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Some people at school work hard...others dont
Ever notice how some people at school work harder than others? There isn't really a point to this post, but to point out my realization that while I'm going from school to job to school and having to eat my lousy tuna sandwich while I write out an essay between classes...theres other kids who just try to cruise through. Are they smarter for doing so? Or is knowledge and understanding a better investment of your time?
Comments
You're pretty much opposite of me Morro: I try to attend regularly (unless of course there are digitally recorded lectures in which case I just listen to those) and pay attention in lecture and sit in the front--whatever is going to be tested, I study it. Sometimes it's the lecture notes, sometimes it's the readings, either way, I don't do anything extra. Why do anything extra when you'll eventually forget everything like a bad dream?
Then again, I'm coming from an arts perspective and not a science one (haven't taken one science course).
Believe me, I've tried the whole "learn from the textbook and go to lecture sporadically" thing; it doesn't work that way for me, and I've just had to adapt and go to lecture consistently. I get better grades when I do that. :D
And to the original post, I work my ass off in school but try to keep a balance. I know some people who just want to get by on a passing grade and if they're happy about that, well that's their thing. I try not to focus on how hard others are working because when it comes to school I set goals for myself and not for anyone else (except group projects--that's a whoole different story).
All in all, school is important, but just don't forget it isn't everything.
When I was in first-year, I did it all--I attended all the lectures, did all the readings, and even attended the prof's office hours more often than usual. But then I asked myself whether all that is really necessary. Now it's totally different--I only study what I have to and as much as I have to in order to obtain a particular mark. I know what gets you the A and I aim just for that (many times I've pulled off As while doing less work than someone who got a B, simply because I knew what I was doing).
And all this bollocks about treating education as something more than just what gets you the grade or the degree is utter bullshit. Everything is a means to something else and school is no different.
I can cruise by in certain things, i just have to make sure i pick the right classes. Others, i have to study really hard. For one of my classes, ive done none of the readings, and so far so good. For another, ive done about half. We'll see how it work when the midterms and finals roll around.
For instance, I took MATH 232 (Linear Algebra) this summer, and I only went to class for the first two weeks of the semester. Two weeks of lectures was really all it took for me to realize that the prof was basically regurgitating what was in the textbook. Even though I never went to class, I managed to pull off a B on self-study alone.
But CMPT 250 is another matter entirely. I attend class almost religiously--the prof's notes and his way of explaining things is much easier to understand as opposed to the course textbook.
Basically, I ditch class pretty regularly, but I try to be "smart" about what class it is that I'm skipping. :p
Anyway, school is really what you make of it. The people who really value their leisure time are more likely to be happy with just getting by (academically), and there are others who are willing to forego happytime in order to make the grade. I admit to being one of the former, haha. :D
Everyone's different.
Everyone has different styles of studying and lifestyle/situations so the studying styles and effort varies greatly. I guess school is more important (necessary?) to some moreso than others. I think that the people who get the best grades are those that correlate knowledge with success. Those that correlate money with success don't tend to do as well in university, as it simply becomes a means to an end. just my 2 cents
Doing much better now with no job.
The Lecture is an interesting question. I found that when I took my laptop I took excessive notes, the same as writing...so much to the point that I never refer to them except for paper writing. It's too much to study.
I'm doing the best I've done in a long time this semester, but I have no life Lol. All I do is stay home, read,sleep, go toschool. I only skip class if I have an assignment due "that day."..2 lectures this semester so far..but the lectures are online,so I just lost marks for not going to that one tutorial..