You’re often told that university offers incredible freedom, and like most things you learn in the first year of university that’s mostly true. But it’s the caveats which will catch you. University doesn’t just offer freedom, it insists on it, it shoves freedom into your fresher hands then sprints off into the distance. Now you’re free to try to keep up.
You’re free to skip lectures if you want! Because you’re free to fail. You’re free to bash your head off problems until you work them out in your own way! Because it’s your job to go to tutorials or find other ways to get help with your problems. You’re free to lie in bed all day! Because they’ve got this year’s fees and there are already a dozen students applying for the same place next year.
One thing university doesn’t free you from is inbuilt expectations from high school. We’re used to people fundamentally watching out for us, checking that we’re doing the work, caring if we quit. That’s no longer true. But the flipside is that we can choose to do better instead of worse. In high school you were told what to do and where to be every second of the day. You couldn’t walk out of class, but you also couldn’t access extra materials to help with your problems. Now you have access to one of the most incredible libraries in the world (ANY university library is worth more than the entire financial wealth of most countries throughout history), and an internet which far transcends even that.
In university you have the freedom to choose. And that choice extends far beyond the mere syllabus. Look around your class, how many people are there? Now, are there that many jobs in your chosen field every year? Unless your job is harvester ant we’re going to guess not. And just trudging through the hours picking up what the group expects you to pick up isn’t going to cut it (unless you’re that harvester ant). So, one choice is to do better than the average. Another is to do something different. The modern job market has been shattered by technology, but many people are finding new applications for their skills in the new cracks. Whether you’re trying to exceed your competitors, or create a new destiny, you need to know your stuff.
Freedom means you can chart your own path. So, you’d better get started with knowing what you’re doing right now. The syllabus is a starting point, not a finish line. Look around this open world and see what you can use to improve your abilities. Which will always improve your life.
You’re free to skip lectures if you want! Because you’re free to fail. You’re free to bash your head off problems until you work them out in your own way! Because it’s your job to go to tutorials or find other ways to get help with your problems. You’re free to lie in bed all day! Because they’ve got this year’s fees and there are already a dozen students applying for the same place next year.
One thing university doesn’t free you from is inbuilt expectations from high school. We’re used to people fundamentally watching out for us, checking that we’re doing the work, caring if we quit. That’s no longer true. But the flipside is that we can choose to do better instead of worse. In high school you were told what to do and where to be every second of the day. You couldn’t walk out of class, but you also couldn’t access extra materials to help with your problems. Now you have access to one of the most incredible libraries in the world (ANY university library is worth more than the entire financial wealth of most countries throughout history), and an internet which far transcends even that.
You’re free to fail. Don’t!
In university you have the freedom to choose. And that choice extends far beyond the mere syllabus. Look around your class, how many people are there? Now, are there that many jobs in your chosen field every year? Unless your job is harvester ant we’re going to guess not. And just trudging through the hours picking up what the group expects you to pick up isn’t going to cut it (unless you’re that harvester ant). So, one choice is to do better than the average. Another is to do something different. The modern job market has been shattered by technology, but many people are finding new applications for their skills in the new cracks. Whether you’re trying to exceed your competitors, or create a new destiny, you need to know your stuff.
Freedom means you can chart your own path. So, you’d better get started with knowing what you’re doing right now. The syllabus is a starting point, not a finish line. Look around this open world and see what you can use to improve your abilities. Which will always improve your life.
