How to Spell College

5. Read a lot and often.

- Books YOU’RE interested in should be a supplement to the books you’re told to read.

- Browse the bookstore and library at least twice a month. Make it a habit.

- Go to your university bookstore’s textbook section and read / skim / browse through the books required in classes you want to take but can’t fit into your schedule. “Take” the class on your own.

4. Be passionate about your classes.

- Take classes you’re actually interested in. (That usually starts with choosing a major you like–not one your parents chose for you or one that sounds impressive.)

- Take classes you’re curious about. Be adventurous and expose yourself to new fields.

- Visit your professors during their office hours. Be honest with them. You don’t need to bring in an organized conversation agenda for them to see your passion for the class and academic field. You can talk to them about things you don’t understand, about contrasting ideas, and about your confusion. Wanting to talk about something and explore it deeper demonstrates as much passion as knowing something already.

- Read the books your professors recommend but don’t require. Even better, read the books your professors wrote! Cite any of these in your papers. It’s not ass-kissing. It’s simply learning more from the person you’ve been listening to all semester.

3. Learn from people.

- Remember when you were choosing colleges and you told yourself you wanted to be in a place surrounded by other smart students? You’re here now. Take advantage of your environment. Talk to your friends about academics, the news, the world, philosophy, and life. You’d be surprised by the depth of such conversations and how much you can learn in just a 45-minute lunch date.

- Listen to and think about real conversations you have with friends or overhear from strangers. Not all learning is academic. There is lots to be gained from everyday informal conversations (even gossip!) about relationships, friendships, and work. These are parts of life too!

- In addition to visiting your own professors, you can even email professors you never had and ask if you can talk to them during their office hours (if they have time when none of their actual students are there). This is particularly useful if you need a bit of guidance in a field you enjoy and study on your own but don’t have the time or prerequisites to take courses in.

- Listen to those special people who love you unconditionally and want the best for you: your parents!

2. Seek out other ways of learning

- Attend special lectures organized by your university, other universities, or your town. Use your university’s calendar webpage to browse such events. (BU’s: http://bu.edu/calendar)

- Visit museums. Go on guided city tours. Watch films.

- Every day, jot down the things you encountered that you were curious about. Then JFGI. (Just f’in Google it!)

1. Learn from experience and life.

- As much as you’ll learn from books and people, at the end of your life, would you rather have read about and heard about life or experienced it? Dare to make your own mistakes. Dare to experiment. Skip your business class and go out there and teach yourself what works and what doesn’t work in serving people. Close your psychology book and go out there and find out for yourself what humans are afraid of. Forget perfecting your Writing101 assignment and practice your own craft by writing in a journal, writing letters to friends, and starting your own blog. You’ll learn from it all. What is failure anyway?

- Remember that whether it’s academics or life in general, you are the only person who can decide which “classrooms” you want to enter, you are the only person who can decide what experience will count as a lesson, and you are the only person who can decide how well you do. You are your own best teacher and you alone are fully in charge of your own learning.

- Remember that you can learn anything you want. It won’t show up on your transcript or resume, but it will show up in your life. You won’t be graded on it, but you will gain from it. That’s what real education is about and that’s what real life is about. Be a student of life and for life.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University Class of 2009

Considerations when choosing a course:

- Are the classes you picked interesting and rewarding? Do the course descriptions turn you on? (For BU’s online catalog: http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/und/)

- Or did you pick them because they have easy professors or convenient timeslots? Or both, you lazy bastard? (Is your idea of education sleeping in until 12 for an easy class that doesn’t take attendance–which means you can skip and actually sleep until 3?)

- Do the classes have enjoyable readings and lecture topics? Are they even relevant to the course title? (Sometimes I’m not sure what my prof was smoking.) You can usually find info about this through old syllabi (either from a friend or from the online syllabi archive). For BU’s: http://courseinfo.bu.edu.

- Are you still “undecided” about your major but taking many classes in one department next semester? Are you absolutely positive you’ll be heading in that direction in the future and that next semester won’t be as boring as Canadian curling? (Seriously, what IS that shit?)

- Do you have AP credits for some courses? If so, when you register for some lower-level related classes, it could cancel your AP credits in a related subject. Check your course guide or ask your advisor to be sure.

- Can you fit a fun and social physical education class into your schedule? Do it. It’s only one or two more hours of class per week and it’s definitely worth it–especially if you meet someone hot. (What’s hotter than a hot person getting physical in class? C’mon.)

(For BU: Your tuition comes with up to 18 credits per semester. Your usual 4-class courseload will add up to 16, which means you can take up to 4 more half-credit classes. Just a small sample of BU’s offerings: soccer, golf, skating, ballroom dance, hip hop, tap, ballet, swimming, scuba diving, sailing, tai chi, yoga, weight lifting, aerobics, kickboxing, CPR… you get the point. For a full list: http://www.bu.edu/bulletins/und/item25.html#anchor09. To register for one, enter PDP into the course finder. But they don’t have curling. Sorry, Canada.)

- Can you fit a regular 2-credit academic class into your schedule? They’re usually easy on you, and the relatively light work to get an A or A- can boost your GPA. No, they’re not slacker courses though. You’ll still need to work a little. (For BU: Search CFA and SED. They always offer lots of cool 2-credit classes.)

- Are you allowed to overload and take an extra 4-credit class? Freshmen may not be allowed to. Also check if you can take 20 credits without paying more. Sometimes you need a certain GPA to overload for free before senior year.

- How many electives can you take before you graduate? Do you have time to take something completely random that you’ve always been curious about? Such as why bonobo chimps are constantly having sex? (I learned that in Cultural Anthropology. And at the end of the semester, our class had a huge sex party. Monkey see, monkey do. Just kidding.)

- Have you talked to your advisor about everything you weren’t sure of? Do you even know who your advisor is?

Considerations when choosing professors:

- First and most importantly: are they hot? Do they have lots of chili peppers on http://ratemyprofessors.com? (For BU: Remember, we have the second hottest prof in the country. Obviously she teaches French. Brag to all your hometown friends. No, I’m really not kidding. Look her up on the RateMyProfessors homepage.)

- Second, do they have good academic ratings on http://ratemyprofessors.com? The general gist is USUALLY dependable enough, but don’t trust individual ratings unless they seem fair and objective. Is there positive word-of-mouth about the prof too? Have your friends taken him? Can you use a Facebook Courses application to find the prof’s current students and send a message to them to ask about specifics? Previous students will be more helpful than you’d think. And no, this is not creepy or awkward unless you think it is.

- Have you searched for your prof’s description on her department website (something like http://bu.edu/psych)? Does she share your academic and research interests? Did she attend a grad school you want to attend?–she may be a good source of networking. Is her thesis interesting to you? (Knowing all this will also earn you tons of brownie points next semester.)

- Would she write a killer recommendation for you? Does she seem uber cool and fascinating? And again, is your professor hot?

- Is he famous? Has he won numerous awards? Does he publish an article every other day? Is he the world’s leading expert on something other than cheese? Will you be able to brag that you took a class with him? Just take him.

(Just a disclaimer: All my favorite professors were “no-names” who had the time to keep exchanging emails and even Facebook wall posts with me even years after class ended. While I learned lots in “famous” professor classes and was inspired to read a LOT of the professor’s work, I was never mentored in these classes. Keep a nice balance between these two types of professors.)

Some of BU’s most famous: Elie Wiesel (duh), Ray Carney (film scholar; leading expert on John Cassavetes and independent cinema; I’m taking a class with him next semester even if he’s very difficult), Leslie Epstein (director of creative writing; his son Theo is the youngest general manager in MLB (Red Sox); his father and uncle wrote the Casablanca screenplay!), Robert Pinsky (former U.S. Poet Laureate), Osamu Shimomura (2008 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry)

- Has she won a teaching award at your university? She may not be famous, but she might be a more competent teacher than the famous ones. She can pinpoint your mistakes, explain concepts effectively, and inspire you. (For BU’s award-winning professors: http://www.bu.edu/provost/resources/awards/metcalf/award.html and http://www.bu.edu/provost/resources/awards/metcalf/award-past.html)

- Have you googled him? (Who else thinks Google and Starbucks should merge and take over the world?)

- Have you searched for her books on http://amazon.com? Have you read her articles, publications, and previous work? Would you love to spend a whole semester talking to her about her work?

- Have you searched for his resume on http://linkedin.com?

- Last (and this is VERY important for changing bad grades): does your professor like cookies, brownies, and other assorted baked goods? Oh, and can you bake?

Very Random Things For BU Course Registration:

- When you register, type in your registration code ahead of time. Don’t wait until your registration time to do that.

- Add all the classes you want to your planner. Even add all your backups. I’ve seen people add only 4 classes. Your planner can fit up to 30.

- When it’s time to register, click “Register for Classes.” Then click “Go” next to “search by planner.” You’ll register a lot faster than all the n00bs who manually type in all their course numbers individually.

- Just worry about registering for all the classes that are filling up real fast. Scramble to take those. Then, a minute later, register for the rest.

Options for Getting into the Full Class You Really Want Without Being Such a Bitch About It:

- Stalk your online registration site (for BU: StudentLink) twice a day every day during winter or summer break. I can almost guarantee someone will drop the class. This has worked EVERY semester for me.

- If the class has a lecture and a discussion, hold onto a discussion section if one is open. They’re usually 0 credits. Now you just need to wait for the lecture to open up. (Some schools have policies against this.)

- Email the professor. Introduce yourself and demonstrate your interest in the class and the prof will probably agree to sign you in. Or even visit the prof’s office hours. Or search for his current class times and find him right after a class. Don’t worry, it’s not creepy. Believe me, profs have been through LOTS of really creepy students.. especially during finals week.

- If the new semester starts and you still aren’t registered, go to the class as if you’re part of it. Absent students on the first day are usually dropped. You’ll be able to take their spot. (Which also means if you’ll be absent on the first day of class for a course you want to keep, make sure the absence is lefit and that your prof knows about it! Otherwise someone could steal your precious class and hot professor! You DID choose classes based on hotness, right?)

- Have an upperclassman or someone with a better registration time hold a spot for you before the class gets full. Have him drop it at an awkward hour a few days after you register. (Some schools have policies against this.)

- Ask what your advisor can do about it.

- Ask what love’s gotta do with it.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

College hides its real lessons. They dress themselves up as lectures, tests, papers, oral presentations, projects, social interactions, new settings, new people, roommates, and extracurriculars. While you may be taught chemical formulas, assigned a paper about Freud, given a group project about economics, challenged by very different roommates, living far from home, or given the responsibility of leading a club, what you’re really learning is how to learn, think, write, listen, talk, manage time, manage people, care about and shape the world-at-large, be an active citizen, and be independent—all crucial skills relevant to every workplace.

Your major plays a small role in your college experience and an even smaller role in the years following graduation. As long as your university provides a haven that allows you to learn from your mistakes and develop your strengths and weaknesses—all in a nurturing environment—then you’re getting a valuable education.

Remember that in college, everyone is rooting for you. Take advantage of it before you head off into the “real world.” Learn everything you’ve always wanted to learn, grow in all the ways you’ve ever wanted to grow, and change in all the ways you’ve ever wanted to change.

Dare to be vulnerable, wrong, adventurous, curious.

Have faith in being confident, right, independent, influential, social.

And have pride in being yourself and developing your full potential.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student

I hate that question.

I’m very goal-driven with the things I think need direction. And I have a strong sense of my personal and career-related values.

But I still hate that question.

So years ago when the teacher in charge of my high school yearbook asked it to me and everyone else in the Top 10, our conversation was quite interesting:

Nathan: I don’t know.
Yearbook Advisor: You have to know.
Nathan: No, I don’t. I don’t know.
Yearbook Advisor: Everyone else has something listed.
Nathan: And that means I have to follow the crowd?
Yearbook Advisor: Yes. The Top 10 should be setting an example for everyone else.
Nathan: Well, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know and I think this is as much of a good example as everyone else’s answer. If you’re that desperate, you can pick something for me and include it in the yearbook.

Well, months passed and the yearbook was finally published. I flipped to the career plans page for the Top 10, and apparently the advisor wrote “Engineer or pro wrestler” under my photo. Nice joke, but way to be stereotypical. I’m Asian and had a reputation of being good at math, but an engineer was possibly the only thing I knew I didn’t want to be.

Okay, back to that ugly question and all its flaws. What do you want to be when you grow up? If you’re aspiring to be something like a writer, musician, anthropologist, chef, teacher, mechanic, or social worker, you better own up to it and correct your interviewer. You already are that writer, musician, anthropologist, chef, teacher, mechanic, or social worker. It’s not something you want to be when you grow up. It’s something you live and breathe already.

If you want anyone to consider your seriousness for a career, you need to give a role to yourself. You could say you’re a “teacher” if teaching others is what you often do, even if you don’t stand in front of a chalkboard every day. I suppose you can’t really say you’re a doctor or politician to people yet, but you could still say you’re a healer or a liar…

Instead of asking yourself what you want to be, ask yourself who you are and what you value. Take an inventory of your strengths and personality traits. Then reflect on what kind of effect and difference you’d like to make in the world. While the answers to these questions are open to change throughout your life, they will stay a lot more consistent than “what you want to be.” In addition, they’ll invite you to explore a lot more opportunities that will help you act on your values.

Years after my high school graduation, I finally figured out part of my life. Some of my main values are educating people, inspiring people, and empowering people. When I leave this world, I want it to be a more loving, compassionate, understanding, and forgiving place. I act on these values by mixing some careers together: teacher, counselor, consultant, writer, filmmaker. These titles may change–and I may encounter new ones I like–but my values will always stay the same.

I think it’s perfectly fine, and probably even normal, to not know what you want to be. You have plenty of choices in the future, and you wouldn’t want to trap yourself into just one. But it’s to your own disadvantage not to think about what gift you can give to the world.

Life is about acting on values, not chasing titles.

- by Nathan Chow
Boston University student