guys i need some lol college advice

max, you know how you said you wished your future, old self could send letters to you-in-lol-college? consider me your future, old self.

woah congrats, rrrobyn! that is so awesome!!!

max, i totally get you. i have a smallish paper to do this semester (10-15) but if i had my way i'd run away to this awesome collection in england and do research for months and months or years and then write a book. my thinking is that because i feel this way about the topic, i can easily churn out the small paper and then have motivation for a possibly larger project down the road. maybe you can think of it that way? then you won't have to think of this process as a terminal thing... it's just the beginning, and then you don't feel as bad about not being able to hole up for 6 months to work.

don't get lost in research though! it is so easy to do. to continue researching, feeling you're getting work done b/c you're reading but then never getting down to the writing part. gotta write.

(thanks t :) i am so stoked on the structure of having a full-time job again. oh, it'll wear off eventually, i know, but i need structure now. i'm even excited about creating spreadsheets and databases so that i am an efficient coordinator type. whoa.)

yeah i guess the thing is i just need to stop aiming so high and find a focus... im so desperate to impress/please my advisor & other profs that im trying to write a book or something, instead of whatever would be appropriate for a 35-page paper

my advisor on my first completed draft:

There's no such chance. You got an A. But I know you can do a h*** of a lot better than this, no?

:(

i hate disappointing people.

:( sorry dude

disappointing people is a pretty big part of coming into adulthood

ok i need new advice!! i am currently taking four classes. of them, i only need one to graduate, one is interesting and challenging, and two are shaping up to be sort of deadly boring. should i drop two and become a part-time student? ive talked to the relevant people, and it shouldnt be a problem in terms of graduating on time or continuing to do things i like at the school.

i think i would obviously need to take something up--make sure i was spending the time productively. but as per my lol college request for advice from above, i have a least two big things on my plate already that need time and attention. plus i am taking a creative writing class this year and it would be nice to take it seriously and have the time to put some effort into it. moreover, id save a lot of (my own) money.

is there any reason NOT to just do this? am i going to regret not taking as many classes as possible down the road? will it look bad on an academic resume? also, i feel like a chump for even saying this, but dropping these two classes (both of which are likely As) will probably mean the difference between graduating cum laude and magna cum laude (and between a 3.7 and a 3.8). does that even matter (i guess specifically for grad school, and should i bother caring?

yea, ditch the boring classes, but are you able to find some other fun, elective, and not-too-difficult-to-mess-up-your-GPA classes? i wish i took more interesting classes for the hell of it.

but investing a lot in your creative writing class seems like a good alternative.

its two weeks into school and most profs wont sign me in--plus theres an exorbitant fee for adding classes after the deadline

Ditch the classes. You will be happier in the short term and probably in the long term.

i don't think the 3.7 vs 3.8 will mean anything in the future, even for grad school

The magna might be worth enduring the classes for, though.

unless there is some technical reason, like you need a certain number of classes to get scholarship or loan $$$ (or to defer loan payment) there is no reason not to drop the classes. maybe look for an internship in your field? having actual work experience is 9345890465 times more important than an extra point on your gpa.

Ditch the boring classes! Take up an interesting new hobby, like collage or decoupage or learn to play a new instrument.

More collage, less college.

is there any reason NOT to just do this?

no. do it tomorrow. spend the time on writing, if you want. or spend your afternoons hanging out and drinking. whatever. nothing you do with the time will be more wasted than spending it on classes you don't need and aren't interested in.

max. do what is pleasure. but realize pleasure will be reconfigured in your near future. freewheel out.

it was weird to stumble onto this thread, max, cause i'm basically in the same situation. i'm working on my honors senior thesis (first semester of the two), and trying to figure out whether to apply to grad school. i'm actually meeting with my thesis adviser tomorrow afternoon to talk about grad schools to look at. i've also got this escape hatch planned out in my head where i start an MA in Media Studies (or Performance Studies), and if the whole post-grad thing isn't thrilling me, I parlay that into something media professional. And if it does thrill me, go into a PHD.

Meanwhile I'm reading Hal Foster, Fredrick Jameson and Jacques Attali for my thesis and wondering why I can't spend the rest of my life talking about post-Marxist critiques of pop culture. (On that note, I saw The Counterfeiters tonight and loved the Marxist critique of the Holocaust thing going on in the background of the film.)

So, feel good that other people are trying to feel this thing out alongside you? :-P

Also, I'm also currently in a Creative Writing class.

ditch the classes. i was only going part-time last semester and it made me feel cool, like i had a life.

i dropped two classes am saving boatloads of $$$

AND i used the extra time to finish a draft of my thesis way early, and i havent disappointed anyone

ilx is hella good at advice

i mean i still totally hate my paper and it could probably be a million billion times better, but at least its done

high five bro

way 2 go homes

aw, congratulations, max!!!! so proud of you (sorry to sound like a mom).

no HS thx a bunch for all your amazing advice on the thread

good work, max! making the best out of college is a challenge.

my advisor wants me to just hand it in and be done but i feel like there are 10000000000000000 things that i need to revise. it feels too simple & elementary but i wonder if thats just because ive spent so long w/ my texts that i know there are so many more things to say. it does feel good to be in the clear!! i have to defend it sometime in the next couple weeks, and after that i can devote my time to fixing up the radio station

Wish I could go part-time!

haha adam i dont want to brag but you have no idea how nice it is. my house is clean! im getting daily exercise! and eating 3 meals!

i am so jealous!

should I see about using my new company's TR program to just attend a couple of throwaway grad courses a semester on the pretense of pursuing another master's degree? NB the actual primary purpose of this would be to meet ladies.

Yes, you should Tom! Learning and ROMANCE go hand in hand.

yeah dude definitely

meeting men is the whole reason ladies even go to lol college

I should go to lol law school and meet rich ladies

i think boys meet lots of girls at lolcollege, but girls do not necessarily meet lots of boys.

i was in lolrelationships all through lolcollege, i squandered my education. :(

boys at lol college are easily distracted by all the other lol activities and forget that they are supposed to be trying to hook up.

I found my wife in lol college! ^_^

(I also confirmed that I had, in fact, found the lol clitoris.)

I squandered my time at GWU by not being single for any of it.

Sign up for lol artschool.

lolgradschool is kind of a bust bc everyone's already married.

Or ugly.

Ed I was actually thinking of going into an education program. I hear the business of teaching is mad riddled with lonesome babes.

i should go back for library science, apparently it's like 95% lol women.

and ned.