<p>There have been lots of threads- kids asking for advice, and parents to…
and I thought it might be fun to share how we messed up in Highschool or College</p>
<p>Me- I was getting a D in Biology, and grabbed my report card in the mail and tried to change the grade…of course got busted by my mom…the look on her face…egad</p>
<p>Ds were shown in RED, and my pen wasn’t the same color…boy did I learn my lesson</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The lesson learned? Pay attention in art class.</p>
<p>Two big lessons I learned in college:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don’t cut class. In a psych course required for my major, I cut the class quite a few times and showed up for a major exam, only to discover that the professor had moved the test location due to scheduling problems. He had informed the class of this change many times - but of course I wasn’t there. This was before the age of the internet - and no one thought to post a sign on the classroom door. I’ll never forget my panic, the horrible sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach and my embarrassment at having to explain my absence the next day to the professor.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t procrastinate. I ended up taking an incomplete in the aforementioned class. The following semester I got behind on writing the three 12-page research survey papers required for the course. I ended up doing ALL the reading and writing in 5 days. I lived on a horrible mixture of sugary foods (for energy) and a wake-up concoction made of 4 heaping teaspoons of instant caffeinated coffee, a little hot water to dissolve it, and ton of sugar and milk to make it more palatable. When the professor returned my graded papers, he said (in his chirpy British accent), “You do quite well when you apply yourself.” I got A’s on all three papers - but I learned NEVER to procrastinate on major assignments.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Aah, life’s lessons are often painful, but where would we be without them?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don’t get married at age 20. The marriage lasted 14 years and produced a wonderful daughter but it was a dumb thing to do. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t procrastinate (my version). I always wrote all my papers through undergrad and grad school at the last minute. In a difficult class in grad school most of the grade in one class was a huge research paper. I did all the research in time, but started writing and typing about 24 hours before the deadline. It took the whole 24 hours and the paper was 64 pages long–many pages of footnotes. That was an experience.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This may go against conventional CC wisdom, but I advised my daughter “Don’t sign up for a class just because it sounds interesting in the catalog.”</p>
<p>I was a science major and my curriculum classes were pre-selected and rigorous. There was typically room for just one elective each semester. First semester freshman year I signed up for “Power & Democracy in America”. The class actually was somewhat interesting, but filled with passionate political junkies. As a science and math geek, I was way out of my league (which is also why you won’t see me on the political threads in this forum). Second semester freshman year, I enrolled in an archaeology class. There I encountered the most boring professor of my college career (which was no small accomplishment). Not only that, but his exams were brutal. </p>
<p>After freshman year, I always surveyed upperclassmen before I signed up for any elective. I think it’s great that course and professor ratings are now so transparent with the internet, and I believe a student should do some research before signing up for a class.</p>
<p>Audiophile, I can relate to some things in your post.
Funny, but my college soph daughter is in a course called Power and Politics in America and she is a musical theater major. However, her school does have professor evaluations and course evaluations and they were good for this professor. I can’t say what it will be like for her but she did remark after the first day that the teacher was good and she does like this topic. </p>
<p>But I recall in my college days, we had distribution requirements which included two courses in math/sciences. LOTS of students took Astronomy for this requirement and it was known as the “gut course”. Did I take it? No, silly me, I wasn’t interested in that topic and I thought the course on Evolution sounded more interesting. Well, that course was a killer and was filled with pre med students. It wasn’t interesting and was quite difficult. It was my worse college grade of any course. Truthfully, I have never really liked science but this course was very technical and I recall focused a lot on the professor’s research on coral reefs. I happened to excel at math in high school but just never liked the subject. Most students were not taking math to satisfy the distribution requirement. Well, after that killer Bio class, I wised up and took Calculus even though I had taken Calc in HS and even though I had not had math for over a year. I aced it, because I was always a good math student (though could never do it today!). </p>
<p>One thing at my other D’s school, Brown, is that students get a “shopping period” and can shop courses and try many out for two weeks. Between that and open curriculum, students do tend to end up in classes that they like and want to be in. </p>
<p>Bookiemom…just wanna say I also married at 20, summer after my soph year. I happen to still be married 29 years later, but it is very young to get married, though I realized that even then. I shudder to imagine my older D who just turned 20 getting married!</p>
<p>My advice:</p>
<p>Don’t be too practical or focused. You’ll have an entire life to focus on one narrow area related to your job. College is a time to look at other areas, too. Go outside your comfort zone.</p>
<p>My whole college career was science focused. That’s all I knew and thought I liked. (Took it all the way through a Ph.D. even). Later, through an MBA, I discovered the world of social sciences. Kinda wish I had not tested out of all the core courses in college.</p>
<p>Don’t read Moby Dick in 24 hours.</p>
<p>Don’t volunteer for the draft in a time of war.</p>
<p>beprepn</p>
<p>Kinda what I was thinking beprepn. Advice for the policymakers: Remember Viet Nam, don’t start another controversial war. Oops, too late…</p>
<p>Don’t assume that opportunities will come looking for you, and don’t underestimate your qualifications. (I was interested in undergraduate research but since my faculty advisor didn’t mention it, I assumed that I was not a good enough student to be eligible. Later, I found out that other students with qualifications worse than mine were involved in research projects. The difference was that they had brought up the subject with their advisors rather than waiting for the advisor to say something.)</p>
<p>Don’t assume that eight straight semesters is the only route to a diploma. (A friend of mine wanted to change her major halfway through college, but we all tried to discourage her because she was missing two of the prerequisites for the new major and couldn’t possibly finish “in time.” Fortunately, she had a better idea. She took a leave of absence for a year, got a routine job at the university, and took the two courses as part of the employee degree program. Then she went back to being a full-time student – in the new major. She later went on to earn a PhD in that subject. Yes, she got her bachelor’s degree a year later than planned, but it cost her nothing extra since she was self-supporting during her leave.)</p>
<p>When an upperclassman shows you last year’s test(which was considered a perfectly ethical thing to use as a reference) and you go and take the exam, only to discover that the professor in his laziness used the same exact exam as the year before, do NOT go up to the professor and say, I’ve seen this exam before!!!</p>
<p>Soozie–I also married at 20 and am celebrating 29th anniversary this year. . . Yes, it’s too young, and I hope my kids will not follow my example!</p>
<p>I married at an age a lot older than 20 and I can assure you that if I had gotten married at age 20 it would have been a disaster for all concerned.</p>