40 Things: College Wisdom

40 things I wish I knew before going to college. (Advice).

Make a list of essentials before leaving and check them off one by one, never assume you have something out of sheer guesswork because the trip back might be too long. Here’s the categories and items for mine, as an example.
- Office
- Electronics
- Cleaning
- Laundry
- Clothing
- Shower
- Bedding
- Hygiene
- Weather Materials
- Food Prep.
- Food Storage
- Misc.
Always get a feel for the weather of the place you are going and check weather history to see what kinds of clothing you will immediately need and which ones to keep often.
Note the water quality beforehand and ask others who have already been there how it tastes; note the filtration method. Is it by fraking, water filters, ground water?
Always bring plenty of office supplies: pens, pencils, etc…it can be pricey buying directly from college stores so it’s wise to think ahead, always. This includes a printer and printing paper.
Keep a mini fridge with you: it’s good for personal food storage and when there’s not enough room in main fridge. Good for other people’s things too.
Have some form of calendar or date keeping device for deadlines or other things important to record.
Make sure all your electronics have backups and if possible take measures so that they aren’t prone to accident; fixing those things like a computer can be both costly and a loss of time.
Keep yourself in healthy condition and get plenty of sleep. Even if there are things to do, it’s better to rest and get a lower score or no score at all than to loss health. There’s always time and no rush to learn quickly because that halts creativity. Seriously, give up your own thoughts for the sake of their deadlines? If you have a thought about something, keep going with it, don’t just assume it’s wrong because someone hasn’t written about it. Don’t let a grade short circuit your brain into that of a fool. Your at a university, not a brainwashing facility. It’s time to think, not forcefeed yourself into a headache for office hours. If you don’t agree with anything someone says: tell them right there and why. You want to look back at these times where you made creative endeavors, not some slave to a book or class.
Know that handbook they give you by heart. It’s a good way to learn more about the way things are there. Also, good for planning. That book is better than orientation because it can be referenced again and again as the years go. Orientation can’t.
Don’t forget what you learned in the past, everything comes around again here. Connect what you know because knowledge is knowledge no matter when you learned it.
Don’t think about the syallbus they give you. Most of them say the same thing over and over again, just in different ways. Record the exam dates and quiz dates, book chapters, and holidays. Honestly, you won’t be cheating and no one can do your homework for you otherwise I’d do it for you :).
Set aside free time everyday just for fun ;). It’s important and those days won’t be coming back. Make friday’s count! (Within reason).
If you’d rather stay at home on any day, do so. Follow your gut. Somethings just aren’t worth it if you think you can have a better time elsewhere. Just be responsible and do what you think you’ll need to for the course.
Enjoy the weekends as a good memory and relaxation time. That’s why we have them. Do something new or something you hardly get to do on these days, maybe a movie, meditation, or just a new dish.
Take a good tour of the place for nice places to think and make internal memory of them. It’s nice to have some quite time for reflection.
Only you own yourself here, no one else. Same after graduation, after jobs, etc… (really anything). Get to really know yourself and don’t be easily taken by words of others without consideration first. This is how people become fools. You’re here to think, again.
Try to see yourself 4 years from now or by graduation. What would you like to see in yourself? How can you start now to make that happen?
Up to a certain point, people stop caring about GPAs and grades in the real world (if you want to call it that). So, don’t worry about - and + next to letters. No one gives a whoot in the long run. What have you really learned with your time? How creative have you gotten? People care more about that than some letter next to a class.
As always, if you haven’t been doing already, learn from your mistakes here, it’s a good way to start good habits.
Don’t be afraid of exploring new things. It’s a taste of freedom.
Get some exercise about everyday. Keep your body healthy since brain works better this way.
Never take more units than you need. You’ll spoil your learning doing too much. Soak in your studies, don’t let the water flow away doing too many things at once.
Show up to class when you feel like. Don’t rush. No one cares nor should they, it’s your life and they don’t know you. Just don’t be disruptive.
Stay away from alcohol and other drugs for now here. You mind will thank you later. you. are. at. a. university. not. a. bar. Go to a bar if you want to get drunk, we don’t do that here. When was the last time you could think after a drink? Exactly. They don’t even trust you to drive after a few of them, and good thinking isn’t easy, otherwise we’d have flying cars be now. Your teachers can’t even have sip before lecture so, the same goes when you work as well. Erotica is okay, but booze no, at least until 25. Why? Because you have been surrounded by erotica this whole time, booze too, but it can harm the brain (there are studies!) BUT REMEBER, YOU ARE HERE TO THINK, CRITICALLY AT BEST. So, if anything gets in the way of your thinking, discard it from your life. You won’t need it for now. Booze and erotica exist independently of this place. You can get that elsewhere too and it’d be more relaxing too. Just food for thought. To be fair though, your profs. are having sex and booze too; some grade with a glass of wine or beer too. It’s not uncommon and quite normal in society. Don’t let others fool you into thinking the contrary. So, you’re not alone in those feelings, it’s just that their older and have more experience. That’s all. Seriously, they have sex about 20X a year on average and booze about each weekend. You don’t have to listen to their remarks.
Get mental help right away if you notice things aren’t right. It can save you a lot of time for other more fun things. Remember, health > studies, always. Studies can always resume on demand, health can’t.
Always ask: what have I learned? at the end of anything someone feeds you. If you haven’t learned anything, then question your actions. Find ways to make learning easy, not hard. Seriously if going to class is too hard and you aren’t learning, don’t go, stay @ home and learn there. Some breakthroughs are made @ home with others or just plain vanilla you. They make it seem like a canned lecture is life blood for you to live these days. There once was time when people had to think before they wrote down things. Please remember them. It works wonders in your life.
Be consistent most of the time. Then break your own rules.
DONT EVER GET LOCKED IN A ROUTINE. THATS HOW WE RUINE LIVES, DREAMS, AND CREATIVITY.
Make each day memorable by noticing something new about it. Make the effort.
For a good review, count to 3. Then think. Before a test starts, do count to 5. Clear the mind, because all those extra thoughts which you won’t even care about after the next 50 or so minutes won’t matter. It never has nor ever will, I saw the pattern, learned it, now am telling you. No one gives a whoot Don’t let your mind play tricks on you before an exam. Just observe yourself, it’ll all go away. Or just observe the room.
There is nothing wrong with cheating. Okay? But, sooner or later you’ll have to start using your noodle because…well NO ELSE WILL. Please don’t have intentions to learn and then completely turn around, it shows that they own you not the other way around. YOU OWN THEM, NOT THEM YOU. WE MADE THIS PLACE FOR YOU.
Never suck up to anyone. Have self respect. You > Their power, authority.
Make these years count. Something worth thinking of and for new ideas.
Bring items to strengthen immunity since just about every year, some type of cold spreads. It’s not fun to be sick and think at the same time. This is especially true for the first term of the year, that’s when everyone from everywhere comes. Same with major holidays where people travel and mingle. Look after yourself, here it’s different. There is no one to tell you what’s right and wrong, this is how you’ll learn to make your own choices. I mean…you’d rather live your own life rather than be a machine, right? Make some principles based off of what you’ve observed and stick to them. Then, break some of them for a moment…the ones not too important.
If you think the place can be improved, send that message forward. Really, people don’t like living the same, boring, reality that others before them detested. Be kind and let others know what you don’t like, they should take heed of your knowledge, at least…if they’re doing their jobs correctly.
Cramming is a sign somethings not right with your way of life. Unless, 100% of the class if cramming, something’s not right here. If 100% of the class is cramming, tell someone who can fix it, that person isn’t doing their job right; they are not effective. Would you want those after you to feel the same way you are now cramming? People hardly change their ways unless you mention it. Be kind and do so. Observe it. Make changes. Or, leave the place entirely. Nothing’s worth your health.
Handy: check in with an advisor each year, they can spot grad requirements that are faulty in time.
The best and easiest way to learn for a test is to make it a daily practice. By the big exams, you’ll have more free time to relax. The more you use the noodle, the easier it is to recall ideas. Just like any other tool. It’s in the practice, not magic.
Forget the shit they taught you in the SAT AND GRES. It never comes into practice. Your boss will never hand you mutiple choice work for you to pencil in. You boss will never ask for two quantities to be compared for it’s own sake. You’ll never use those 100+ big words they want you to memorize, and if you do: people will look at you as snooty. Frankly, people who do well on those aren’t down to earth and have some type of ego. Plus, they don’t teach creativity nor how to find your inner strengths. Only real life interaction can. Look more at your life not a test to see what you like to do. It must be some test if it’s written for everybody’s brains and unique experiences. That being said, study well for them, they teach you something else.
Secret: Don’t look at exams like they are going to be helpful in the future. You won’t be fired nor called upon to ‘interpret the slope in terms of the problem’ or ‘find the tangent point at so and so location’ or ‘find the next flux in some abstract setting which no one can foresee in the next 200 years’ those things just won’t be happening.

Dialogue

Worker: …and that’s my presentation. any remarks?

Boss: Just one. What’s the slope in terms of the problem? I’m having a hard time seeing it in the powerpoint. Always interpret the slope in terms of the problem and make sure you find out what’s true and what’s false in the project I gave your team to complete.

Worker: …right, sorry. I was just explaining my findings for the company and profit curve expansion/projection, all of which could help us. But, yes I’ll add that to my notes next time.

Boss: Also, make sure you study well for the exam at then end of Q1. It has to do with sales projections, you’ll be interpreting a lot of slopes in terms of many problems then. Till next meeting, there’ll be true/false and many word problems as well as a quick vocabulary check by the end of it. You’ll also compare two profits to see which ones bigger, same with figures we couldn’t draw to scale. Bye.

Important!!! Don’t glaze over me!!!

Please come to this place with the aim of making it better for those who come after you. If you just look after your own needs, it will be a hard time for you. After all, the way the place is for you now came from others before you, and those people thought of you guys. Otherwise, nothing would change. Follow suit and keep the good ideas going. Never forget this place is for you, no matter what some person of authority says, those are just words in thin air. Think carefully about what went on inside the people who decided to make a place like this: was it for salaries or knowledge? This is a place of intellectual freedom foremost and without people like you, it wouldn’t exist. Give everyone the same amount of respect you currently give yourself, nothing more. Degrees are A DIME A DOZEN. GOOD THOUGHT ISN’T. PLEASE MAKE THE DISTINCTION. LEAVE WITH KNOWLEDGE, NOT SOME PIECE OF PAPER. A PIECE OF PAPER IS GOOD FOR WRITING. KNOWLEDGE IS TO BE TREATED AS GOLD.

As always, put up a good argument with anyone who questions you. Even your teachers make plenty of mistakes. Point them out quickly. Seriously, think, think, think. When you think, you question. When you don’t think, you become a copy machine. Do you want to be a copy machine or a person with a mind? These days will never come back and you can make a lot out of it. Make it memorable. Something worth the 40,000+ price tag you purchased each term.

Until next time…