<p>Hey, I was wondering if current Emory students could stop by and leave some tips or suggestions as to what to do their summer before college. I know many people get jobs or travel or volunteer, but im hoping to find some activities that will help in college (ex. learning how to read more efficiently, improving vocabulary, learning latin/greek roots. etc.). I currently have a volunteer position but it is only 4 hours a week and leaves plenty of time for other activities … so feel free to say anything!</p>
<p>None of that stuff will help you significantly (seriously, don’t worry about it, it’s not like your life will become suddenly hard at Emory b/c you didn’t do academic activities over summer. Enjoy it. Emory isn’t too hard to adjust to in terms of rigor, especially for non-science courses). If you wanted to be busy with academic oriented things, maybe you should have looked into some of the summer programs offered at various universities (perhaps there may be some interesting seminars/talks in your area), many which may or may not accept students entering college in the fall. You could learn how to read more efficiently by simply…well reading for the sake of reading (lots of students now-a-days, including college students do not read for the sake of reading. It has to be connected to a class). You can do that on your own time. It doesn’t have to be greek/latin literature or learning the greek/latin language/rootwords, etc. Read things that interest you, even if it’s simple research articles and studies you find on the web. Simply becoming more informed in a concrete manner( as opposed to believing you are already informed and thus presenting conjecture out of the a**) could be beneficial as it bolsters your ability and willingness to conduct research to support or refute/challenge your own beliefs and opinions (yes, research will often prove you wrong or misguided and that’s okay b/c you learn). This is useful in college, perhaps moreso than the rote memorization of vocabulary and latin/greek roots (you can get through a top college without using “uppity” language/word-choice. Effective communication in an intelligent, nice, pleasant, laid back manner will suffice). Don’t think that all (or even most) your peers here will just be walking around consistently using extremely large and often meaningless words that have no significant contribution to a scholarly conversation. We are normal, but driven people w/high SATs. Again, if you are really concerned about your vocabulary, just read more (and of course criticize it in a meaningful way other than it simply being “well-written” or “poorly-written”, even it’s a simple news article). I personally read a decent amount during the summer (science related stuff, education-related stuff) and during the year. I choose to really look deeper into what I read. It helps me gain and maintain intellectual curiosity, keep critical thinking skills sharp, and increase my “effective” vocabularly.</p>
<p>But again, you should really enjoy summer. Though it may be possible that reading becomes a part of your summer enjoyment.</p>
<p>thanks a bunch bernie! I have read many of your posts and have always found them extremely helpful. I really appreciate the time you take to respond in such a thoughtful way. Thanks again.</p>