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Should I become a "nerd"?
Must I sacrifice the "macrosocial" facet of my personality if I want to be really successful (maximum grades, top internships, etc.) at university?
Not that I'm counting on an automatic increase in my academic performances; the idea is to set my mind at uninterrupted peace for the entire span of my studies, in order to maintain and enjoy the focus on my courses.
By "macrosocial" I mean all the outside partying and social interaction with people who have no immediate connection to my current activity; plus all energy I might uselessly waste for a couple of romances or relationships throughout the three years as an undergraduate - and thereby affect the balance of my "inner calm".
I already failed to manage myself (feelings, thoughts, time, etc.) when I broke up with a girl right before my finals at school.
That was a hard experience for me, which I think was also a kind of lesson.
Considering that university itself will be much harder, and considering that I do have some ambition and want to rise from my recession... would it be worth it to eliminate the set of "aimless/senseless" social activities for the next three years, and limit myself to the necessary?
(I'm not sure whether "nerd" is the appropriate term... but well, if that's the only way I can give my best these three years)
Not that I'm counting on an automatic increase in my academic performances; the idea is to set my mind at uninterrupted peace for the entire span of my studies, in order to maintain and enjoy the focus on my courses.
By "macrosocial" I mean all the outside partying and social interaction with people who have no immediate connection to my current activity; plus all energy I might uselessly waste for a couple of romances or relationships throughout the three years as an undergraduate - and thereby affect the balance of my "inner calm".
I already failed to manage myself (feelings, thoughts, time, etc.) when I broke up with a girl right before my finals at school.
That was a hard experience for me, which I think was also a kind of lesson.
Considering that university itself will be much harder, and considering that I do have some ambition and want to rise from my recession... would it be worth it to eliminate the set of "aimless/senseless" social activities for the next three years, and limit myself to the necessary?
(I'm not sure whether "nerd" is the appropriate term... but well, if that's the only way I can give my best these three years)
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That's a little extreme. Life is about balance, work when you have to and have fun when you have the time. If you just work and work you'll go crazy and get stressed about every thing. In time you'll look back and realise academics is not everything it's cracked up to me and you certainly shouldn't invest all your time in it.
Reply 3
Maybe it would help your paper grades, but do you really think it would help develoe you as a person, and people skills are essential for working life.
Sheesh, you're not an emotionally devoid robot! I understand where you're coming from, but there's no way you're going to manage to stick to doing nothing but 'necessary' studying for 3 years - balance is the key, not 'all or nothing'. I reccommend at least a little 'social interaction' with other people, even if it's to take your mind off things when life gets tough;while your course is important, it's not the end all and be all of your life... is it?
You are at Uni - ergo you have a brain and are (hopefully) relatively intelligent.
My advice would be -
When you work - shut off distractions, and work hard and efficently - you dont need to spend uber long on work - most of the time its about getting to the point. if you try and work in frount of a TV - then most likely you'll do b*gger all. I would also suggest avoiding MSN.
A huge part of Uni is the social aspect - if you ONLY work I guranttee you will have a mental breakdown within weeks - your body needs time to chill.
Social interaction is not useless - you have a great time and make brilliant friends - you can also get contacts this way - and some of those friends will help you when you (inevitably) as we all do - go through hard times. I wouldnt be anywhere without my friends - and yet I get decent grades, socilise and have ambition. they are not exclusive.
As for being a nerd - I know people at Oxbridge - who work hard - but play harder. If you have any idea what the work there is like you will realise how important chilling out is. And they're some great guys and gals - but they also party AND still go on to get 1st and 2is.
Besides sevearly damageing you're liver is a Uni Rite of Passage
Wangers
My advice would be -
When you work - shut off distractions, and work hard and efficently - you dont need to spend uber long on work - most of the time its about getting to the point. if you try and work in frount of a TV - then most likely you'll do b*gger all. I would also suggest avoiding MSN.
A huge part of Uni is the social aspect - if you ONLY work I guranttee you will have a mental breakdown within weeks - your body needs time to chill.
Social interaction is not useless - you have a great time and make brilliant friends - you can also get contacts this way - and some of those friends will help you when you (inevitably) as we all do - go through hard times. I wouldnt be anywhere without my friends - and yet I get decent grades, socilise and have ambition. they are not exclusive.
As for being a nerd - I know people at Oxbridge - who work hard - but play harder. If you have any idea what the work there is like you will realise how important chilling out is. And they're some great guys and gals - but they also party AND still go on to get 1st and 2is.
Besides sevearly damageing you're liver is a Uni Rite of Passage
Wangers
Reply 7
I don't think there's any need to go to such an extreme of ruling out any 'unnecessary' social interaction. If the sucess you aim for really would require you to make such a dramatic change, I wonder if it would be worth reassessing your ambitions?
I recognise that, at times, the idea of living a life dedicated solely to academic pursuits without the distraction of others does seem appealing, but I would question whether, if you did live such a life, you would not find that you would prefer a more social existence. Making changes to the amount of time you spend working and socialising would seem like a sensible decision for someone starting university and aiming for academic sucess, but ruling out any sort of socialising shouldn't be necessary; unless you've somehow been accepted for a course which you are not realistically capable of keeping up with, you should be able to dedicate enough time to your studies whilst also maintaining social activities.
I recognise that, at times, the idea of living a life dedicated solely to academic pursuits without the distraction of others does seem appealing, but I would question whether, if you did live such a life, you would not find that you would prefer a more social existence. Making changes to the amount of time you spend working and socialising would seem like a sensible decision for someone starting university and aiming for academic sucess, but ruling out any sort of socialising shouldn't be necessary; unless you've somehow been accepted for a course which you are not realistically capable of keeping up with, you should be able to dedicate enough time to your studies whilst also maintaining social activities.
Reply 11
I didn't mean all social contact. I meant the macrosocial part. That which has nothing to do with my immediate activity (e.g. clubbing, partying, etc.) I've already established some "leadership" positions at university, where it's related to my class and what I'm studying about (and I can assure you that my future prospects involve lot of leadership... but do you have to go to every party for that? )
As for work and fun... well, I can transform my attitude so that the highest form of fun I will get will be from the "work" (which, infact, won't be anymore "work", but "fun"... as soon as I remove the rest).
Infact, I might get bored to death if I am working enthusiastically on some project and I'm forced to hang around in a pub doing nothing...
(just an example)
)As for work and fun... well, I can transform my attitude so that the highest form of fun I will get will be from the "work" (which, infact, won't be anymore "work", but "fun"... as soon as I remove the rest).
Infact, I might get bored to death if I am working enthusiastically on some project and I'm forced to hang around in a pub doing nothing...
(just an example)
thats hilarious!!!
Anonymous
I didn't mean all social contact. I meant the macrosocial part. That which has nothing to do with my immediate activity (e.g. clubbing, partying, etc.) I've already established some "leadership" positions at university, where it's related to my class and what I'm studying about (and I can assure you that my future prospects involve lot of leadership... but do you have to go to every party for that? )
As for work and fun... well, I can transform my attitude so that the highest form of fun I will get will be from the "work" (which, infact, won't be anymore "work", but "fun"... as soon as I remove the rest).
Infact, I might get bored to death if I am working enthusiastically on some project and I'm forced to hang around in a pub doing nothing...
(just an example)
)As for work and fun... well, I can transform my attitude so that the highest form of fun I will get will be from the "work" (which, infact, won't be anymore "work", but "fun"... as soon as I remove the rest).
Infact, I might get bored to death if I am working enthusiastically on some project and I'm forced to hang around in a pub doing nothing...
(just an example)
You sound really really irritating.
Anonymous
As for work and fun... well, I can transform my attitude so that the highest form of fun I will get will be from the "work" (which, infact, won't be anymore "work", but "fun"... as soon as I remove the rest).
If you think that'll work, go for it! However, I don't think people can just force themselves to enjoy what they want to like that... feel free to prove me wrong though, you do seem very set on your plans.
Reply 16
No, don't be deceived by appearances :P I'm still evaluating. I'm quite sure that, as with quitting smoking, I'll say "Tonight will be my last night out" everyday, for a month or so... lol
As for the "work-fun" thing. Isn't it actually something obvious?
Didn't we (most of us) theoretically chose our university course because it meant fun to us?
Probably we are socially conditioned to associate study with "work" and partying/clubbing with "fun". But if we really like our course...
I dunno. Why spend extra time and money to the nightlife business when we can have all our enjoyment and empower ourselves with what we already have?
Wangers... what you're saying obviously sounds good to me; unfortunately, I already had some bad experience. I didn't succeed at my school finals...
And I wouldn't like to put studies at stake once again... at least only for these three years. Later I might start experimenting with life again.
If I die before that, I know that I died working at something.
Furthermore, I also paid a lot of money... You get what I mean?
I wanna reap the best out of what I've already invested in.
As for the "work-fun" thing. Isn't it actually something obvious?
Didn't we (most of us) theoretically chose our university course because it meant fun to us?
Probably we are socially conditioned to associate study with "work" and partying/clubbing with "fun". But if we really like our course...
I dunno. Why spend extra time and money to the nightlife business when we can have all our enjoyment and empower ourselves with what we already have?
Wangers... what you're saying obviously sounds good to me; unfortunately, I already had some bad experience. I didn't succeed at my school finals...
And I wouldn't like to put studies at stake once again... at least only for these three years. Later I might start experimenting with life again.
If I die before that, I know that I died working at something.
Furthermore, I also paid a lot of money... You get what I mean?
I wanna reap the best out of what I've already invested in.
Reply 18
A lad on my undergrad course ended up with the highest 1st in the Engineering Department at Loughborough because he only went out on "Special" occasions , birthdays/friends birthdays/girlfriends anniversaries, but he was a really cool bloke with loads of mates. He just had the mindset that he wanted to end up with a good degree instead of pissing it away.
So i guess its about balance. Do you want to end up with a high 1st. Or risk a much lower degree for the sake of going out everynight.
I know which i did 
and loved every minute of it!
So i guess its about balance. Do you want to end up with a high 1st. Or risk a much lower degree for the sake of going out everynight.
I know which i did
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