Part 1 of Surviving University (and other not so fun but important things)
College can be a trip sometimes so, seeing as I’m going into my third year, I think I have enough background to put together a list of tricks and habits that have both helped/hurt me in the long run. I struggled really really hard when transitioning from high school to college because I have severe social/general anxiety and am not good at dealing with new situations. My grades reflected that for my first semester, but I learned fast and am now going strong!
note: not all of these may apply to you and your university as every place is different! Despite this, if you are an incoming first year or struggling college student, I hope at least one of these tips help you!
Major/Minor
Picking your major (as well as double major or minor) is very important, but as a freshman, it isn’t something that should be a huge worry. These things are easily changed in the beginning; however, you need to figure out within the first semester where you are going because the longer you wait, the more money you are wasting on classes that may not be necessary.
I personally changed from Biology (what even was I thinking) to English after my first struggle of a semester (dropped a class and got my first D ever) and am doing just fine. Figure out your grounds, whether what you chose is too hard or uninteresting and make changes where it is needed.
The major you pick does not dictate the graduate schools you will go to.
You could be a biology major and decide to go to IT school, or an English major who decides to go to medical school. It’s all fair game. What does dictate this is the entrance exams you take (GMAT, LSAT etc.) as well as any higher level undergraduate classes which may be required (specific to the graduate school). It is definitely harder for a non-major to do this as it will cost more time and money to take these extra classes which may or may not go towards your declared major, but it isn’t impossible. Don’t sell yourself short because you can actually do anything if you work for it.
Scheduling
Rule number one of scheduling is to get your schedule together before the window for enrollment opens. At my school, the window date depends on a whole slew of qualifications (year, grades, specific college at the uni etc.) but it could be different anywhere. Know when your window is (time and date!) and have a “dream” schedule prepared ahead of time as well as backup classes which can take the spot of courses you may not get in time. Sometimes you won’t get all your desired classes, but more often then not you will get most of them if you come prepared.
Check often on the classes you picked in case they have closed (no more seats available) before you reach the enrollment date. You don’t want to be caught with your pants around your ankles when the time comes to click that button and the classes are all gone.
Also, go to RateMyProfessor to see if the teacher is right for you. Students can be brutally honest so see what they have to say about the teacher and their style and gauge if you’re willing to deal with that.
Having classes that are all different is common for the first year or two as they are entry level classes that are required for the school. However, as you reach your upper-level courses, your schedule will start to have more and more same-subject classes according to your major (my next semester is three English classes, Chinese II, and another class that is technically another English). Don’t let these menial classes get you down (as they do for some when taking classes that seem pointless). Instead, focus on how each one finished is one step closer to being able to take courses that you will actually enjoy and that pertain to your major.
As a side note to those who end up doing particularly bad in classes they have no interest in (like me): don’t underestimate the impact ONE bad grade will have. I dropped from a 3.7 to a 3.2 in a single semester because I was struggling in a major I had no business in and the classes were so. fucking. boring. I’m now at a 3.68 and rising since then, but that is due to hard work and straight As for 3 semesters straight. So, please, respect the boring classes and just get through them. (I’m cheering you on!)
Schedules are usually customizable in college (at least in America), given you put effort into moving classes around and fitting things together. You could have classes five days a week or four days, have 2 hours breaks in between classes or 15-minute breaks (note: I’ve done this. Not highly advised but doable. I recommend going to google maps and seeing how long it takes to walk from class A to class B and so on), or have four classes one day and only one on another. Don’t sell yourself short and really put time into making what you need possible.
I’m not going to say to take or not take 8AMs. Honestly speaking, I’ve taken them every semester since I entered college. It’s all up to the person and how they want their day to go. Some people would rather have their day start at 8 and end at noon (or sooner!!) and be home rather than start at 9 or 10 and get home at 4 (or later). Some people don’t care. Take the classes you want to at the times you feel comfortable with and don’t let anyone make you feel shit because of it (because screw them lol)
So at my college (for most classes) eating and drinking is totally okay and no one gives a rats ass about it, so I’d advise you to just read the syllabus and make sure your teacher doesn’t have a no food/drink policy if you run late or want to snack in class. Otherwise, try to find time during your day to schedule lunch, whether that means during your study break between classes, or after all your morning courses are over and you can head home (lol me?)
As much as I dread interacting with strangers, I highly recommend going to your counselor at the beginning or end of every semester to make sure you are on track and taking the correct courses. That being said, don’t rely on them fully. They are human, they make mistakes, and they also may not know you on a personal level. Schedule making is something that should mostly be in your own hands and relying on the counselor will only leave you at risk for not only a crappy schedule but also for a bad relationship with these people who are only trying to help.
DO NOT I repeat DO NOT SCHEDULE TOUGHER CLASSES ALL IN ONE SEMESTER. JUST DON’T. Why? Because you don’t have to. Why struggle to get good grades because every single class you’re taking is hard for you when you could spread those tough classes throughout the four years you have to complete them?
And last, but certainly not least, don’t just focus on the next semester. Look at the big picture. What are all the courses you need to take in the next four years? Is a minor required? How about double majoring? How many more courses does that add? Can you do it all in four years or will you need to take some classes in the summers? Planning ahead and seeing what you have to do and how much you have accomplished already is a sure-fire way to keep yourself motivated and relieve some anxiety that comes from feeling like you’ll never get it done in time.
Thanks for reading and I hope this helps! If you have any questions (about these or about something you’re concerned/need help with) feel free to drop into my ask box and I’ll be more than willing to help where I can!
I plan to post part two next Sunday so stay tuned! I’ll be covering eating as a college student and things that you may need to know for the first day of classes. Many of these things will help with first-day anxiety (at least I hope to ease some of that!)
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Sarina Kaur - Personal Brand Design Guidelines (3/3)
Following on with my branding I decided to create some visuals for social media/websites. If i am to create my own website and style then I would like audience to recognise my brand through imagery and colour.
The shapes have been taken from my logo, as well as from a minimal approach.
In preparation for Gradshow, I have been throughly working hard to make sure that the branding of myself as a professional practitioner is to a high standard and best reflects me.
From redesigning my brand logo, to updating my portfolio website, I wanted to think about Gradshow and how my brand can be positioned physically.
Above / I have created a series of business cards, complete with my revised logo and relevant contact details (Instagram, LinkedIn, Email Address, Phone Number and Online Portfolio web link).
These have currently been sent to print and should arrive in time to be placed by my exhibition boards for the Gradshow. I also intend on having postcards made, which highlight snaps of my best work, as well as a physical portfolio that the public can flick through.
Here are some of my favourite photos from the magazine shoot I did with @robertocutrera. I am in love with the photos! They really show off the magazine, and Roberto has done a beautiful job shooting them. I am so grateful for his help on this - there is no way my photos would have turned out like this!
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As I have I will be creating a detail prototype mockup for Design Festival App, I will be creating flat mockups for this project to show the variation and highlight the interfaces of my designs.
Developing the album cover (part 2) and starting the lyric booklet
I’d found myself leaning more and more on the lyrics of the songs when creating identities and I knew at some point I wanted to create a booklet for the lyrics to be an insert in a vinyl/cd release.
When it came to designing for ‘Waiting for Tomorrow’ i’d had an idea of somehow showing ‘night and day’ or ‘light and dark’ to portray time passing.
Some other ideas included stop watches or clocks but they seemed a bit trivial considering the lyrics of that song:
“remember we were staring up to those peaks on the horizon, I promised i would never stop and in your name i would climb them”
“The fear is creeping up behind all this courage i’m projecting”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy8c7i3g_zw
It’s a bit ominous and there’s a theme of something looming over the singer’s character. My idea from that was to show the moon in a light and dark view, and with me just starting on the lyric booklet I tried this out over a double page. I was really happy with this visual and decided the moon would be the identity for that song.
With the lyric booklet, my plan was for double pages for each track and to have some consistencies through the whole booklet. First was a page border on the right with +x that would appear on each track page. The second being that each track would have full lyrics but also a featured lyric in a new font.
For this track I chose ‘it’s only one more day’, a lyric from the bridge of the song that sums up the undertones of the track perfectly.
Attention to detail on the lyric booklet, I wanted a cut through the O, on the ‘atmosphere’ line of the moon. Just a little touch but these small cut throughs appear on a few of the double page spreads.
I next headed back to the front cover to try to work the moon in. I tried it with a simple circle first to check out scale and whether it detracted from the lion/chinatown feature. I felt it worked well so i went all out with it and added the textured moon along with ‘Martin Garrix’ type and binary code from another track named Byte which i’ll blog about shortly.
