• LAVA Moderator: Mysterier

How you changed when you went to uni...

When I first arrived I was indifferent to other students.

Now I abhor other students. Maybe not individually, but when they get together in a group they are dumb, greedy, dirty, selfish, spoiled egomaniacs. Although maybe that describes people in general so idk...
 
College had the opposite effect on me than for a lot of people here.

I had never drank or done any drugs whatsoever before college. I had hardly any friends in high school, and spent all of my time doing homework, playing volleyball, and participating in activities for band.

Now, I drink many weekends, smoke pot occasionally, have tried DXM, and am going to try shrooms. I also hang out with friends almost every day, and play video games almost every day.

I still study quite a bit, just not as much as I did in high school, and now I actually have a life.
 
Became less introverted and actualy became ok with myself in social situations. Prior to college I was extremely anxious all the time, now I'm one of the most relaxed people you could meet.. Honestly in that regard I'm almost an entirely different person. I was so confused, scared, and lost my first day of college.. now I'm content and at peace with the world.

The things I went through to get to this point still shock me though. 4 years of thought, partying, relationships, drugs, alcohol, medications, depression, etc etc.. it took a lot to become who I am but I'm glad it happened.

Other than that I don't think I changed a lot. My study habits and stuff improved but my intelligence level seems about the same.
 
Life after uni: looking forward to it!!

I will finish this May what has been a fun 8 years in uni. It has been a gratifying and stimulating experience that has changed my personality and my understanding of the world forever. And I got 3 diplomas out of it too :)

I feel so relieved to know that I will be freed from assignements, conferences, grading, teaching, sitting on useless comitees and all! I'm actually looking for positive experiences to boost me for my remaining two months as a grad student. I was searching the web for cheerful testimonials but I was surprised to read all the negative stuff people had to say about their post-uni life: the perils of job searching, the crazy student debt to repay, etc...

What about you, fellow BLers? Any positive experiences to share?
I'm eager to have free time and I'm hopeful about the future!
 
I was only in college/university for three years, I've been done for almost two years now. The job searching is the worst. But, once I got a job, it's been pretty awesome. I don't think I could go back to school. I hated having school all the time, then part time jobs, and then there was always homework or something to study for. Nonstop work, and most of it wasn't even that useful! I dunno, now I work 40+ hrs/week and I love it. I have money (I'm not a broke student anymore) and I actually have time to do things. I'm still busy as I have a second job that is more contract type work, I work on it in my own time, and I've been working on getting a certification but I'm only taking one course at a time. It's really nice actually.

I don't understand why people love being in school for years and years. I have lots of friends who just want to keep going back to school! Getting more degrees, diplomas, etc. Hah. It works for some people. But, now that I'm out of school, I could NOT go back! lol
 
i spent seven of the last ten years in school (with three aimless years between undergrad and grad school), and have really enjoyed my first year in the workforce. my job is interesting and challenging, and i really can't overstate how nice it is to finally be making grown-up money. another thing i like is that i can usually stop thinking about work when i get home, whereas with school (especially grad school) you always have something you could/should be doing. likewise, having such a consistent structure to my days/weeks has really helped me improve things like exercise, diet and not drinking so damned much all the time. i certainly miss those days where i didn't have class until two, as well as having the freedom to pretty much set my own schedule, but the positives make it more than worth it.
 
likewise, having such a consistent structure to my days/weeks has really helped me improve things like exercise, diet and not drinking so damned much all the time.

I hope I'll be able to do the same! I feel so exhausted physically after years of sitting/reading/writing, I can't wait to exercise again... As a full-time student you end up feeling guilty whenever you take time for yourself instead of catching up on school stuff, it's driving me insane! Totally unhealthy.

I also hope to quit smoking cigs, that's actually my no. 1 project for the summer... Somehow the stress from uni has kept me from succeeding at that. It'll be stressful to find a job in my field but I already have a job that I like very much, so the timing will be just perfect to quit ... I keep my fingers crossed.
 
Ugh, I have at least 2.5 years of Uni left (finishing up this semester, then masters program). double-ewe, I know exactly what you mean about ALWAYS having something you should be doing when classes are in session. I'm like that too, it just seems like there's never really any time to relax, especially once the classes reach the ugrad-senior/graduate level. Though there is that time between Fall & Spring semester which is nice.
 
^ Not to scare you or anything, but that time between Fall & Spring semester was the worst of all for me - I felt completely unable to take time off research, let alone take an actual vacation. And if you apply for scholarships it is even worse since most of them have to be submitted in Sept.-Oct., which means that August is fucking stressful.
 
Ah, no biggie. I've secured a fulltime TAship as well for grad school(which is what lead me to the uni in the first place), so won't need to deal with scholarships (ta's don't pay for tuition and get a decent income, at least from my perspective (min. wage)). Research on the other hand... I'll see. I'm going into a "pure math" grad program, which is light on application, though I do intend on taking some applied courses as electives.
 
^ That's great! Full-time TAships are life-savers. I had a few RA & TA contracts, it was well paid (23$/hr at my uni) and I learned tons of useful stuff while doing it. TAships and RAships look good on a resume, and if you manage to publish a few articles too, you'll be good as gold :)
 
Awesome to hear! :) What field are you going into btw? Will you be teaching at all? I take it you got a masters/phd. I plan on teaching math at a community college. Though, if I can get the foot in the door wrt research, then i just may switch to a phD program (I was told i could start a phD program as well, but I'd prefer to "get my feet wet" with a masters). Congrats btw. I can't wait to be in your shoes, heh
 
^ Wow, you must have a killer GPA if they offered you to enter the PhD program right away! Congrats!!
Judging by your posts, you'll have the best time of your life in grad school. You definitely sound like a dedicated, uber-motivated math genius :)

To answer your question, I did teach for 2 years at the college/undergrad level (History & Latin) while finishing grad school. It was a rewarding experience that made me realise that teaching is not for me. Even though I love preparing lectures, choosing class materials, improving my knowledge of the subject I'm teaching, seeing my students get hooked on the subject I'm discussing, etc., I found that I simply can't handle the pressure and the stress that come with teaching. Preparation, reading, grading, answering students' emails, all that requires a HUGE time investment, even more than writing your thesis. And grading can easily become overwhelming if you can't hire TAs because of budget restrictions.

Playing the «authoritative figure» role on a daily basis was the hardest part for me. I tend to sympathize with students, and they appreciate it, but sympathy can complicate a lot of things... For an example, some students should have failed my classes, but I couldn't bring myself to grade them honestly.
I will always remember what happened after I gave a D- to a few students during my first semester of teaching. One of them made an appointment with me to discuss his grade, and started crying loudly (!) as soon as he walked in my office. I was mortified, I didn't know how to handle it, what the hell do you say to an adult man who is crying because of a failed exam?
He was the first one to react that way, but he was certainly not the last - I saw students walking out of other teachers' offices, crying, after every single exam that semester. It was a very uncomfortable situation. It forces you to play the «psychologist» role, and I suck at that. So that's why I probably won't teach again.
But I'm addicted to research! That's what I've always wanted to do, as far as I remember, as a kid I used to take notes on every single thing I read, even comic books, haha... i had all these little notebooks filled with misc info and I added something every day... Right now I have a part-time librarian job that I like very much, and I use my spare time to get involved in research projects in my field. Most of the time I get paid for it, but when I don't, I still try to get something out of it by submitting articles to journals or sending conference proposals around. So far it has worked pretty well, I feel so lucky to have that oppportunity.

Sorry for the rambling btw, I guess I'm in a nostalgic mood today! I can already say that grad school was the best time of my life. It made me a better person. It definitely changed my personality in a good way.
 
Thanks! I never thought I'd be able to maintain what I've maintained since I started, but I guess channeling previous obsessions that simply made me nonfunctional in the past towards a scripted regimen of studying helped, heh.

I must admit it sounds intimidating to have to face failing students that have come crying, begging for a second chance, but I guess I'll just have to learn to be more of an asshole than I already am. Also, being an authoritative figure IRL seems daunting, but I take it that as a math TA I'll just be grading homework. That's great you are driven to research, I'm sure you'll go far given your current credentials and drive to learn/solve problems.
 
the worst time of my life was after graduating university - man the world will slap you in the face over and over again but you'll make it through. The first year or two are the worst then things come together. I had to go back to school to specialize for a real job, a degree wasn't' enough for me but then again i have a philosophy degree lol. Not to scare you or anything, wish someone would have warned me before real life hit me.
 
the worst time of my life was after graduating university - man the world will slap you in the face over and over again but you'll make it through. The first year or two are the worst then things come together. I had to go back to school to specialize for a real job, a degree wasn't' enough for me but then again i have a philosophy degree lol. Not to scare you or anything, wish someone would have warned me before real life hit me.

Sometimes (probably most of the time) you'll have to take a boring job, an entry level job, or just a job completely unrelated to your field of study when you graduate from uni. Work and get experience there while looking for an actual career type job.
 
Start job searching now! Its a long process and you want to revise your cover letter and resume multiple times. Also network with your current profs and advisors, they will have connections that could help you! Talk to your school's alumni association and see if there are alumni in companies you could talk to.

The key to the real world is making connections and networking as much as possible. Its not so much how good you were in school as how well people know you.
 
My ex still can't find a job for computer engineering. It's a horrible place to be with no experience. He used to get pissed at me, because I would jump jobs and interview just for shits and giggles to see if I could make more money. lol Well dude, that's what you get for fucking around instead of fixing up the resume.
 
BUMP...

Not sure if this is solely focused on how you changed GOING TO uni, or how life changed for youe COMING OUT of uni. Whatever makes sense to you, care to share your experience?
 
I think I became more responsible. I had to combine work and study and at the same time I had to do all these writing work. I slept 4 hours per day and didn't have time for entertainments at all. It was incredibly hard and sometimes I had to cheating, I ordered essays online a few times to finish it on time. But at least I figured out how to manage my time and overcome all obstacles. It was definitely useful experience.
 
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