Shamoozal.com - Smorgas Board

I'm going to try to write posts here every so often just offering up some tips I have for surviving university / highschool.

I do relatively well in the majority of my classes, and I've managed to accumulate some things into my routine which have really helped with my schooling. Since many of you on the board are either in university or are thinking about going to university in the next few years some of these things might help you out.

Another thing to mention is that each discipline will have its own routine; that is to say what I need to do to succeed is going to be a lot different than say, someone like Powerdusk who is taking classes that are much more artistically focussed.

So, tip #1: If you want to know how to survive in your discipline, then ask for advice from other people who have succeeded in your discipline.

Many universities offer some kind of program through the school that lets more mature students (typically 3rd and 4th years for a 4 year program) meet with younger freshmen to help them adjust to university life.

Also, while taking an elective in another subject you're not profficient with make sure to track down a student in that class who is majoring in that discipline as they will have a generally better grasp of what's going on then you.

For example, I'm a 3rd year History and Philosophy major, and I'm currently taking a 1st year Philosophy course on 'Human Nature'. Another student in the class who has taken this course as an elective (their major is in Biology) frequently asks me for help, and as such is finding it easier to survive the course.

Tip #2: Typically University is nothing like Highschool what-so-ever. Professor's don't give a shit if you miss classes, they won't make you get your tests signed by parents, they're not going to remind you of deadlines etc.

Also, typically speaking students at University will be more mature, the whole segregated 'clique' mentality is not prevalent and literally all of your fellow students will probably not give a fuck what-so-ever about anything you wear, believe, say or do.

What does this mean for you? Simply put: 1) You have to stay on top of your work, you have to make sure you know when due dates are, what readings are assigned for when, and most importantly to go to class. A lot of freshmen skip a lot of classes during first year, this is a terrible decision and by the time you get to your midterms you'll find yourself completely screwed. Essentially, just learn to be a responsible mature human being, and treat the University as your full-time job.

As for other students it's simple, don't worry about them. You do your thing, they'll do theirs. If you don't want to be friends you don't have to, and you won't end up becoming enemies either. This isn't going to be like that 30 person size classroom you had with the same bunch of kids every year that was the highschool norm. In fact if you have friends there's a good chance you may never have more than a couple classes with them.

This is another tip that goes along with this. Don't choose classes based on what your friends are taking. If for example you and your friend are both History majors and he is into American history and you're into European history don't skip out on European history classes you'd be interested in just to get into an American history class with your friend. Chances are you won't care about the course as much and you'll do less well as a result. Not to mention that having a friend in a class shouldn't matter anyways since you're in class to study and take notes, not socialize.

Tip #3: (and the last for now)

Talk to your Professors, Teaching Assistants, and Graduate Assistants for your various courses. All of these people have to have office hours, but typically no one will bother to show up and see them during these times. So they end up just doing paperwork or playing tetris for the 1 - 3 hours they schedule a week.

Trust me when I say, you're not bugging them by showing up, on the contrary you're giving them something to do, and in the process you can get help with anything you're having problems with. You can also get to know your Profs. a little better which will help you to anticipate things like what kind of direction they're going to take with the course, what kind of questions they might ask on tests, or what they expect in terms of papers etc.

Professors are a tool for your use, make use of them.

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I definitely need to talk to my teachers more. I have a horrible habit of never asking for help under any circumstance.

I think out of the first three points I've listed so far that one is the most important. Going to lectures, reading the textbook, and taking notes are all very important, but going to talk to your Professor takes your learning to a whole new level that can potentially take a B student into the B+ to A range.

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Community College is awesome....teachers are pretty relaxed at my school.

same here, minus the awesome.

I liked it more than Highschool

yeah dude definitely talk to professor's, especially in classes you're having trouble with. The more a prof knows you, the more likely you are going to get that extension or bump to the next letter grade.

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