Things I've Learned From University.
I sincerely apologize for neglecting my blog. I have no excuses for not updating my blog and I feel reaaaalllly bad. I shall not talk about this matter anymore and let's just jump straight to the topic, shall we?
My first semester of my degree program is ending soon but I've probably spent a year and a half in university already. Studying in a university is definitely a different experience from primary and secondary schools. I've (kinda) adapted into my surroundings and yeah, I'm trying to spend my last studying years well.
After spending (a short) one year and a half at university, I've learned and noticed about things that can happen in university. So here is just a list of what I went through in university.
1. You will meet all sorts of people.
This is probably because universities has students from different states or even different countries. Compared to the students you have in primary/secondary school who technically live in the same area as you, universities hold students from all over the world, and that means they were bought up differently. The way they think can be so different from you and at first you'll probably be shocked how people may act. I've met people who I think are weird, and I still do.
2. Accept the weirdness.
It doesn't matter if they are lecturers or classmates or your new friends in university. People are different and if you think they are weird, they'll probably think you are weird too. After studying in university for a period of time, I've learned to not give too much thoughts about people's weird habits and just accept them for who they are. Unless it's bad habit then you'll probably want to help them. Or something.
3. Be in good terms with everyone.
Or at least try to. I've come across people who I don't really like but it's better to just stay in friendly terms with people rather than plain hating them. You don't even have to be friends, just try not to be enemies. If you don't enjoy their presence, just reduce your contact with them. It's better than childish arguments and cold wars, these situation is reallly uncomfortable for your classmates and friends.
4. You can be friends with everyone, but choose wisely with who you hang out with.
Congratulations if you are friends with every single person in your class. And if you haven't (like me), it's probably better if you get to know everyone better. It might sound mean but try to hang out with the people who you think has a good influence. Their positivity will definitely affect you, unless you're filled with so much negative vibes. Nah, I'm kidding. But yeah.
5. Good friends doesn't mean good teammates.
Can't stress this enough. This buddy of yours might have the same interest in you but oops, he or she doesn't have a sense of responsibility. It is fun to have someone you're close to in a group but if they can't get the job done, they have no excuses. So it is your job to lead them, and hopefully they'll change.
6. It's good to have someone to rely on, but not too much.
You've gotta to stand on your own feet. While it is nice to trust each other and stuffs like that, you gotta play your own part. Now this is really my own opinion, because I find that I prefer doing things myself because if anything goes wrong I can only blame myself. I've realized sometimes my classmates like to hand a big task to only one person (like printing artworks for the whole class) but I find it risky most of the time. I'll do things my way and it's often faster and safer to do it by my own.
Once I was responsible to print an artwork of a friend of mine and I actually dropped her work at the parking lot. I didn't realized it until I reached class and had to walk again to the car park. Man, I felt so bad but luckily it was still okay. Normally I think I handle responsibilities quite well, but that accident made me think 'Am I really a reliable friend?'
7. Watch your belongings.
This probably applies more to design students (or architecture, I don't know) as we share a studio where we do our work. It is a big studio so if you leave your stuff alone, you might lose it. It might be because of the mess, or someone just saw it and took because you know. they need it. Problem is, they don't return or lay it somewhere and another person will take it.
You can say that I am more selfish than others, because I'm very possessive of my things. I don't like people taking my stuffs without asking and it pisses me to no end when people can't take care of my stuffs. I've lost my precious scissors and masking tapes and who knows which hand took it away. I always keep an eye on my stuffs and hell yeah I will hunt you down if you don't return it.
Extra side story: Once I carried my cutting mat with me to the library and accompanied my friend as she accessed a computer and did her stuff. While I wasn't looking, some guy beside me took my cutting mat and use it as his own mouse pad. I was too focused on my friend's screen that I think know that my cutting mat was passed around. I'm like what the heck when I found my mat was so far away from me but by the time I realized my cutting mat was molested by others the culprits were already gone. See how people take stuffs without asking even if belongs to a total stranger?
8. Some people have no sense of time.
Probably because I was disciplined when I was learning Ballet, I've learned to be punctual and be early for classes. I seriously rather be early an hour than being late for five minutes. And it annoys me a lot when people are always late. It's worse when you HAVE to early for an event or something like that. It's understandable when you're late once or twice but it happens too frequently, I just can't trust you anymore. If you think there's going to be traffic, leave your home early. If you know you oversleep a lot, sleep early and set thousands of alarms. If you know you're always late, don't volunteer to fetch people around. Simple as that.
I just don't understand how people can keep their habit of being late. Don't they feel embarrassed or bad when you see people waiting for you? That time when I was late to meet up the Audition staff and the rest of the winners during the YG Family concert, I was so worried of what will they think of me and Malaysians, and I'm not even a patriotic person!
9. There are good lecturers, and there are assholes lecturers.
You might think, oh, this lecturer has 5924793 Ph.Ds and he is amazing in the subject you're learning, but that doesn't necessarily make them a better lecturer. I know some lecturers who are really good in teaching and they really give you a great learning experience, and then there are lecturers who just want to make your life miserable. And they don't like when given last minute work when some of them just inform you important details at the last second.
The correct way to speak out your frustration is through assessments or talking to the right department. Although sometimes I feel like yelling to their faces.
10. Manage your time well and sleep, you will have.
We are known, as design students (or at least in my campus) that we do not sleep. We stay up all night to get our assignments done and it can last to three days to one week. However, till this point I've only stayed up once doing an assignment in my whole life. What I'm trying to say is, if you do manage you time well and procrastinate as less as possible, it is possible to avoid sleepless nights.
11. Try not be too honest.
Well, I don't have any personal experiences but this is based on what I observed from my classmate's behaviors. Some of them can get reaaalllly honest and actually tell lecturers (during their friggin presentation) that they were lazy so they went for the easier idea/design. I'm awed but yet I want to cry at my classmates for their honesty. It's okay to not tell everything about your progress to the lecturers. And it's okay to lie or make up funny stories to cover up your weaknesses. As long it's convincing then you're fine.
Okay, maybe don't lie excessively but really, don't expose your the weak points of yourself assignment/presentation/work.
Well, I guess that is all the things I could think of. This list is totally based on my opinions and may not apply to all students in this world. But I had fun thinking of all these stuffs, I've been keeping this in my head for weeeeeks.
My first semester of my degree program is ending soon but I've probably spent a year and a half in university already. Studying in a university is definitely a different experience from primary and secondary schools. I've (kinda) adapted into my surroundings and yeah, I'm trying to spend my last studying years well.
After spending (a short) one year and a half at university, I've learned and noticed about things that can happen in university. So here is just a list of what I went through in university.
1. You will meet all sorts of people.
This is probably because universities has students from different states or even different countries. Compared to the students you have in primary/secondary school who technically live in the same area as you, universities hold students from all over the world, and that means they were bought up differently. The way they think can be so different from you and at first you'll probably be shocked how people may act. I've met people who I think are weird, and I still do.
2. Accept the weirdness.
It doesn't matter if they are lecturers or classmates or your new friends in university. People are different and if you think they are weird, they'll probably think you are weird too. After studying in university for a period of time, I've learned to not give too much thoughts about people's weird habits and just accept them for who they are. Unless it's bad habit then you'll probably want to help them. Or something.
3. Be in good terms with everyone.
Or at least try to. I've come across people who I don't really like but it's better to just stay in friendly terms with people rather than plain hating them. You don't even have to be friends, just try not to be enemies. If you don't enjoy their presence, just reduce your contact with them. It's better than childish arguments and cold wars, these situation is reallly uncomfortable for your classmates and friends.
4. You can be friends with everyone, but choose wisely with who you hang out with.
Congratulations if you are friends with every single person in your class. And if you haven't (like me), it's probably better if you get to know everyone better. It might sound mean but try to hang out with the people who you think has a good influence. Their positivity will definitely affect you, unless you're filled with so much negative vibes. Nah, I'm kidding. But yeah.
5. Good friends doesn't mean good teammates.
Can't stress this enough. This buddy of yours might have the same interest in you but oops, he or she doesn't have a sense of responsibility. It is fun to have someone you're close to in a group but if they can't get the job done, they have no excuses. So it is your job to lead them, and hopefully they'll change.
6. It's good to have someone to rely on, but not too much.
You've gotta to stand on your own feet. While it is nice to trust each other and stuffs like that, you gotta play your own part. Now this is really my own opinion, because I find that I prefer doing things myself because if anything goes wrong I can only blame myself. I've realized sometimes my classmates like to hand a big task to only one person (like printing artworks for the whole class) but I find it risky most of the time. I'll do things my way and it's often faster and safer to do it by my own.
Once I was responsible to print an artwork of a friend of mine and I actually dropped her work at the parking lot. I didn't realized it until I reached class and had to walk again to the car park. Man, I felt so bad but luckily it was still okay. Normally I think I handle responsibilities quite well, but that accident made me think 'Am I really a reliable friend?'
7. Watch your belongings.
This probably applies more to design students (or architecture, I don't know) as we share a studio where we do our work. It is a big studio so if you leave your stuff alone, you might lose it. It might be because of the mess, or someone just saw it and took because you know. they need it. Problem is, they don't return or lay it somewhere and another person will take it.
You can say that I am more selfish than others, because I'm very possessive of my things. I don't like people taking my stuffs without asking and it pisses me to no end when people can't take care of my stuffs. I've lost my precious scissors and masking tapes and who knows which hand took it away. I always keep an eye on my stuffs and hell yeah I will hunt you down if you don't return it.
Extra side story: Once I carried my cutting mat with me to the library and accompanied my friend as she accessed a computer and did her stuff. While I wasn't looking, some guy beside me took my cutting mat and use it as his own mouse pad. I was too focused on my friend's screen that I think know that my cutting mat was passed around. I'm like what the heck when I found my mat was so far away from me but by the time I realized my cutting mat was molested by others the culprits were already gone. See how people take stuffs without asking even if belongs to a total stranger?
8. Some people have no sense of time.
Probably because I was disciplined when I was learning Ballet, I've learned to be punctual and be early for classes. I seriously rather be early an hour than being late for five minutes. And it annoys me a lot when people are always late. It's worse when you HAVE to early for an event or something like that. It's understandable when you're late once or twice but it happens too frequently, I just can't trust you anymore. If you think there's going to be traffic, leave your home early. If you know you oversleep a lot, sleep early and set thousands of alarms. If you know you're always late, don't volunteer to fetch people around. Simple as that.
I just don't understand how people can keep their habit of being late. Don't they feel embarrassed or bad when you see people waiting for you? That time when I was late to meet up the Audition staff and the rest of the winners during the YG Family concert, I was so worried of what will they think of me and Malaysians, and I'm not even a patriotic person!
9. There are good lecturers, and there are assholes lecturers.
You might think, oh, this lecturer has 5924793 Ph.Ds and he is amazing in the subject you're learning, but that doesn't necessarily make them a better lecturer. I know some lecturers who are really good in teaching and they really give you a great learning experience, and then there are lecturers who just want to make your life miserable. And they don't like when given last minute work when some of them just inform you important details at the last second.
The correct way to speak out your frustration is through assessments or talking to the right department. Although sometimes I feel like yelling to their faces.
10. Manage your time well and sleep, you will have.
We are known, as design students (or at least in my campus) that we do not sleep. We stay up all night to get our assignments done and it can last to three days to one week. However, till this point I've only stayed up once doing an assignment in my whole life. What I'm trying to say is, if you do manage you time well and procrastinate as less as possible, it is possible to avoid sleepless nights.
11. Try not be too honest.
Well, I don't have any personal experiences but this is based on what I observed from my classmate's behaviors. Some of them can get reaaalllly honest and actually tell lecturers (during their friggin presentation) that they were lazy so they went for the easier idea/design. I'm awed but yet I want to cry at my classmates for their honesty. It's okay to not tell everything about your progress to the lecturers. And it's okay to lie or make up funny stories to cover up your weaknesses. As long it's convincing then you're fine.
Okay, maybe don't lie excessively but really, don't expose your the weak points of yourself assignment/presentation/work.
Well, I guess that is all the things I could think of. This list is totally based on my opinions and may not apply to all students in this world. But I had fun thinking of all these stuffs, I've been keeping this in my head for weeeeeks.
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