大学生成功的秘诀Word文件下载.docx

大学生成功的秘诀Word文件下载.docx

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1.Answerthequestion,“WhyamIgoingtocollege?

”

Manycollegestudentsreallydon’thaveaclearreasonforbeingthereotherthanthefactthattheydon’tknowwhatelsetodoyet.Theyinheritgoalsfromfamilyandpeerswhicharen’ttrulytheirown.ThatwashowIstartedcollege.Isthisyouaswell?

AsI’vestatedpreviouslyonthisblog,thethree-semesterdealwasn’tmyfirsttimeatcollege.IhadpreviouslygonetocollegewhenIwasn’tintherightframeofmindtobethere.InhighschoolIwasastraight-Ahonorsstudent,Presidentofthemathclub,andcaptainoftheAcademicDecathlonteam.Thatmomentumcarriedmeforward,andwithoutreallyeverdecidingifitwaswhatIwanted,Ifoundmyselfwithfourmoreyearsofschoolaheadofme.Itseemedlikeagoodideaatthetime,butmyheartjustwasn’tinit.Consequently,Isabotagedmyselfinabigway.Iblewoffmyclassesandgotaneducationinpartiesandalcohol.ApparentlysomeadministratorwasbiasedagainststudentswhoseGPAstartswithadecimalpoint,soIwassoonexpelled.

Thatexperiencesentmeintoabitofatailspin.Iwasinafunkforaboutsixmonths,mostlyjustplayingvideogames.Finallyinanattempttore-groundmyself,Igotaretailsalesjobandtriedtostayundertheradarwhiletakingsometimeto“findmyself.”ThatwasthetimeIbegandevelopinganinterestinpersonaldevelopment,andboydiditpayoff.AyearlaterIwasreadytogobacktocollege,andIstartedoverasafreshman.ButthistimeIknewwhyIwasthere.Iwantedtobeaprogrammer,andIwantedtoearnmyComputerSciencedegree（IlateraddedtheMathdegree）.Butitwasmorethanthat.IknewIwascapableofalotmore,andIwantedtopushmyself.IwantedtocreatetherichestexperienceIcould.Formethatmeantareallydenseschedule.

Yourgoalsforcollegewilllikelybedifferentthanmine.Whatarethey?

Whyareyouthere?

Ifyoudon’tknow—andImeanreallyknowitinyourgut—thenyouhavenofocalpointforyourexperience.Youmayaswellnotevenbethere.Whatisitaboutyourexperiencethatresonatesastrueforyou?

Whatareyoutheretolearn?

Whatdoyouwanttoexperience?

2.Imagineyouridealcollegeexperience.

Onceyouknowwhyyou’regoingtocollege,imagineyouridealoutcome.Letitflowoutwardfromthereasonyou’rethere.Whetheryou’vealreadystartedcollegeornot,stopandsimplywritedownsomeattributesofyouridealexperience.Describeitinasmuchdetailasyoucan.

BeforeIreturnedtoschool,IspenthoursvisualizingthekindofexperienceIwantedtohave.Isawmyselfbeingchallengedbutmanagingiteasilyandwithoutstress.Isawmyselfmakingnewfriends.Isawmyselfhavingareallygreattime.MostofallIimaginedaverybalancedexperience—ablendofacademics,activities,socialization,andfun.ThekeywordIusedwas“richness.”

Thiswasareallyimportantstep.Ididn’tunderstandthemechanismatthetime,butIwaspre-programmingmyselftosucceed.WheneverIencounteredobstacles,myidealvisionwassomuchmorecompellingthatIwasalwaysabletofindawaytogetwhatIwanted.Ibecameaco-creatorofmyexperienceinsteadofapassivevictimofit.

Visualizationallowsyoutomakemistakesinadvance.Ifyoucan’tgetaclearvisualization,yourexperienceislikelytobejustasfuzzy.Debugyourvisualizationuntilitinspiresyou.

Reallifewillofcourseturnoutdifferentlythanyouvisualize.Thepointofvisualizationisn’ttopredictthefutureortorestrictyourfreedomtodecidelater.Thepointistogiveyoumoreclarityformakingdecisionsrightnow.Youridealsceneservesasamapthatcanguideyouthroughthequagmireofoptions.

3.Takeatleastoneextraclasseachsemester.

Studentsaretaughtthat12-15semesterunits（3-5classes）isa“full”schedule.Butaschedulethatlightishardlyfull.Apersonwithafull-timejobwillputinagood40+hoursperweek,andstudentsenjoyeverypossiblevacationdayplusspringbreak,winterbreak,andsummervacation.Ifyouwanttospendfourormoreyearsincollege,addmoredegreesorgetajobontheside.Don’tfeelyouhavetogoatasnail’spacejustbecauseeveryoneelsedoes.

Nowyoumightbethinkingthat12-15unitsaresupposedtoequatetoa40-hourweekwithalltheoutsidehomeworkandstudying,butthat’sonlygoingtohappenifyoudothingsveryinefficiently（whichsadlyiswhatmostpeopledo）.Ifyoufollowsomeofthetime-savingtipslaterinthisarticle,then15unitsshouldonlyrequireafewadditionalhoursoutsideofclasstocompleteassignments.ObviouslyIcouldn’thavetaken31-39unitspersemesterifitmeantdoingdoublethosehoursinoutsidehomework.Ididn’tsucceedbyoverworkingmyself.

Ifyou’reanaboveaveragestudent,youcancertainlyhandleanaboveaverageschedule.Sometimeswedon’tknowwhatwecanhandleuntilwepushourselvesalittle.Ifyouthinkyoucanhandle15units,take18or21.Youcaneasilyshaveayearoffyourschedule.Oryoumaybeabletoaddaminororadoublemajor.

Whataboutprerequisites?

ForthemostpartIsimplyignoredthem,andfortunatelyatmyschooltheyweren’tenforcedtoowell.Ifoundthatmostofthetimeaprerequisiteislisted,it’sgearedtowardsbelowaveragestudents.Don’tletpointlessbureaucracyslowyoudownifyouwanttograduatesooner.There’salwaysawayaroundit—it’susuallyjustamatterofgettingsomerandomformsignedbysomeonewho’stooboredtocareeitherway.Asmileandacomplimentgoalongway.

Bythelawofforcedefficiency,ifyouputmorethingsonyourplate,you’llfindawaytogetthemdonewiththetimeyouhaveavailable.Soifyoudon’tchallengeyourselfalittle,thatextratimewillslipthroughyourfingers.

Ithinktherealbenefittoadensescheduleisn’tthatyou’llgraduatesooner.Therealbenefitisthatyou’llenjoyaricherexperience.Takingfiveclassesinsteadoffourmeansmorelearning,moreachievement,andmorefriends.Andwhatemployerwouldn’tbeattractedtoastudentwhograduatedmorequicklythanhis/herpeers?

Thissortofthingsurelooksgreatonaresume.

4.Setcleargoalsforeachclass.

Decidewhatyouwantoutofeachspecificclass.Isthisasubjectyou’reeagertolearn?

Doyouwanttotargetthisteacherforaletterofrecommendation?

Isthisarequiredclassyoumusttakebutwhichdoesn’totherwiseinterestyou?

MygoalsforeachclassdeterminedhowoftenIwouldshowup,whetherI’dsitinthefrontortheback,howactivelyI’dparticipate,andwhatkindofrelationshipI’dseektoestablishwiththeteacher.

ForsomeclassesIwantedtomasterthematerial.ForothersIjustwantedanAgrade.AndforothersIwantedtosetmyselfupforglowinglettersofrecommendationsfromenthusiasticteacherswhosenativelanguagewasEnglish（sotheletterswouldbehighlyreadableandpositive）.

Mymomhasbeenacollegemathprofessorfordecades.Athomeshe’dcommentaboutstudentsshebarelyknewwho’daskherforlettersofrecommendation.Manytimesshehadtoturnthemdownbecauseshejustdidn’thaveanythingpositivetosayintheletter.Ontheotherhand,shewashappytosupportthosestudentswhoputinaseriouseffort.Mostteacherswanttohelpyou,butyouhavetoletthemseeyourstrengths.Evenifyoudon’tgetanAinaparticularclass,youcanstillgiveateacherplentyofmaterialforagreatletterofrecommendationifyouparticipateactivelyandshowrespecttowardtheteacher.

Thisisnotaboutmanipulatingyourprofessorsintolyingonyourbehalf.Thesimpletruthisthatthequalityofaletterofrecommendationultimatelycomesdowntohowmuchateacherrespectsyou.Don’tputyourselfinthedesperatesituationofhavingtorequestaletterofrecommendationfromateacherwhodoesn’tevenrememberyou—orworse,onewhothinkspoorlyofyou.Setyourselfupforsuccessinadvance.

OneofmyprofessorslearnedaboutmypackedacademicscheduleandexpressedinterestinlearninghowIwasmanagingit.Wehadaveryniceconversationabouttimemanagementtechniques.Ihadseveralprogrammingclasseswiththisprofessorandacedthemall.Ihappenedtothinkhewasanexcellentteacher,Ihadgreatrespectforhim,andIquiteenjoyedhisclasses.Whenitcametimetoaskhimforaletterofrecommendation,hewroteoneofthemostglowinglettersimaginable（”beststudentI’veencounteredinmycareer,”etc.）.

Ontheotherhand,Ihadcertainteacherswhoweredownrightlousy.Iditchedtheirclassesoftenandlearnedthematerialfromthetextbook.ObviouslyIdidn’tseekouttheirassistancedowntheroad.

Sometimesyou’llachieveyourgoals;

sometimesyouwon’t.Evenifyoudoyourbest,youmaystillfallshort.Youmayencounterteachersthatareunfair,lazy,sexist,racist,orotherwiseincompetent.MywifehadanovertlysexistprofessorwhowouldnevergiveafemalestudentagradehigherthanaB,nomatterhowwellshedid.Hewouldsaythingslike,“Ifyou’reamale,you’llhavetoworkhardinthisclass.Ifyou’reafemale,justcomebymyofficeafterhours.”Eventuallysexualharrassmentchargeswerefiledagainsthim.You’llhavetopickyourbattles.Someareworthfighting;

othersarebestignored.Havingcleargoalswillhelpyoudecidewhichiswhich.

5.Triageruthlessly.

Youdon’tneedtoputanequalamountofeffortintoeve