Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[penguinofhonor]

I'd say the point of college is to learn things in your department.

101 classes are designed for people who aren't interested in that field. They don't care and they're not willing to put that much effort in, so the instructor does pretty much the same thing back. You've got to take a few to show that you really care about the subject before the professors care back.

It's crappy, but they don't want most of the students failing out I guess. If your school has an honors program then those gen eds are typically more based on discussion and actual critical thought, but don't expect anything of the classes people take just because they're a requirement.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I saw Prometheus today. Don't see it. It's awful. There are two or three good parts, and then it's all awful.

[Scelly9]

I saw Prometheus today. Don't see it. It's awful. There are two or three good parts, and then it's all awful.

I guessed that as soon as I saw the commercial proclaiming it to be "The most anticipated thing of 2012"

[FearfulJesuit]

I graduated today. That wasn't what was sad- it was that during the ceremony the jazz band played "Fly Me to the Moon."


It was terrifying.

[GlyphGryph]

I always thought the point of college was to learn things. I've never been able to wrap my head around the concept of "integration into the community to secure your future". Maybe that's because I'm so terrible at social involvement I can't picture it.

Integration into the community or personal experience are really the only two reliable ways TO learn things. This is why most classes, or at least most good ones, focus on maximizing these two things - either via a connection with a teacher, tutor, TA, or classmates you can rely on to work through problems together (something you'll be seeing a lot in comp sci, or should be if learning is your goal - get a study group, and never settle for doing the minimum needed) or via dedicated self-study.

The first is important because, barring uncommon circumstances, you aren't going to succeed alone. If you want the best chance for success, you are going to need to find people who can go there with you, and college is a great time to LEARN that sort of thing. And not just socializing with classmates, but socialize with teachers. Ask for more things to learn, volunteer to assist on their projects with grad students, or at least try to follow along. Socialization is how you open up opportunities.

Self-study, working towards things, is how you achieve success with those opportunities. Luck is when Opportunity meets Preparation, and this is the preparation bit.  Treat your classes as sort of a "bare minimum" situation. Hell, if you learn things in advance, you can probably even test out of a good chunk of them and either graduate early or spend a year working on more advanced stuff. Never treat them as a "cap" on your learning, or you'll be setting yourself up for failure.


College is, indeed, all about learning. But if you think it's about crappy classes, I reiterate - you are absolutely 100% doing it wrong.

Edit: And just as important, it's learning about yourself : Who you are, what your capabilities are, and most importantly what you want - not just career wise, but in an SO, in friends, etc. and so on. University is all about pure, distilled opportunity - and the only way it ends poorly is if you decide not to seize on any of it. Well, that or ending up in a shitload of debt. But still!

[Lectorog]

Hrm. I can't say I understand everything about that currently - well, not understand, comprehend, mostly due to the context. But thanks for that - I'll definitely keep it in mind. I don't actually know what college is like, having never been there, but I'll be learning that soon enough; it should make sense then, I think.

As far as head-starts go, I currently have knowledge in C++ and have taken (as an AP class) Calculus 1. By the end of next year, I should have my social science credits and Calculus 2 and 3 finished; then I'll go off to college.

Also, I'm really bad with the friend thing. In high school, the way I'm "making friends" is by getting to lunch first and sitting at an empty table, and hoping that decent people sit with me. I guess I'll have to work on that.

[Trapezohedron]

Nice going, Philippines. >_>

You guys really shouldn't have voted for that guy based solely on his heritage.

[Lord Shonus]

I saw Prometheus today. Don't see it. It's awful. There are two or three good parts, and then it's all awful.

Yeah, it's pretty bad. There's not much in the way of action, the plot doesn't really hang together at all, and the explanations lead only to more questions.

[Bauglir]

I saw Prometheus today. Don't see it. It's awful. There are two or three good parts, and then it's all awful.

Yeah, it's pretty bad. There's not much in the way of action, the plot doesn't really hang together at all, and the explanations lead only to more questions.

So basically it's the trailer, but 2 hours long?

[GlyphGryph]

Also, I'm really bad with the friend thing. In high school, the way I'm "making friends" is by getting to lunch first and sitting at an empty table, and hoping that decent people sit with me. I guess I'll have to work on that.

This actually gets even easier in college. Join a club that interests you (preferably one with an active club room) + get into a study group. Plus dorm-mates if you go for that (go for that). Every other freshman will be looking for the exact same thing since most won't be locals.

[scout890]

Wallowing in my own self pity

[Gamerlord]

My parents recently confronted me about my future.

I have no idea what I'm going to do. I believe I am good at nothing. I see nothing to look forward to in life. I'm not certain what I enjoy besides the suffering of others as my parents have told me. I will become a failure. Everything is my fault. I don't deserve anything I have. Compliments are just lies meant to make me feel better about my self. Sometimes I wish I could just die and not deal with any of this. I see no purpose to living. I feel like I can't talk to anyone about anything. I will live alone and die alone. I want to be with other people, but I just can't. I never have anything to talk about. I have always had trouble talking to people. I feel I have close to no social skills whatsoever which appear to be necessary to survival in today's world. I wish I could fall asleep and not wake up

Its okay mate. You're not the only one. You pretty much just described my life so far.

[Solifuge]

Hey, as someone who came from that to a state of happiness, sufficient stability, and relative worldly success, might I advise seeking counseling? I suspect you've got yourself a case of inspiration-, drive-, and confidence-sapping Depression. I don't advise counseling strictly for this reason either... having an outside perspective can do wonders to help you understand more about yourself, what's important to you in life, and where you might like to go in the future. Most schools offer these services, and you're best off taking advantage of them while they're free/cheep, and easily accessible. Treat yourself right, and you'll better be able to do well by the world.

Also, hang in there. It'll pass with time.

[Reudh]

Thundering,  powerful headache. Waiting the paracetamol to kick in...

[ChairmanPoo]

Bad choice of drug. Paracetamol is weaksauce