So I’ll be frank: I was supposed to post this about 3 weeks ago but it was the beginning of exams and so I had, you know, exams to worry about. But now I’ve thankfully entered that glowing post-exam bliss, wherein I relish the opportunity to spend a whole summer actually reading fiction which I’ll not get around to reading, or telling myself that tomorrow will be the day that I once again decide to wait one more day before I start exercising consistently. You know how summers go: you make a plan, you delay the plan, you give up on the plan, and you resolve to do it next summer instead. Thus I have a bookshelf full of unread books and, although I’m in decent shape, I can say with confidence that I won’t find myself competing in London in 2012.
Anyway, I digress. My point is that with the arrival of summer holidays comes an opportunity for me to write yet another one of these nifty entries. And so I shall!
I figure I had a pretty successful year. It wasn’t stellar-to-the-max or anything, and it’s not going to get me a Rhodes Scholarship (PS – Erin Fitzgerald, if you happen to ever read this [via some Googling of your own name in the future, I'd imagine], I’ve never met you but I think it’s totally rad that you, a Vic student, were awarded basically the best scholarship ever this year), but I think it was quite respectable! And now that I’ve officially finished exactly half of my undergraduate career, I think its high time to evaluate what works and what doesn’t!
So, without further ado (get it? Yeah, exams killed my sense of humor):
Do: Attend Lectures – Alright, so I know this is self-explanatory. But I also know that if you manage to go your entire undergraduate career without enrolling in at least one class in which you find yourself habitually skipping lecture because the notes are online, then you’re very atypical indeed. But seriously, come on! You’ve paid for them, you’re guaranteed to learn at least one thing if you go, and you’ll probably end up being tested on it anyway.
Don’t: Do all your readings – Didn’t see that coming, did you? This year I did all the readings in half of my courses. The other half I did maybe 3/4. Even then, I’m absolutely positive I did more reading than the vast majority of my peers. It’s actually quite simple: you’re not going to do all your readings, so you may as well admit it to yourself up-front! You really should do the vast majority of your readings, but don’t get caught up on making sure you read every page of every book before the exam because it just won’t happen; in fact, your futile attempts will have you straddling the (albeit thin) line between conscientious student and caffeine-addicted robot. Recognize the important readings, target the ones that offer subject matter or perspectives which with you’re unfamiliar, and make sure you always do the readings that get discussed in tutorials. You’re set! But, for the love of all that is holy, if you’re going to skip some readings then make sure you attend the lectures!
Do: Find the right procrastination methods! – Face it, you’re going to procrastinate on things. You may as well do it in style. Did you know the Cat’s Eye has a pinball machine!? Well it does. And I currently have my initials residing next to each of the high scores, so you can believe me when I say that it is a fantastic way to procrastinate. Robot Unicorn Attack is also very popular at Vic, and with good reason! It’s mindless little flash games like that which will keep you sane!
Don’t: Rationalize your procrastination — I’ve heard it all before. “Oh, I work better under pressure.” “This one time I actually stuck to a schedule and did poorly on the assignment.” “Eh, my friends haven’t started their paper yet!” As great and all-consuming as a good bout of procrastinating is, take it for what it is: you’re not doing your work, and you are going to suffer for it. Keep that in mind while you’re procrastinating, and it will probably urge you to get back to work a little sooner.
Do: Take advantage of living in Toronto — You have the ROM right next door, you have the AGO down the street, you have the Leafs and the Raptors and the Blue Jays at your fingertips. And the Argos. And the Rock, I guess. And concerts! And the opportunity to walk through movie sets all the time! And etc etc etc! You live in what I truly believe to be the best city in all of Canada, so don’t just spend all day moping around campus like so many others do. Get out there, you’re right downtown!
Don’t: Plan your life out yet – Have goals. Have specific goals! Plan to go to Harvard Law or to Oxford or med school! Don’t build your entire life around these goals! You’re young, probably around 20. You should have an idea of what you want to do with life, but things are most likely going to change. You’re probably going to land that one C- that sinks your grand plans, and then what? I hope you have goals, and I hope you achieve them, but I hope you have a state of mind that won’t result in your entire world crumbling to pieces because you didn’t temper your enthusiasm for that free-ride scholarship to law school. You really should approach this all as a step in forming your idea of your ideal future, not just a step toward attaining whatever future you’ve already conjured up.
And folks, I’ll spare you more! Though sometime in the future I might write another Do/Don’t, because I’m frankly a fan of this format!
Also, as the new Vice-President External of VUSAC, I feel compelled to give you one more piece of advice:
DO: Go to VUSAC.ca, and on the right-panel enter your email in the Listserv box. You want to stay informed about everything going on at Vic, don’t you!?
Well folks, have a great summer!
Guest Bloggers
Nastassia
Sagar
Dora
Brandon
The majority of your points are really helpful to college-goers in general. As a graduate from a British University I can say that not doing all required reading is spot-on, pick the most interesting/key papers and studies to read into. I always found after each lecture we would often be presented with a page of 20+ Biology papers to read to draw on the lecture material and add something extra. It’s impossible to sufficiently analyse every paper in detail you get from every lecture for many modules throughout the term. There’s not enough time and there’s no guarantee you will use all of it anyway. The thing that I do, is to be smart about which further reading you linger over and make sure it can be incorporated into coursework, essays, projects or make you look smart in tutorials. Just like you say
Thanks city! I have always heard that in Europe they tend to give reading lists with multiple books and articles under the expectation that students pick and choose. Here, more often than not, they give you a handful of books and claim to expect you to read all of them.
And good point on the incorporating it into essays and projects. As I’m sure you’ll attest, often you’ll need to incorporate readings into essays, especially on exams. If you know 5 readings very well, you’ll be able to frame them in such a way as to reinforce basically any point you make. If you know 20 readings, but only superficially, then you’ll find yourself reframing your arguments to fit into your narrow grasp of what you’ve read.
Hey Brandon, you couldn’t have put it any better! Going into third year, and having suffered the consequences of all nighters, etc it is really important to have a plan and work towards it.
Thanks for all the insight – Enjoy your summer