Freewriting:
What it is like to be an engineer at U of I. It is difficult to write without pressing the backspace button since my pinky automatically moves there without me really thinking about it. It is actually more difficult to stop myself from hitting backspace.
Anyways, as an engineer I find that the class load is very intense and overwhelming at times. I mean I was busy in high school, but now it's an extra level I could nveer expect. I remember as a senior wishing i went the extra mile as a freshman for gpa and organizations, etc. So that is what keeps me motivated now. I want to have the grades as well as social experience, but as they say you can have A's, a social life, or sleep and you can only pick two. This is a slightly upsetting thought because wouldn't we all like to have it all? I really need to develop a balance without going to crazy. I think the key is making the right connections and trying to enjoy your classes. Isn't the point of college to find out what you wanna do and expand your knowledge on that? I hope to do well. I would prove so much to myself as well as my family that I really am capable. I know I can do so much, but college is definitely an adjustment as I have found out. I'm still having so much trouble with fixing my mistakes as I type them.
I have definitely enjoyed the first month of college. The first weeks were awesome because there wasn't much homework and you could go spend time with friends and making friends as well. These past few weeks have been much more difficult in the sense that classes are much more intense and at times it feels like I am just getting by. The one thing that is unfortunate is that when my roommates want to go out they can just enjoy there weekend, but I find studying a better use of my time. I would really enjoy the experience of bonding with them and seeing other parts of campus, but i feel it is better to just stay in and study.
Directed Writing:
The typical definiton of college. Most people either see college as a time to study or a time to enjoy being young. Of course there is a good combination of the two.
With the first, there is a vision of a college student locked in there room at all hours of the day glued to their books only leaving for food and to go to class. They continue to study reguardless of the many opportunities outside their door that others are taking advantage of. Are they missing anything? Do they have a good college experience? Well yes and no. They will certainly have their hard work pay off, but is it at a price?
On the extreme other side there is a student that is never in their room. Their bed remains empty because they are at one social gathering after the next only stopping back at their dorm to change clothes once and a while. They rarely go to class, but definitely enjoy every minute not strapped to a desk. Their giant lecture halls do not notice their absence, however classes aren't as full as they were on the first day of class. These students live for parties and being out with friends. They will definitely take advantage of the fact that so many kids their age are in the same area as them and try to meet as many as they can. They have so much fun and cannot believe that people say college is difficult. They don't have a teacher telling them to go to class and really enjoy this freedom.
So what is a good balance? Well it varies. That isn't very specific, but it is so true. How can one really know what is best? Past high school performance is a pretty good indication, but then again some people love being away from home and change their prefernces.
On a side note: That was a lot more difficult then I thought. I believe it was very helpful tho :)
Wow!That is a long passage. Believe or not,I read through your passage.
ReplyDeleteI come across the same problem. Which is more important,real society experience or GPA? For applying graduate school and find your first job,GPA could be very important. However,according to my father's experience,as we grow older,the experience will be more important. Like the ability to persuade others(the importance of communication even for engineers!) and the ability to make decision(it is actually kinds of hard to make a decision especially when two or three or more choices have more choice,and each of these choice has some characteristics important to you. )
So,my question is what is your plan for following semester,work load is even heavier,there will be even more social activities,how do you balance these two? Being social while keeps a great GPA!
Good job!Thanks!
Hey Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteYou said pretty much everything I've been feeling the past couple weeks. It really is such a difficult balance to figure out; I'm still working on it myself, sometimes I feel like I'm about to fall off into an abyss of all the stuff I haven't done.
Maybe you just plan everything out very well, but your free write was so structured! I feel like mine was all over the place... so kudos for that, it definitely had a beginning a middle and an end.
In an answer to your final question, the way I balance everything? Hm, let's see. I try to keep it to going out two nights a week (mostly friday and saturday night) and catching up on all the homework in between! I think we all need a time to forget the books for a little bit and be human, that's how I keep my sanity.... oh and get involved in sports... I can't always make all of the meetings but it's nice when I'm stressed out to just blow off some serious steam playing handball or soccer, it feels refreshing!
Anyway... very nice job, I definitely can relate with this.
HAPPY FRIDAY!
I would say there isn't that much difference between your free writing and directed writing passages in the sense that both seem thought through. I guess you still think when writing regardless of the availability of a backspace key. Both passages seem to be able to communicate as effectively as each other. Although you have said in general you thought it was hard which one do you think is easier?
ReplyDeleteAs far as balance is concerned, I agree balance is very important, and in my opinion it requires restraint and compromise and a good understanding of oneself. I can completely relate to the these first few weeks being quite a ride.
Stephanie
ReplyDeleteFirstly, sorry for commenting so late, I somehow forgot to comment on this post. Both your passages were very interesting and you perfectly explained a dilemma that is faced by a lot of college students. During my first few weeks, I also found myself in this awkward predicament.
I completely agree with you on the class load issue. The work load in college is significantly higher than that of school. You also made a good point about making connections and enjoying your classes. These two things – networking and ‘the joy of engineering’ are a part of the missing basics as well. I believe that this would definitely help you in becoming a better engineer.
Even though you mentioned that you prefer to stay in your room and study, I would highly recommend you to explore the campus and the city and meet as many people as you can. From my personal experience, it is really very helpful to know a lot of people. It enables you to learn a lot of interesting things that you may not come across in class. Also, it is a lot of fun to talk to people from different places (I love the diversity on our campus!). I feel that college is all about getting a good overall experience and getting the right exposure.
In the end, I have to say that I quite enjoyed reading your blog post, I can understand how hard it is to type without using the backspace key.
Shivam Kundan