Maybe I should try out that scholarship thing too to get them to pay for my college xD
Thanks! Yours was a good post as well, chock full of advice. Liked the tablet part especially. Of course, try the scholarships out! Seeking them is hard but just think of that cash.
All great tips. Especially about networking. It’s thanks to this that I got accepted in a special program free of charge, got a job, and got a full scholarship for the rest of my years in college (assuming if I can keep up my GPA. There’s always strings attached to scholarships!).
And, while I’m VERY reluctant to say this working as a TA now, I also have to agree with E Minor about bugging TAs, but do be respectful! (Gosh, there’s only so much I can do without students badgering me every day through email or face-to-face!) But I do still enjoy helping those pesky students out. ^_^
That sounds amazing. Do tell. I seriously need work on my networking skills.
At least they show interest in the course/a yearning to succeed! Of course, manners are needed as well. I met an awesome TA from math who helped out a lot. Still see each other around sometimes.
First semester of my college, I did very well in my classes. In fact, I did so well, that I got the attention of 4 influential professors from different departments in my university, 1 from Mathematics, 1 from Computer Science, 1 from English, and 1 from Philosophy. The professors from Math and CS also happen to be the heads of their departments as well. So, they wanted to meet with me and I took advantage of this great networking opportunity!
The special Computer Science all-expenses-paid-for program that I got into needed letters of recommendations, and I asked the heads of Math and CS to write the letters. As you know, they have very strong influence, and no more need be said.
I was offered a job as a TA by the university out of the blue going into my second semester, and apparently, the CS head recommended me strongly. I, of course, graciously accepted and after a semester of training, am now a TA this semester.
I actually had to work for the scholarship with no connections at first. But when I met the professors from the English and Philosophy departments, they recommended me to go into the Honors program and the Honors director heeded their recommendations. I was accepted into Honors and got the Presidential Merit Scholarship with full benefits. ^_^
Networking is definitely very important, as seen from my stories!
Wow, that experience sounds awesome. Glad you got such great opportunities! I, on the other hand, would probably not land something as rock solid as that. I should start talking more with my professors…
I’ve never had any problems with school to be honest. I’m currently in my third and last year of upper secondary school (I think it’s called that?), so who knows how the university will turn out to be. Just do the work in good time and do your best, that’s all I need. ^^’
But yes, a good thing is to bug your teacher/advisor/professor. Being quite the shy person myself, the idea of raising my hand in class is a no no. And the flow of the class will be disrupted. Listen first, ask afterwards, is what I do. You learn a lot more by asking and discussing with your teachers.
Sounds good! Enjoy your last few years in high school to the max. University is like a road bump for some. Huge changes, but nothing that you can adapt to.
Good idea. Most professors love a good discussion.
From what I’ve heard, it sounds a lot better. You can focus on small number of courses instead of a gazillion like in high school. The only real pain is to know what you want to do, since there are a CRAZY AMOUNT OF THINGS TO CHOOSE FROM. Seriously, some stuff got to be the exactly same except some microscopic change.
I also discuss with my mother, it also works well! That’s how I learn things. I just need someone to discuss with.
There is! Tons of stuff to choose from. That’s one thing I like about university. Of course, you’re limited in a way because of the major you have to decide on in the future. Discussion is good!
Lol, I couldn’t give you better advice if I tried. All I do is constantly study and schedule my life, since I do not have time for anything else like clubs and such. But on the other hand, my Academics are well-off, expect for one class in particular, but I believe I can overcome that. Although, even though I am nearly done with about half of classes and stuck in rough spot, if I had the chance to do it all over I would, since right now I am not exactly in a good positions. So all I have to say, if their something you want to do, do it, since you might not can do it later. I learned that the hard way and paying for it in the biggest and painfullest way possible, especially since I lack a support system. Have no regrets!
I feel ya. Currently stuck in a bad position as well. I wish I could do over my first year, I really do. But nothing left to move on and make the best out of it. Good luck!
You are right. I totally agree with you, Marow.