College students?

[Cipher]

Originally Posted by Proto

I just finished my masters degree last semester with flying colors. I entered a research internship at U. of Wisconsin for a semester.. I guess I'll be starting my PhD during the next term. I plan to stay in the academia as a research professor back in Mexico, the real world is too scary for me.

Strange, I thought you were more the "intellectual" type rather than the "emotional" type. Why don't you rationalize the positives and negatives and ignore "illogical" feelings? Knowledge is indeed the solution.

[Kafriel]

^ Professors got a great job, they get to teach the same things every year, sticking to a piece of knowledge and recycling it is better than continuously expanding your intellectual library since you run the risk of forgetting stuff you learned long ago or didn't use for a long time.
The only downside I can think of at the moment is the weekly hour restrictions (15h for Greece, don't know about the rest of the world) so you can't get too many courses per week.

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

^ Professors got a great job, they get to teach the same things every year, sticking to a piece of knowledge and recycling it is better than continuously expanding your intellectual library since you run the risk of forgetting stuff you learned long ago or didn't use for a long time.

Wrong. Professors, at least in US-style research universities, don't keep their jobs with just teaching. If anything, some professors have problems paying attention to the teaching side of their job because they are so absorbed with their own researches. This is less a problem with liberal arts professors compared to the sciences though.

They teach "recycled" knowledge only at some levels. Other than that they have to do more or less constant research and/or writing, as well as keeping up with the latest advances in their fields of expertise, which tend to change the materials of their courses over time, much faster than the inertia of lower level education at least.

[DidCart]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Wrong. Professors, at least in US-style research universities, don't keep their jobs with just teaching. If anything, some professors have problems paying attention to the teaching side of their job because they are so absorbed with their own researches. This is less a problem with liberal arts professors compared to the sciences though.

They teach "recycled" knowledge only at some levels. Other than that they have to do more or less constant research and/or writing, as well as keeping up with the latest advances in their fields of expertise, which tend to change the materials of their courses over time, much faster than the inertia of lower level education at least.

Here in Brazil is something like that too. If you did the same class twice (because you failed it or else) you'll see, even in a short period of time, that they'll be different.

[King Lycan]

I start my community college on Monday.. bye bye summer

[SSJiffy]

I graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) this summer with a B.A. in Latin American Latino Studies/Politics (it's a combined program). It's been about a month since I graduated and yeah the job market is piss poor but that doesn't mean there aren't any jobs. Through familial/friend/teacher connections I've gotten leads as to where to go and who to talk to for a job. I'm confident I'll be happily employed by the end of this month.

[LusterFlare]

2 weeks into college now.

[Gin]

Originally Posted by King Lycan

I start my community college on Monday.. bye bye summer

You're lucky, I've been in school for 3 weeks oh well, I only have school mondays and wednesdays until october, when i start having 1 class on saturday. I set my schedule up really nice.

[Xion Valkyrie]

Only good thing about the quarter system is that it starts on September 24th, so my summer is still going~

[Envy]

I'm... well I should be a junior in college. But instead I'm at a community college. I couldn't handle all of the classes at once required to graduate last semester (I know, I suck.) And I was planning on finishing this semester... but can't afford it. (For the past two years I had a scholarship which paid for all of my classes. I used up all of the hours. =/)

But instead of letting that bother me I'll take it as some time to get closer to a college level with my instrument.

I'm a music major. Planning on transferring to a music education program.

I don't really know beyond that right now. I just know I'm pretty good at Music Theory. Or at least that's what I like to think.

[ChainLegacy]

I'm a second year at Northeastern University, studying entrepreneurship and business management.

Did the whole party and screw around routine my first year, but I'm going back into academic mode this time around .

[chikorita157]

Just started my fall semester now at my new college... Well, I haven't got alot of work yet, but most of it is reading so far... and I have Saturday classes, which suck alot...

Also, the food isn't bad at all, although I'll be sick of it as always after the first semester... atleast it's not disgusting like the food served by the Gourmet Dining Services. =P

[Kylaran]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

^ Professors got a great job, they get to teach the same things every year, sticking to a piece of knowledge and recycling it is better than continuously expanding your intellectual library since you run the risk of forgetting stuff you learned long ago or didn't use for a long time.

Long-term memory is capable of lasting an entire lifetime and is thought to be relatively limitless in capacity. There's no guarantee that the most obscure piece of information you learn in middle school won't be accessed from your memory forty years down the road. When you fail to encode memory, it's in your working memory, which is the time when you think about what you've just learned and try to store it permanently in your brain. You won't just lose information because you've learned new information, although it may seem like it. Take cramming, for instance. When you cram, you have little time to fully process information, and thus it's easy to lose a lot of what you do review, especially if you're tired and your body is incapable of generating the chemicals necessary for long-term potentiation. Professors and intellectuals that can constantly expand on information they've already learned will, most likely, still be able to recall that information. Of course, sometimes we do lose our memories, but simply learning new things won't guarantee it.

And, here in the U.S., teachers at major universities are generally required to publish at least one paper a year, and many many teachers have their own labs (in the sciences/social sciences) or research projects running that teachers can get into. To be honest, a lot of schools FORCE teachers into teach (especially undergraduate courses) in order for them to diffuse some of their knowledge and research expertise to curious young students.

If fact, it's working with these teachers in their area of expertise that really helps a lot of academically-oriented students pursue further education/careers.

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

Only good thing about the quarter system is that it starts on September 24th, so my summer is still going~

I just completed the summer session over here, and it's on a quarter system too. Summer condenses the 10 weeks per quarter into two separate 5 week sections, so the lectures are twice as long, and you have only half the time in between exams. I'm tired out. Lol XD

[Kafriel]

Still running the exam period here, fortunately I only got one more course to take and then...holidays till October, after the enrollment I really hope I've passed all of my courses (save one), I can choose courses that sum up to 35 hours and have a total of 60 or so, thus in order to graduate next year I'd have to pass all of them two times in a row!

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by Kylaran

I just completed the summer session over here, and it's on a quarter system too. Summer condenses the 10 weeks per quarter into two separate 5 week sections, so the lectures are twice as long, and you have only half the time in between exams. I'm tired out. Lol XD

Never had to take a summer session in both undergrad and grad school so far =)

[Kylaran]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

Never had to take a summer session in both undergrad and grad school so far =)

I'll be at the credit limit for a double major before the end of my fourth year, unfortunately (finishing my first year now). I'm only taking summer courses because I work as an assistant at a research lab on campus, helping design and run psychology experiments.

Don't take summer school if you can get an internship or something, but if you have the opportunity to do both, it's a good chance to reduce the stress of the regular school year.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Started my college life about two weeks ago and I will say that it is lot better than high school. Having so many free times and lot of flexible hours gave me lot of time to study. Though I have to say I am not particularly fond of my roommate .

[Raiga]

First year and enjoying the life so far! The classes, the people, the city... all pretty darn cool.

Funny thing is, on average I've been sleeping earlier than I did when I was in high school or this summer. I think I'm unnatural.

So today the folks in the dorm room next door were blasting loud music. In response I turned my speakers towards the wall, turned the volume slider up to 100, and blasted anime songs back at them.

I've always wanted to do that. =D

[Kafriel]

^ Earplugs are life-savers
And yes, everyone I know says college life>>>>>>>normal life.

[Proto]

Originally Posted by Cipher

Strange, I thought you were more the "intellectual" type rather than the "emotional" type. Why don't you rationalize the positives and negatives and ignore "illogical" feelings? Knowledge is indeed the solution.

Late reply, incomi~ing!.

That was just a snarky comment. My real love lies within research and teaching, hence why I plan to stay in the academia. Works out there are just not satisfying for me.