On Priorities
You have simply got to set your priorities straight.
In the greatest sense that anything I do could be construed as containing professional ambition, I am more than anything a writer. As such, the best thing that I can do to improve my professional skill is simply to read and write a lot. For this particular field, education is a fraction of a percent as important as practice; this is simply a fact of the matter. I realize that this is not the case for most people. After all, I don't want someone with ambitions to be a doctor trying to build a skill base through trial and error without education. It's just not a good idea.
As a result of this, I feel (and perhaps with unwarrented egotism), that I could make a reasonably decent living in my chosen field without any college education whatsoever. Why, then, am I attending college, you may ask. Answer: I came to college for the experience.
I am becoming more and more aware that I am not joined in this sentiment by all who surround me.
You'll have to excuse whatever blend of horrid work ethic, general malaise, and anti-establishment pride has caused me to value organized academic pursuits less than other activities, but it remains the case. I simply do not understand those among us who prioritize class-based academia above more entertaining venues. You will notice that I specify "class-based" academia. I am not against learning, in fact far to the contrary. Rather, it seems that the type of studying people usually choose over having fun comes in the guise of organized class work. Homework. Papers. Lab reports. Exams.
I want you to try an experiment. Just bear with me. Soon, you will be faced with a clear choice of how to spend your time one evening. One choice will be an entertaining one, a social one. It could be video games, capture the flag, partying, or just hanging out. The other will involve schoolwork, probably an exam the next day at 9:00 AM that you're totally not ready for. Now, the next time this situation comes up and you're about to skip out on your friends to study, I want to stop and reconsider. And then I want you to choose the social option. Don't worry about your test. It will be there when the game is over, when the party disperses. It's not going anywhere without you.
You will find, at the conclusion of this exercise, a very curious thing: your work will get done. This is not magic nor metaphysics, but a simple phenomenon of human psychology. When you get back from your friend's house at 1:00 in the morning and still have that paper to write, you will discover that you have suddenly gained the capability to crank out a five page paper in two hours and still get enough sleep to pay attention in both your morning lectures that day. It's amazing. You will get prepared for your test, your journal entries will be complete, and your paper will get finished. This is a principle that I have abided by as far as my memory of academic work reaches (six years at the very least), and it has never, in my recollection, failed me:
The work will get done.
You only live once. You are here now. You and your friends are getting older, more tired, less brazen, less energetic, more sickly every day. I know, I know, this week is just bad for you. You've got X paper due and Y test on Friday. But I've got news for you. Next week will not be any better. Nor will the next. Or the next. You make the time now. Tonight. This week. This weekend. Not the next. Because I'll tell you right now, the weekends are running out. I'm watching it happen right before my eyes. And I cannot stand the idea that I am missing out on valuable time with valuable people building happy memories and living my life in the glory to which I've become accustomed because I was so bloody concerned about some stupid fucking term paper.
It's just not that important.
In the greatest sense that anything I do could be construed as containing professional ambition, I am more than anything a writer. As such, the best thing that I can do to improve my professional skill is simply to read and write a lot. For this particular field, education is a fraction of a percent as important as practice; this is simply a fact of the matter. I realize that this is not the case for most people. After all, I don't want someone with ambitions to be a doctor trying to build a skill base through trial and error without education. It's just not a good idea.
As a result of this, I feel (and perhaps with unwarrented egotism), that I could make a reasonably decent living in my chosen field without any college education whatsoever. Why, then, am I attending college, you may ask. Answer: I came to college for the experience.
I am becoming more and more aware that I am not joined in this sentiment by all who surround me.
You'll have to excuse whatever blend of horrid work ethic, general malaise, and anti-establishment pride has caused me to value organized academic pursuits less than other activities, but it remains the case. I simply do not understand those among us who prioritize class-based academia above more entertaining venues. You will notice that I specify "class-based" academia. I am not against learning, in fact far to the contrary. Rather, it seems that the type of studying people usually choose over having fun comes in the guise of organized class work. Homework. Papers. Lab reports. Exams.
I want you to try an experiment. Just bear with me. Soon, you will be faced with a clear choice of how to spend your time one evening. One choice will be an entertaining one, a social one. It could be video games, capture the flag, partying, or just hanging out. The other will involve schoolwork, probably an exam the next day at 9:00 AM that you're totally not ready for. Now, the next time this situation comes up and you're about to skip out on your friends to study, I want to stop and reconsider. And then I want you to choose the social option. Don't worry about your test. It will be there when the game is over, when the party disperses. It's not going anywhere without you.
You will find, at the conclusion of this exercise, a very curious thing: your work will get done. This is not magic nor metaphysics, but a simple phenomenon of human psychology. When you get back from your friend's house at 1:00 in the morning and still have that paper to write, you will discover that you have suddenly gained the capability to crank out a five page paper in two hours and still get enough sleep to pay attention in both your morning lectures that day. It's amazing. You will get prepared for your test, your journal entries will be complete, and your paper will get finished. This is a principle that I have abided by as far as my memory of academic work reaches (six years at the very least), and it has never, in my recollection, failed me:
The work will get done.
You only live once. You are here now. You and your friends are getting older, more tired, less brazen, less energetic, more sickly every day. I know, I know, this week is just bad for you. You've got X paper due and Y test on Friday. But I've got news for you. Next week will not be any better. Nor will the next. Or the next. You make the time now. Tonight. This week. This weekend. Not the next. Because I'll tell you right now, the weekends are running out. I'm watching it happen right before my eyes. And I cannot stand the idea that I am missing out on valuable time with valuable people building happy memories and living my life in the glory to which I've become accustomed because I was so bloody concerned about some stupid fucking term paper.
It's just not that important.
posted by Will Jones at 1:12 AM
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