I encourage you to spend the next few minutes watching this video, and while you're watching it, ask yourself why you do what you do? If you're in college, going to college, or a college graduate, why does higher education matter to you?
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Why I Hate School but Love Education
This is a very powerful video that one of the peer mentors from my undergraduate research scholars program just sent me. It made me reflect on my last blog post and consider why those things matter to me.
I encourage you to spend the next few minutes watching this video, and while you're watching it, ask yourself why you do what you do? If you're in college, going to college, or a college graduate, why does higher education matter to you?
I encourage you to spend the next few minutes watching this video, and while you're watching it, ask yourself why you do what you do? If you're in college, going to college, or a college graduate, why does higher education matter to you?
Time Management
In college, there is no shortage of distractions. There are more student organizations than there is time to figure out what you want to be involved in. Your friends are always around. And there is always some kind of shenanigans going around either in the dorms or around them. If you want to get any work done, you basically have to isolate yourself in a corner, and plug into an alternate reality, filled with printed text and the sound barrier of your headphones.
In the beginning, you are really ambitious. You want to be the first college student to ever master the task of having a full social life, getting enough sleep, and completing all of your assignments. BUT THEN YOU REALIZE THAT DOESN'T WORK. It's amazing how frequently I have run off of four hours of sleep and still functioned semi-normally. In fact, it's happening so much that it's almost becoming normal, and that in itself is a scary thought.
With an abnormal amount of caffeine (for me) and the ambition to do well this semester, I attempt to steer clear of my distractions. I have post-it notes reminding that social media will be there when I'm done. I have high-lighted lists of tasks that need to be completed. And I have memos in the calendar on my phone, reminding me of where I need to be at all times.
There's no doubt that college is stressful. I just took my first-ever college midterm, and my brain just about turned to mush the second I set my pencil down. But before entering college, I did a lot of cost-benefit analysis.
Costs:
Around $28,000 a year (before financial aid, etc.)
4 years of my life (plus the time I might spend in some sort of graduate school)
Energy (To anyone who has an iPhone and just go the new iOS 7 update: it's kind of like the way that this update drains your battery. High school is like iOS 6: you still used a lot of battery, because there was always so much to do. But then you get to college (iOS 7) and all of the sudden your energy is dropping quicker than you can explain.)
My Sanity (this might be an overstatement, but I swear I am going crazy sometimes)
Benefits:
Knowledge
Leads to a Job (A career!)
Get into graduate school
Meet new friends
Learn more about life
Go more in depth in the subjects that I enjoy
Learn more about myself
Going to college was never a question, but just looking at these lists, I know that it is worth it. Wait, I should really be getting back to work! I didn't schedule this distraction.
In the beginning, you are really ambitious. You want to be the first college student to ever master the task of having a full social life, getting enough sleep, and completing all of your assignments. BUT THEN YOU REALIZE THAT DOESN'T WORK. It's amazing how frequently I have run off of four hours of sleep and still functioned semi-normally. In fact, it's happening so much that it's almost becoming normal, and that in itself is a scary thought.
With an abnormal amount of caffeine (for me) and the ambition to do well this semester, I attempt to steer clear of my distractions. I have post-it notes reminding that social media will be there when I'm done. I have high-lighted lists of tasks that need to be completed. And I have memos in the calendar on my phone, reminding me of where I need to be at all times.
There's no doubt that college is stressful. I just took my first-ever college midterm, and my brain just about turned to mush the second I set my pencil down. But before entering college, I did a lot of cost-benefit analysis.
Costs:
Around $28,000 a year (before financial aid, etc.)
4 years of my life (plus the time I might spend in some sort of graduate school)
Energy (To anyone who has an iPhone and just go the new iOS 7 update: it's kind of like the way that this update drains your battery. High school is like iOS 6: you still used a lot of battery, because there was always so much to do. But then you get to college (iOS 7) and all of the sudden your energy is dropping quicker than you can explain.)
My Sanity (this might be an overstatement, but I swear I am going crazy sometimes)
Benefits:
Knowledge
Leads to a Job (A career!)
Get into graduate school
Meet new friends
Learn more about life
Go more in depth in the subjects that I enjoy
Learn more about myself
Going to college was never a question, but just looking at these lists, I know that it is worth it. Wait, I should really be getting back to work! I didn't schedule this distraction.
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