Author Topic: Aaaaaaaand... my first day of college is over...  (Read 28511 times)

Thaurismunths

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Reply #25 on: August 27, 2008, 09:12:09 PM
Our little Bdoomed is growing up!

For some advice from someone who is still in college:
-At the end of class some day introduce yourself to the prof, maybe ask a question about the course material or something tangent to it. Having the prof know you exist is worth its weight in gold when it comes to asking for help/exceptions.
-Use the counseling center, they really have nothing better to do than help you.
-Take 8am and Friday classes. Both you and your teacher will be less stressed out.
-The trick to a good keg-stand is putting your tongue over the spout to allow you time to swallow.
-Plan your classes so that you don't have a whole string of heavy subjects (Math, science, chem, etc) one day, and all your fun classes on another. And if you can, try and have active classes before sedentary ones, like 7:30 Tai-Chi before a 9:00am, you'll focus better.
-Personally I've found that I can't cram for tests, studying the night or morning before a test only confuses things. I'm better off reviewing the material through out the week and whatever sticks, sticks.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Bdoomed

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Reply #26 on: August 27, 2008, 09:57:31 PM
:) i just happen to be taking an 8:30am friday class :P

and i wasnt even lookin at my arm!  i knew it would be bad if i did, and it wasnt bad at first, but it just got sooooo terrible.  i got all pale and mehh

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


eytanz

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Reply #27 on: August 28, 2008, 12:12:07 AM
Don't know if this is true or not, and if it is, I don't know if it's true outside of Britain:

One thing I heard when I was at college was that taking an AIDS test could increase your insurance premiums, because clearly you're the kind of person who has reason to be worried about contracting AIDS. Therefore, people recommended giving blood, instead; they'll screen you for various nasty diseases (including AIDS) and you find out without ever having actually sought out a test...

Anyone know if there's any truth to that?

I don't know about the UK, but I'm pretty sure that in quite a few US states its illegal for insurance companies to increase their premium because you take an HIV/AIDS test (Indeed, in many states - I know for a fact this is the case in New York - it is a serious criminal offense for a medical facility to tell an insurance company that you took an HIV test unless you give explicit consent). And, as Russell points out, almost all college health centers offer anonymous testing, where even the clinic itself doesn't know your identity.

And you must never, ever, give blood in order to be tested for HIV. Most blood banks in the US are seriously underfunded and have blood shortages. They do a first pass test for everyone, but if a sample comes out suspicious they have to do more tests, which costs money and resources. In other words, donating blood as an HIV test means that you are making the blood banks pay for a service that should be funded by other sources. More importantly, the tests aren't foolproof, especially if you have the virus but have not yet developed the antibodies, which can take a period of several months. If you have HIV and donate blood, there's a non-negligable chance you will infect someone.

Donating blood is a great thing, if you do it for the sake of donating blood. Donating blood in order to determine whether you have HIV is extremely irresponsible.

Anyway, sorry for derailing this thread, but this is a topic I feel about quite strongly...
« Last Edit: August 28, 2008, 12:15:54 AM by eytanz »



eytanz

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Reply #28 on: August 28, 2008, 12:27:29 AM
Our little Bdoomed is growing up!

For some advice from someone who is still in college:

Quote
-At the end of class some day introduce yourself to the prof, maybe ask a question about the course material or something tangent to it. Having the prof know you exist is worth its weight in gold when it comes to asking for help/exceptions.

Absolutely. Students whose names/faces I can recognize will inevitably get better treatment than those I don't. It doesn't even matter if I like the students - even if I really dislike a student, there's still a big difference between someone I can envision in my mind as a person and someone who is just a name on a class list somewhere.

Quote
-Take 8am and Friday classes. Both you and your teacher will be less stressed out.

I guess your teachers are all morning persons, Thaur. I can tell you that if I have to teach an 8am class - or even a 9am class - I'm stressed as hell because I probably didn't have time to go over my notes in the morning and I'm hoping I don't forget what I'm supposed to talk about. My optimal teaching time would be 10am to noon.

Quote
-Personally I've found that I can't cram for tests, studying the night or morning before a test only confuses things. I'm better off reviewing the material through out the week and whatever sticks, sticks.

The same was true of me - or more accurately, I found that I should never study on the day of the test. That would inevitably stress me out and cause me to be confused and make stupid errors.

That said, the fact that you're in college means that you've graduated highschool, and hopefully you went somewhere that allowed you at least some sense of what your personal optimal study conditions are. My advice to anyone starting college would be - go with what you know, but don't be afraid to change habits if the old ones don't work anymore...



Bdoomed

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Reply #29 on: August 28, 2008, 12:57:00 AM
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa ive never been much of a studier... as long as i pay attn in class and write it all down im usually good.  Might have to change that, i duno, ill see.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Heradel

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Reply #30 on: August 28, 2008, 02:50:36 AM
Our little Bdoomed is growing up!

For some advice from someone who is still in college:

Quote
-At the end of class some day introduce yourself to the prof, maybe ask a question about the course material or something tangent to it. Having the prof know you exist is worth its weight in gold when it comes to asking for help/exceptions.

Absolutely. Students whose names/faces I can recognize will inevitably get better treatment than those I don't. It doesn't even matter if I like the students - even if I really dislike a student, there's still a big difference between someone I can envision in my mind as a person and someone who is just a name on a class list somewhere.

I didn't know you were a professor, do you mind saying what/where you teach?

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Reply #31 on: August 28, 2008, 08:13:44 AM
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa ive never been much of a studier... as long as i pay attn in class and write it all down im usually good.  Might have to change that, i duno, ill see.

That does not work in college!  That's how I know that you don't want to start playing catch-up.  I never did shit in HS.  Then I decided to hit the ground running by taking 18 credits of math and science for my Engineering degree.  I thought showing up and paying attention would be good enough.  I had to work my ass off to catch up.



eytanz

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Reply #32 on: August 28, 2008, 09:37:49 AM
I didn't know you were a professor, do you mind saying what/where you teach?

Well, technically I'm a lecturer, which is the UK equivalent of an Assistant Professor in the US. I teach semantics (and neurolinguistics) in the University of York - I don't want to spam this thread with details but you here is my website if you are interested.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2008, 09:41:42 AM by eytanz »



Windup

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Reply #33 on: August 28, 2008, 12:57:29 PM
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa ive never been much of a studier... as long as i pay attn in class and write it all down im usually good.  Might have to change that, i duno, ill see.

That does not work in college!  That's how I know that you don't want to start playing catch-up.  I never did shit in HS.  Then I decided to hit the ground running by taking 18 credits of math and science for my Engineering degree.  I thought showing up and paying attention would be good enough.  I had to work my ass off to catch up.


My experience was similar.  I didn't have to work very hard in High School, but quickly discovered that in college courses, information comes at you fast, and the instructors really do expect you to come prepared instead of doing spoon-feeding in lecture.   

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


wherethewild

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Reply #34 on: August 28, 2008, 02:11:58 PM
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa ive never been much of a studier... as long as i pay attn in class and write it all down im usually good.  Might have to change that, i duno, ill see.
That does not work in college!  That's how I know that you don't want to start playing catch-up.  I never did shit in HS.  Then I decided to hit the ground running by taking 18 credits of math and science for my Engineering degree.  I thought showing up and paying attention would be good enough.  I had to work my ass off to catch up.
My experience was similar.  I didn't have to work very hard in High School, but quickly discovered that in college courses, information comes at you fast, and the instructors really do expect you to come prepared instead of doing spoon-feeding in lecture.   

I second third the above. I never studied in highschool - it was all simple (except one semester of chem which I nearly failed and then I ended up with a doctorate from a chem dept. go figure) and in hs they go slowly and make sure the whole class is on board. Not the case at Uni. It's not so much that it is intellectually difficult, more that the shear mass of information that you have to assimilate is huge compared to what you are used to. I found the exam time in my first year massively stressful because of the volume of data and also because I had a voice in the back of my head going "this is costing $XXX per semester for tuition and living and I CANNOT afford to have to repeat something".

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wherethewild

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Reply #35 on: August 28, 2008, 03:19:43 PM


Just because I like these a lot, and this was vaguely appropriate :)

The Great N-sh whispers in my ear, and he's talking about you.


stePH

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Reply #36 on: August 28, 2008, 04:24:31 PM


Most of the time you don't have to choose between college and weed.

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CGFxColONeill

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Reply #37 on: August 29, 2008, 06:24:21 AM
**snip**
more that the shear mass of information that you have to assimilate is huge compared to what you are used to
it is amazing what you pick up regardless of how you do in the class
I look back over my 3 semesters( at my current school) and the massive amount of information they pack in
most of it I dont even know which class I learned it in...

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Bdoomed

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Reply #38 on: August 31, 2008, 07:02:10 PM
Gators beat the Warriors 56-10 :D

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


wakela

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Reply #39 on: September 01, 2008, 07:47:12 AM
Ditto the meet-your-professors idea -- even the ones you don't like.  Also, go visit them during office hours.   It wouldn't hurt to meet a student or two in each class, either.   It's insanely easy to meet people in college compared to the "real world" so take advantage of it.  And yeah, a little studying every day beats a lot of studying the night before the exam. 

Now that I am working and still taking classes and trying to study things, I would kill for the amount of time I had to study in college. 



Bdoomed

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Reply #40 on: September 03, 2008, 05:55:11 PM
I got drunk for the first time on... Saturday I think it was...
:)
no throwing up no hangover, yay.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Ocicat

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Reply #41 on: September 03, 2008, 08:56:32 PM
Ahhh, now you have truly had your first day of college...



Thaurismunths

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Reply #42 on: September 03, 2008, 09:48:57 PM
I got drunk for the first time on... Saturday I think it was...
:)
no throwing up no hangover, yay.

Some advice on drinking:

Mixing drinks
-Expensive booze is for tasting, cheap booze is for mixing. Don't make a gin and tonic with Gordon's, and don't make trashcan punch with Bombay Sapphire.
-The key to most mixed drinks is to keep them cold and use less mixer, adding more to taste. Often drinks that taste bad are made too weak, not too strong.

Hangovers
-A hangover is a combination of dehydration and lack of B-12. It can be avoided by drinking water in between drinks (1:1) and/or drinking a bunch of water before you go to bed.
-Sweet drinks and cheep wine give the worst hangovers. This is epitomized by Boons Farm.
-They can be cured best by not getting them. Failing that, several glasses of water, two multi-vitamins, and a couple pain killers are the best I've come up with.

Vomiting
-If you get puking drunk, you're doing it wrong. Booze is expensive enough, you don't need to go wasting it just to embarrass yourself.
-Find someplace appropriate.
-Drinking water will draw out the process, but prevents hangovers and liver damage.

Sex
-Just don't. Beer and penises don't get along. If they're that hot and that in to you it'll still be a good idea in the morning.

You might want to reconsider your drinking habits if:
-If you use "hair of the dog" to cure a hangover.
-If you don't remember what you did the next day. Blackouts mean you're wavering back and forth on the line of serious alcohol poisoning (not epic partying).

There is no such thing as "alcohol abuse". If you don't want the beer, don't finish it. If the drink tastes bad, don't finish it. If someone pours you a shot you aren't ready for, give it to someone else.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


Bdoomed

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Reply #43 on: September 04, 2008, 01:18:40 AM
The drink always tastes bad.
always.

-If you use "hair of the dog" to cure a hangover.
Am I messing with a son of a bitch?

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Heradel

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Reply #44 on: September 04, 2008, 01:34:57 AM
The drink always tastes bad.
always.
...

Your tastebuds are still too young, which means you're tasting more of it than older people with fewer tastebuds. They're also being thrown this new "alcohol" flavor so it'll be a while before they're used to that enough that you get everything else. 

That said, my entire alcoholic history is limited to wine in moderation and one shot of Jagermeister, so I'm hardly an expert. And, by some measures, hardly a college student.

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #45 on: September 04, 2008, 02:07:42 AM
The drink always tastes bad.
always.
Heradel's right. It took me 3 years before I could stand beer, now I'm quite a fan. On the other hand, I use to like straight Jack Daniels, now I prefer mixed drinks... though that's more to do with a 'falling out' I had than a change in taste buds.

Quote
-If you use "hair of the dog" to cure a hangover.
Am I messing with a son of a bitch?
"Hair of the dog" is a reference to a bit of folk magic that involves keeping some of the hair of a dog that bites you will prevent werewolfism. In drinking terms it means curing a hangover by having more alcohol in the morning.

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


stePH

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Reply #46 on: September 04, 2008, 04:11:06 AM
The drink always tastes bad.
always.
...

Your tastebuds are still too young, which means you're tasting more of it than older people with fewer tastebuds. They're also being thrown this new "alcohol" flavor so it'll be a while before they're used to that enough that you get everything else. 

That said, my entire alcoholic history is limited to wine in moderation and one shot of Jagermeister, so I'm hardly an expert. And, by some measures, hardly a college student.
Jane Fancher was having single-malt Scotch at room temperature in a brandy snifter when I met her and C.J. Cherryh a few years back.
 
I usually have Scotch on the rocks or with soda; I tried it Jane's way once but I'm sure I could have had a better Scotch (only Johnny Walker Black was available; I think that's a single-malt.)

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Thaurismunths

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Reply #47 on: September 04, 2008, 10:25:37 AM
The drink always tastes bad.
always.
...

Your tastebuds are still too young, which means you're tasting more of it than older people with fewer tastebuds. They're also being thrown this new "alcohol" flavor so it'll be a while before they're used to that enough that you get everything else. 

That said, my entire alcoholic history is limited to wine in moderation and one shot of Jagermeister, so I'm hardly an expert. And, by some measures, hardly a college student.
Jane Fancher was having single-malt Scotch at room temperature in a brandy snifter when I met her and C.J. Cherryh a few years back.
 
I usually have Scotch on the rocks or with soda; I tried it Jane's way once but I'm sure I could have had a better Scotch (only Johnny Walker Black was available; I think that's a single-malt.)
Johnnie Walker Black is a blended 12 year old, but nothing to turn your nose up at.
There's a misconception that blended scotches don't taste as good as single malts. The whole 'single malt' thing is elitism. (I don't mean to say you're elitist, taste is taste, just that blended scotches don't get a fair dram.)

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


stePH

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Reply #48 on: September 04, 2008, 01:21:41 PM
Johnnie Walker Black is a blended 12 year old, but nothing to turn your nose up at.
There's a misconception that blended scotches don't taste as good as single malts. The whole 'single malt' thing is elitism. (I don't mean to say you're elitist, taste is taste, just that blended scotches don't get a fair dram.)

You're mistaking me for someone with taste for single-malts.  My preferred whiskey is Johnny Walker Red, which is stated on the label to be a blend (and is cheaper and smoother than Black).  I'm just saying I probably could have picked a better whiskey to try the way JF drinks it (and obviously I could have, since JW Black isn't even the right kind.)

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wintermute

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Reply #49 on: September 04, 2008, 02:24:45 PM
I usually have Scotch on the rocks...
Why would you bother drinking whisky over ice? It's just a waste.

I appreciate that you might not want to taste the stuff, but if that's the case, just drink vodka, or something.

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