| College Days |
| Ahh, College. Finally, some say. I am here to stay. I have always liked school, most espicially the learning aspect. In college, much like high school, I find myself constantly worrying about GPA and grades. This in turn hampers my enjoyment and sheer fun factor of learning new material. I think many people get caught up in much the same way and forget the many choices of coursework that is avaliable to them. On to my story. |
| I attended Comeaux High School. I enjoyed the place well enough. The whole high school experience was quite different than I expected and as many seem to do, I met most all of my friend base near or during my senior year. |
| College, like high school did when I first entered it, gave me a lot of insight into people. There seem to be so many people in college that you once again get lost. [Of course, you can barrel to the top, or just float around. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Once you get the piece of paper in the end, most employers are happy with that]. I "lost" contact with a number of friends as I entered college. Some of those from simple not having contact information, others primarily from avoidence. As many never learn in life, "high matainence" friends really at times aren't all that friendly. You could probably call them excess bagage. To make a long story short, I occasionally speak with these people, but usually don't inquire into their problems. I tired to help them for a while, some it seems need more than my help, others simply don't listen to my suggestions. It is there life to live, so I definitely don't mind people -at times- ignoring my suggestions (though I usually attempt for them to be for the better). |
| Wow, it seems I am becoming an obscure writer. I ramble for long paragraphs aparently about something, yet when you finish you still have no idea where I am coming from. Sorry about that... as a classmate once noted: Ramble Mode Off. |
| So far I have attended two universities. I have the same major that I decided upon when I was in 8th grade (mechanical engineering). It seems to fit me well. [side note: it is a little upsetting when people always ask me why I check out tire sizes and look at how vehicles sit all the time. I guess they don't understand that simply inquiring is what gets your mind working. The act in itself doesn't do much for your knowledge base, but all of the little pieces add up to a much broader understanding. That is why I do the things I do]. I started out at a university near my home (30 minutes or so, approx 10-15 miles). I was a commuter student, as are most of the students there. I regret that somewhat, as I did not get as involved as I could (the hours worth of driver for events did not help out much). The university was pretty fairly well rounded, with engineering, arts(visual, arch, musical), sciences, and humanities... all which seemed decent to adequately developed. The next university I attened was approximately 200 miles north of my hometown. This is primarily an engineering / science school with much less development and funding funneled from the school. The campus is very nice, but is definitely a change as it is smack dab in the "bible belt." |
| I have learned a number of things in general about college: -As with high school, join clubs, sports, or organizations. This way you meet more people and have more people to rely on, espically if you are away from home. -Keep up your grades early. If you can test out of subjects that you know extremely well, do so. If you are just decent in them, it may be wise to take them again; or you can opt for a little harder work in the first few. (for my case, I should have opted out of English, which I did not know I could do at the time. My writing and Grammer skills dropped ten-fold due to freshman english classes. Math was not my strongest subject, so studying harder in those, would have made life much easier!). - Study. Easy, everyone says it. How to do it? A few alternatives: *Get a study buddy? Works for some, personally I usually work good alone, but having the extra person is usually welcomed. *Read over your notes the day after your class. This is essential in some classes, such as Biology. If you have to remember a lot, start remembering early. *Memory usually doesn't fill up (or so studies have shown). So don't worry about having to learn too much... you probably can't. -Exercise! Surprising to some, you get sick more often if you do not exercise regularly. If you can, try to do something more than lifting weights. Cardovascular exercises are extremely helpful in building your immune system... work with it, not agaist it. -Sunlight is good: Many people stay locked in their room with the lights out and TV on, with the blinds closed (of course). Um... this usually isn't healthy. Crack the blinds, open the window, and grab a book. This will expand your knowledge base and make your more relaxed (and healthy). I have others, but those seem to be the basics that come to me at the moment. :-) |
| Once the change of school occured I decided to get pretty well involved. A list of my college activities |