I saw a discussion of first world problems about this and I think that this is something where if a lot of our members aren't of age yet, they're quickly coming of age and hopefully we can all impart some wisdom on each other and talk about stupid college stresses and all panic together during the last couple weeks of school when everything comes crashing down on us.
So, talk about where you're going or hope to go, if you're comfortable sharing that, what goals you wanna accomplish this year, etc.
This year I have two main goals: I really wanna get my GPA up, and I also wanna make some solid friendships. Although I gotta admit, the friends part almost seems like a waste, since I'm planning to transfer out of my university and to somewhere else. But, after I had a pretty massive falling out last year with my friends, I really need to get out there and be proactive with friendships. I'll probably swing by a few gaming club meetings and see what gamer friends I can pick up, but that kind of sucks because gaming club is on friday nights which... if there's one night i wanna dedicate not to gaming, it's friday night. The GPA part should be easy enough. My GPA just took a real dip because first semester I cut a bit too much class, and second semester I got into that car accident which really threw me for a loop.
I'm really glad my college FINALLY got a good green space! I think it's exactly what my school was missing last year. We used to have to literally play frisbee and stuff in the streets and parking lots and now i'll be able to just set up a towel and study out in the sun hopefully 8) and of course staying on track so i can hopefully go to italy is an objective haha
I want to finish my second year of graduate school, be done with qualifying exams, and get a goddamn RA so i don't have to TA ever again. Also, smoke less.
Quote from: Lord Raven on August 16, 2015, 03:35
Also, smoke less.
Are you still just smoking hookah? Stop partying so hard, that will help.
if i party harder it'll keep me away from the demon shisha
Muhed you naughty boy! (Although chuck some hookah my way yo)
Also if anyone has anything they want to ask about university, feel free to ask away. I'm not a student any more, and unless I do a PhD I don't plan on being one any more, but I'm still very much a part of that community, so I'm not completely out of the loop yet =]
I wish I could actually stick to one course rather than 1) dropping out in the first semester or 2) failing at the end of the year rip
Quote from: Lord Raven on August 16, 2015, 07:31
if i party harder it'll keep me away from the demon shisha
not sure what demon shisha is, my friends and i started smoking dokha and i had no idea tobacco could mess you up that much. we actually stopped smoking hookah for a few weeks because our tolerance built up to the dokha REALLY quickly and regular hookah would legit do nothing which sucks because going to hookah bars is usually like a bi-weekly occurrence and they don't carry it.
i need to pick up a minifridge for my room still pretty badly. i also saw this idea for making an at-home projector setup and there's this area just off campus that's railroad tracks and under an overpass by a river and i REALLY wanna make a lazy projector setup there so we can watch movies there haha
oh i meant that shisha is the demon
I miss uni. Both of them.
Life was easier back then.
my roommate finally showed up. she seems cool so far, but i feel like you don't know anyone's personality until the first few weeks are up. there's also this cute moroccan boy on my floor i talked to for a while last night. i have further gained the trust of the freshmen in my dorm because i had a gigantic tapestry to sit on for the movie being shown in the field. aaand i'm just killing time before my first class, microeconomics, right now
Uni has just sent me two reading lists for vital and recommended books and the two lists come up to about £250.
Guys.
I'm moving tomorrow aaaaaaaa
I've got pretty much everything I need except food but I'm probably going to get it once I work out how much kitchen space I'll get.
Got an email saying how my flats windows haven't been fitted yet lol (it's a new build btw) so I've got to stay in a temporary flat in the same block for two weeks.
Going to miss my dogs the most though :'(
Still 18 days until I move but I just did my very final uni shop (got some all-purpose heels for £8, too).
Signed up to my student account as well. Everything's coming up Milhouse.
I got 26 days to go and the only thing I ain't lookin forward to is having to pay for the first year of my course. Rip the dream
Quote from: umbreon#100 on September 02, 2015, 17:34
Uni has just sent me two reading lists for vital and recommended books and the two lists come up to about £250.
Guys.
Get the editions from a few years before, they'll be far cheaper on Amazon and there's also the Uni library which you can borrow some of the books from
Just finished the second weeks worth of coursework for my poly sci. class online. Still haven't missed a question of the quizzes.
Quote from: Kerou on September 02, 2015, 20:35
Get the editions from a few years before, they'll be far cheaper on Amazon and there's also the Uni library which you can borrow some of the books from
I'll probably have to get some older editions, aye. The sociology books that we used in college were all based on older studies and unless someone destroys all of Jung's work or something, I can't see them becoming invalidated any time soon.
The library is going to be a Godsend and it's 24/7 so I'm hyper excited.
Quote from: Kerou on September 02, 2015, 20:35
Get the editions from a few years before, they'll be far cheaper on Amazon and there's also the Uni library which you can borrow some of the books from
there's also other ways to... scour... the internet for a PDF where you could end up getting them for free. this is how i went all last year without paying a cent for books
today i spoke to one of my old friends from last year, the one i didn't have such a problem with. he was cool with me, we hung out for a bit. good to know at least he doesn't hate me. we had a lot in common
Quote from: Kpyna on September 03, 2015, 02:23
there's also other ways to... scour... the internet for a PDF where you could end up getting them for free. this is how i went all last year without paying a cent for books
today i spoke to one of my old friends from last year, the one i didn't have such a problem with. he was cool with me, we hung out for a bit. good to know at least he doesn't hate me. we had a lot in common
I always found that to be hit and miss because it'd depend on what books and how rare they were. I'd always find sections on Google Scholar but not always full amounts.
Quotethere's also other ways to... scour... the internet for a PDF where you could end up getting them for free. this is how i went all last year without paying a cent for books
The joys of doing a music technology degree where EVERYTHING was online.
Referencing YouTube videos was an absolute joy.
Quote from: Kerou on September 03, 2015, 08:08
I always found that to be hit and miss because it'd depend on what books and how rare they were. I'd always find sections on Google Scholar but not always full amounts.
the ones that get me are the "online lab" that you gotta pay for the book to get the access code. like so far i have one book i couldn't find, rents for $77, so I gotta drop that money. I was browsing amazon and it suggested I bundled the 3 books I know I'll need so far, but I found the 2 of them online -- about $500 to do it the normal way. Sooo expensive. When you pay like $25-30k for tuition, idk, it all counts.
Who would have thought that the "Bar Society" wasn't related to alcohol. smh.
Quote from: Kerou on September 03, 2015, 08:08
I always found that to be hit and miss because it'd depend on what books and how rare they were. I'd always find sections on Google Scholar but not always full amounts.
I've found some pretty rare books by looking around. Odds are you need to clean up search terms or look harder. It's a pain in the ass though, but it'll eventually work.
My english book is a "school exclusive" and i hope it's a dupe of a book by some company or a rewrite by some professor. if it's an original work i'll be surprised tbh but it's $100 for a book that's on a plastic binding and looks like it was printed on our school's black and white printer...
First day of uni today and the entire class seems really nice! I was actually surprised by how many people were studying Psychology since about 30 joined the group and there was easily 100 people in the lecture hall.
Definitely joining the Psychology Society since they have really cool looking hoodies and they've made cakes that look like brains? Plus there's a smashing volunteering program which will provide experience for my CV and I get to help out.
The only problem is that it's a 50 minute walk from the uni to the train station and I was wearing boots so I'm practically dead.
I can't tell whether my personal tutor enjoys tossing banter about or whether he's already decided he doesn't like me lmao.
Met some nice people on my course I guess but Fresher's is kinda disappointing. There's a bunch of people in my block calling themselves "the squad" an my kitchen all really hate them.
My course have an open mic afternoon at a local pub on Thursday and they want people to bring some of their writing and I really don't wanna have to speak in front of them.
Quote from: Waterstone on September 21, 2015, 18:38
Met some nice people on my course I guess but Fresher's is kinda disappointing. There's a bunch of people in my block calling themselves "the squad" an my kitchen all really hate them.
hahaha oh god "squad". if it makes you feel any better eventually those people will realize they're probably not gonna be best friends for the rest of college or probably even until the end of the school year, and then they're gonna end up like what i was with no friends and nervous to begin again lol
speaking of that i did make quite a few new friends. i was pretty glad that by the second weekend i was back into the groove a bit. earlier this week i met some people i really got along well with and we've been hanging out a lot recently. they're all freshmen but honestly i don't care because so far our personalities mesh pretty well and we have similar interests.
happy the funk is over... but i woke up this morning and i swear my room was like 40 degrees and i came so close to skipping my first class :p i'm not trying to skip this year like i did last year though.
Squad is life, squad is love. Can't handle the bantz then you got antz in ur pantz.
Yeah we're bringing the bants but we're kinda keeping to ourselves about it?
We had a group Domino's and got 50% off with the vouchers uni gave us and it was absolute goals
QuoteMet some nice people on my course I guess but Fresher's is kinda disappointing. There's a bunch of people in my block calling themselves "the squad" an my kitchen all really hate them.
Anyone that refers to them and their group of mates as 'the squad' needs a kick in the face.
"Oi, Lads! Lads! Lads! I just saw the funniest pic on Lad Bible!"
"Safe! You need to get on that UniLad stuff as well, proper top bants innit"
"Y'know mate. You fancy a Greggs? I'm proper starvin."
"Don't worry lads, I've got a few quid on my Nando's gift card. Cheeky Nando's on me!"
"Smiffy, you're like the Archbishop of Banterbury pal! All aboard the banter bus!"
They're the sort of people that when you're in the pub would go.
"Look after my pint while I go for a wee"
"Oi, Lads! I'm gonna put a massive bogey in James's pint!"
*James drinks pint*
"HAHAHAHA! We put a bogey in your pint!"
He's not going to go "Aw, top lad points and banter king badge for you!" He's going to go "Right, £2.20 please, I want another Fosters. Plus you're not sitting near me you psycho."
Do they happen to do sports courses by any chance?
Nah sports is on a different campus but you're pretty much spot on with the personalities haha
They're all doing like Biology and other stuff like Advertising idk
The ones like that at my uni all did sports courses and could only communicate through football chants. Blew all their students loans within a week of getting them and were complaining they had no money for anything essential.
They called themselves the 'chaps' though rather than 'the lads' or 'the squad'.
Tried joining some societies today in the fresher's fayre but I only managed two before I had to leave since it was packed and those environments make me aggressive lol
Managed to join Student Minds because I thought it was the Psychology Society... which makes sense since the lady at the stall seemed rather surprised. On the plus side, it's a mental health charity that offers support to students and that'll look great on a CV and I get to make friends and experience.
Looks like I'm going back to join the Psychology society tomorrow lol
man i had a revelation while sitting in class last semester
six straight years of classes sucks so much ass
like, and theyve all been physics, there comes a point where I feel like I've learned the same thing multiple times now
Quotelike, and theyve all been physics, there comes a point where I feel like I've learned the same thing multiple times now
Could be worse, you could be teaching and having to regurgitate everything you ever learned to people who don't to listen.
Oh I'm doing that right now in order to get funding, so it's pretty much crap
It's definitely not a career choice I'd recommend. When your doctor tells you to change career it's got to be bad
All my lectures are placed online for later references so is it worth waiting and writing up my notes on Saturday/Sunday? It just seems better to be able to do a summary of my notes and use some of that beautiful, sexy, critical thinking.
Tbf I just can't be bothered to write them up tonight since I'm tired.
Nahh, make notes whilst you're there, and use the slides etc for further reference. A lot of them wont contain all the extra info, so just dont write down anything that's already said, and use them to supplement it
Plus you'll miss out on any critical thinking if someone asks an absolute corker of a question.
I used to play Football Manager in lectures thinking I could get away with it. You can in first and some of second year but third year you actually have to do some work.
Ah, manz... I do write down little nuggets of information but I'm still in my introduction lectures so it sucks right now. They're just really boring and people are too awkward to actually sit in the seat next to me.
Managed to buy all the books though, so I'll try and take a crapload of revision notes on Saturday.
midterms are coming up in a couple weeks for me, pretty scared about that
and yeah, i always take notes in class in a notebook. i know a lot of people like to use laptops but i'm not about that, i've read some studies that say you don't retain info as well if you don't write it. i usually make a point to write down what's on the slides (for memory purposes) and then bullet underneath them any elaboration my professor makes on the point
also today i became a part of my school's DOTA 2 Collegiate League team! I was so hyped we managed to get 5 people together on my tiny campus.
All this exam talk makes me glad I didn't do a single exam at my uni.
Okay, I did one. And it was optional.
I guess I'm just lazy.
This one guy keeps sitting near me in lectures but not next to me.
It's also the third time that I've missed the head nod that you do when a guy sits on your row.
eugh paying for my own tuition is a giant pain in my behind
like the money has gone out and we have the proof but the paying system is like "lol nah u havne't paid" like bruh..... why are you doin this to me
Our first assignment is 1200 words on Cognition and perception and we have to include 3 examples.
That's 400 words per example.
Just got the guidelines for my term paper for my poli sci class. Looked hard at first but I read through it and it doesn't seem as bad.
Quote from: umbreon#100 on October 05, 2015, 20:07
Our first assignment is 1200 words on Cognition and perception and we have to include 3 examples.
That's 400 words per example.
Fewer- with opening and concluding statements and if your uni counts quoted text in the word count or not.
Anyone else have an absolutely wild amount of work they've been needing to do for the past week or so?
I just got up to date on my accounting work (so now instead of spending like 6 hours a week on it I spend like 3), did a 7 page professional sales paper, have to start drafting a 15 page english paper, i have a whole bunch of microeconomics review work to do, and i have both an accounting and microeconomics test tomorrow... ack
people told me sophomore year would be harder than freshman year but i wasn't expecting it like this haha
Got the draft for my paper on the Mapp vs. Ohio case done. I hope my professor likes it when it's finished.
I've got a presentation coming up but I haven't had any information on it and I've got two 1,200 word essays on cognition and abnormal psych. There's also mention of a 800 word annotated bibliography.
Some scrub sat next to me in lecture today but he had a laptop and the twit kept putting his elbows on me. The pleb received a slight scalding from a lecturer because he wouldn't stop talking on Monday so he comes down and sits next to me on a Tuesday.
That's the thing with uni tbh. Everyone thinks they're the dog's balls because they got in so everyone thinks they're better than everyone else despite the fact that we're all swimming in the same pool of debt. It's why I haven't offered to lend out my textbooks to people... I can't imagine they'll come back to me.
Like... I expected uni to be filled with intellectuals but it's filled with scrubs. It's like joining a clan on CoD, expecting everyone to be organised, and it's just a bunch of qwikskoperz who shout out random memes.
Lectures are top-notch though.
I have to write at least 500 words on a story that's both sad and funny for Friday. I'm good at sad but... funny????? I can't do funny writing yet what am I even suppose to write?
I've got an idea to write about two childhood friends who go on a camping trip but realise they're completely different people but I've no idea how to make it sad and funny at the same time like, this is what you guys are supposed to be teaching me, how can I do it with literally 0 guidance other than "hurr durr sad but funny" I am paying you £9000 pls teach me
9:15 Ecolinguistics lecture with my absolute favourite lecturer tomorrow though :-)
Black comedy might be the way to go, but might be a little controversial with your lecturers due to some of the subject matter that comes up.
Shaun of the Dead is a good place to start (language warning). Four Lions is good too, but language warning and so is Super. Again- language warning.
if there is ever a problem do not be like me and sit on it for weeks or you will end up with no money because student finance think you haven't enrolled smh
Quote from: Milsap on October 21, 2015, 12:41
Black comedy might be the way to go, but might be a little controversial with your lecturers due to some of the subject matter that comes up.
Shaun of the Dead is a good place to start (language warning). Four Lions is good too, but language warning and so is Super. Again- language warning.
Language warnings aren't a problem, my lecturers are the sweariest swearers to ever swear. Just today we were given the advice "never write a sentence to which you could not comfortably add the s-word" which is sound, really lmao
I get the impression that by sad but funny they probably mean in a sort of Forrest Gump sort of spirit. Not sure. Obviously I'm not gonna go flat out Forrest Gump in 500 words but I need to pick a tiny & quite sad moment and then highlight how sad it actually is by adding humour... I've got until Friday oh dear
Given the target audience of the site I thought it best to add it in. My lecturers were quite cool with language- I quoted Ricky Gervais in one assignment.
That's definitely a hard subject, Chloe. I feel like I personally have no experience with writing things that are funny because you just never learn that stuff. I think Black Comedy is a good idea, or you could write a story that seems sad and serious, but vague, and then at the end you could say something that clarifies what you were talking about that totally changes the mood and makes it funny. I don't know how to describe that well except for it being the format that a lot of greentext stories operate on (the "gf is prego" one comes to mind)
I just took my accounting exam 2 today. I was sooo nervous but I think I did alright. I probably got a few of the multiple choice and true and false wrong, but I think as far as the actual accounting parts I did fine.
Quote from: Waterstone on October 21, 2015, 01:26
this is what you guys are supposed to be teaching me, how can I do it with literally 0 guidance other than "hurr durr sad but funny" I am paying you £9000 pls teach me
welcome to uni!!!
chloe have you ever read when god was a rabbit?? that's a book that mixes sad with funny really really well - it's the book that had me full out sobbing for 3 and a half hours but still has loads of moments which i'd point to and laugh at.
idk my advice is to focus on the sad in an almost slightly dismissive way if that makes sense? like yes it's sad but don't fixate on the thing that's sad too much because in my experience that comes off as pretty cringe. if you're lucky the humour will just come off as flair in your descriptions and dialogue - it doesn't have to be 'ahah ahah ahah mr smith is being eaten by a dog.... but look at this zany character making great running commentary whilst another zany character freaks out unhelpfully in the background!!!!'
tl;dr: don't try to emphasize the funny or the sad. have the objective in mind but try to write like an actual person. if ur going to emphasize a bit of sad try to juxtapose that with something funny. if ur describing a heavily weeping woman try to do it w some more unsympathetic language.
although that said i am but a wee year 12 who is not university i am unqualified and i apologise
also reread a series of unfortunate events
I have to present my paper on online black markets in an hour and I'm just scared I'll start choking towards the end of the paper or lose where i'm reading or whatever
I hate reading essays :'( give me a powerpoint pls
Quote from: Waterstone on October 21, 2015, 01:26I've got an idea to write about two childhood friends who go on a camping trip but realise they're completely different people but I've no idea how to make it sad and funny at the same time like, this is what you guys are supposed to be teaching me, how can I do it with literally 0 guidance other than "hurr durr sad but funny" I am paying you £9000 pls teach me
Office hours + not everyone's gonna give you specific instructions (especially with writing). You're expected to try and fail and learn from failures, and many college professors tend to help your grade out from the failures. But if you're confused you gotta talk to your prof or email them lol If you can't make office hours then schedule an appointment.
They tend to cover everything in lecture but they can't do it in much detail because they expect you to completely learn it on your own.
Quote"hurr durr sad but funny" I am paying you £9000 pls teach me
You can't teach writing, music or drama in the same way you can teach maths, physics and languages. With maths, physics and languages it's absolute, there's only one way you can do things; It's either right or it's wrong (Unless you're writing a thesis of course)
With 'creative' subjects like writing, music and drama, if you 'teach' it, the lecturers will just receive all the same thing. It's all interpreted, which I think is great. You just keep going til you find something that works.
Plus, uni's more "Here's what you've got to do, no bugger off and do it" rather than having your hand held like in school. They'll give you the outlines, it's your job to do some research for yourself and colour it in.
There are huge seagulls on campus and I really want to touch one because they look soft. I've always wanted to touch a pigeon too. They remind me of my dogs.
Quote from: umbreon#100 on November 04, 2015, 14:11
There are huge seagulls on campus and I really want to touch one because they look soft. I've always wanted to touch a pigeon too. They remind me of my dogs.
a video of you in about a weeks time after ur seagull encounter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-6l-905zD0)
I'll probably train them to fly me to lectures so that I can feel like House from Up.
Quote from: umbreon#100 on November 04, 2015, 14:11
There are huge seagulls on campus and I really want to touch one because they look soft. I've always wanted to touch a pigeon too. They remind me of my dogs.
You missed the ear of badman seagull. He was majestic, but vanished after he got himself a girlfriend
Who/what is/was the ear of badman seagull? :0
I was actually meant to be in lecture rn but I had to go in for a meeting at 1 and I didn't want to spend 4 hours loitering in uni when I have nothing to do, only to struggle to get out of the lecture hall on time because some lass needs to finish her Facebook chat before packing up her laptop lol
Like damn, if the lecture finishes at 6, I need to get to the bus stop asap otherwise I can't get home until about 8/9.