It’s up to you as a student to determine how much time you “need” to slack and still maintain the level of scholarship you want. I don’t expect any of my students to study 9-5, nowhere close. However, I do expect them to put the effort that is required in the class to pass.

Even in an 18+ hour semester, there is a great deal of free time between classes and a job a person might have. It’s up to that student to determine whether or not it’s worth it to read that book, play that game, or study for that test. That’s where the awakening comes in. When you’re able to determine what’s best at any given time, rather than simply what you want. That was the lesson I had to learn the hard way.

While that might be true, I do think we should allow ourselves some time to simply grow. Managing your time well is essential to completing studies well, and moreso: a successful academic life, but so is finding curiosity aboout life. Finding love, reading that book you always wanted to, having an amazing movie experience or stay up all night playing a game that just blows your mind. Each and every of those points might be just as pivital to a academic career as working between 9 and 5 on that curriculum.

Preparing yourself for an academic career is also about awakening the wish to investigate, debate and the passion for finding answers. Not everyone will get that between 9 and 5.

It’s tough, though. When I first started college, my group of friends had a tradition of going out every Friday night, going to lunch together in whatever combinations our schedules allowed, and occasionally having other spontaneous adventures. But after a couple of years, they got where they started wanting to hang out 4 or 5 nights a week, which was more than I could manage with my school work, and to be honest, was more than I really wanted to hang out with them (I’ve always required time to myself to function.) When I started saying no when they called, I got labeled as anti-social.

It really depends on the person and what the right balance is for her or him. But I absolutely think you’re right in advising students to not skip class regularly.

My only comment is to keep doing what makes you happy Beej, and you really haven’t made any mistakes, even if you feel uncertain at some points, there’s nothing wrong with that either.

jane, let’s not be overzealous in our backhanded insults here.
.-= Robert´s last blog ..The Big Bang Theory ‘The Pirate Solution’ experiments with new dynamics =-.

I just regret that I didn’t do it earlier because now my GPA and credentials are not at the level they should be. My CV will make up for that in a couple of years, but there will always be that embarrassment of not having a 4.0 in my major when it would have taken so little effort on my part to actually maintain.

I did learn a lesson, and in a way, I am glad–like you say–that I had those experiences to learn from in the first place. I was lucky because I was pretty social in high school and never fell behind the curve as so many with my interests and personality-type do (INFJ/P, baby! [my tests never come back solid on which I am]).

And who knows, you might have made the *best* choice by choosing the burrito, because in *those* experiences you learned a lot more about people and socializing than you would have from any books. And when it comes to making it in the world of grown-ups, that’s the most valuable learning out there. All of us depend on each other, so the arts of interaction are crucial to develop. Especially among geeks who fall behind this curve in high school.

You also learned some independence, what it means to buck authority and chart your own course… and come to think of it, you learned that you might not always know best. But would you have really learned that lesson without first-hand experience? I think not.

You didn’t make a mistake, Beej, except in thinking that you made a mistake.
.-= jane´s last blog ..Belle Chose the Rabbit Hole =-.