#learning advice

As many of us are close (or possibly have already begun) the new school year I’d like to offer advice/words of wisdom. I’m a senior in university now, so I’ve learned a lot over the years. 

1. If you can, invest in a good backpack. I tried sticking with this old ass backpack that I’d had since early high school, and let me tell you that thing broke and all my shit fell out in public on the third day of freshman year. I then bought a High Sierra backpack which I had for 3 years. Homegirl and I went to South America and back together. Also, she was water-resistant and had a ton of pockets. I did just buy a new backpack though because my High Sierra was weathered down :( Don’t try and be cute with those bags as backpacks because your shoulder will die. Comfort > style in this case

2. If you can, buy an agenda and write down EVERY SINGLE DUE DATE found in all of your syllabi. This is legitimately the first thing I do as soon as my uni’s portal opens and I can access my class syllabi. 

3. Read your syllabi right away and make sure you can handle the class. I don’t know about your school, but mine doesn’t release syllabi until the morning of the first day of class. Unless I know someone who’s taken the class, I have to wait until the morning of the first day of class and sometimes I end up dropping a class right then and there. 

4. Don’t be afraid to shop around for classes. For example, I’m currently signed up for more classes than I need. This is because I want to physically go to every class and get a feel for it myself. 

5. So you realize you hate your major. I changed mine 4 times and I’m doing just fine. It happens. It really hurts (trust me, I know), but your future isn’t over if the major you were set on doesn’t work out. I was crushed when I realized pre-med wasn’t going to happen, but my life went in a different and more beautiful direction than it would have been had I stayed in pre-med. 

6. Don’t stay in a major that you hate. I know this is cliche, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t follow this. I understand wanting to be practical and realistic, but if you are in a major that makes you dread even going to class, what is the point? 

7. Always carry a water bottle. Plastic? Our environment is DYING people. 

8. Always carry a strong umbrella. Let me tell you. One time, I was walking to class in a storm. My weak ass umbrella broke and I showed up to class dripping like I’d just come out of the pool. After that class, I bought a wind-resistant umbrella and my life has changed for the better. Where I live we have bad storms, and my wind-resistant umbrella and I have survived them all. 

9. If you can afford this, try to invest in a good laptop. I know it’s a lot of money and it’s the reason I put off buying a good laptop until very recently. You don’t need a freaking MacBook okay. To be honest, they aren’t all that. I’ve used them enough to say that. Just get a good laptop that won’t crash all the time or freeze in the middle of an online quiz or basically ruin your life. And get insurance on the laptop too! 

10. Always have some snacks in your bag. Buying food every day? In this economy? Not me. I pack my lunch anyways, but I always have additional snacks. Especially since I’m on campus for most of the day and can’t easily get home. The only thing I miss about dorm life is the convenience. 

11. You really don’t need to show up to your professor’s office on day one. Personally, I don’t see a point. Truthfully, there are some classes that are easy and that you can walk away with an A without issues. If there’s a small issue, an email will suffice. 

12. On the other hand, if you do have issues, don’t be afraid to talk to your professors! There was a professor that I had who I got to know because of some concerns I had in my class. Now they’re writing my graduate school letters of recommendation. Another professor ended up boosting my final exam score because he knew who I was and how hard I had worked for him. 

13. Don’t lock yourself in the library and don’t lock yourself in your dorm. My first year of college was miserable because I spent it either in the library or my dorm. It really will drain you and hurt your health. 

14. All-nighters are not cute. They suck. A lot. Shit happens and sometimes an all-nighter has to happen. But if you can, please don’t do it willingly. It really fucks with your sleep schedule. When I have to pull an all-nighter to turn in an assignment (because I procrastinate), I usually have to skip my earlier classes to catch up on sleep because I simply cannot focus. 

15. Find a support system. Sometimes, they come to you by accident. Sometimes, you have to seek them out. I hated my university my first year, and it was only when I began developing a support system (along with some other changes) that I began to enjoy my time. 

16. If you’re going to college in the US like I do, you probably won’t enter old enough to drink. You’re probably going to want to drink which is fine. I mean, I’ve done it. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t. But listen to me: don’t be stupid and don’t get caught. At my school, they take it seriously and you’ll get into a ton of trouble. I’ve heard too many horror stories about the consequences.

17. On the flip side, don’t feel pressured to drink. I’ve avoided gatherings with friends when I know they’re going to drink because I just don’t want to. 

18. Stay safe fam. Follow your gut. If your friends are going out or going to do something and you have a bad feeling about it, don’t go with them. I had a bad feeling about going to a party with friends so I stayed in my dorm, and I found out the next morning that the police raided the party and a bunch of people were arrested. 

19. Buy some rain boots and wear them if it says it’s going to rain. The number of shoes that have been destroyed because of the rain is actually kind of heartbreaking. 

20. You got this fam!!! 

1. play a dumb phone game in the language. low stakes way to force yourself to understand a lot. that new harry potter game, if you’re intermediate/advanced ? go off ! [majority of popular games will have multiple language options, otherwise if you set your phone into your target language it’ll likely change automatically]

2. feel like wasting some time online ? look for ‘quotes in x language’, or poetry, or just use search terms in that language. (or set your pinterest/tumblr/whatever settings to your target language)

3. find your horoscope in your target language !

4. shopping lists - or a to-do list (i.e. chores, homework etc.) 

5. if you’re able, try making a simple recipe from your target language. could even be pancakes, mug cake or soup, but you can still read imperatives + find new vocab !

My classmates trying to learn French: doing homework and copying French vocabs.

Me: watches some French Youtuber playing Poképark 2.

I completely agree with the statement of this video. Language learning just takes a long time to learn (properly). When in doubt, the answer is always more input. Find things to do you enjoy in the language, and then put in the hours.