School is an environment that is set up so that learning is possible, while learning not being the primary goal. When people begin to work for licenses, certificates, and credentials, rather than things that are of direct value, things start to decay. It's like the difference between status and respect: so many people in our culture aren't really looking for wealth, or respect: they're looking for status. Jobs are given based on what status you signal. You appear to wear a business suit, you appear to speak a certain way, you appear to have a degree from an institution of high status, you appear to have worked at a firm of high status.
Regardless of all the bullshit, schools still have labs stocked with all kinds of goodies, they give out grant money like candy if you can find the right people, there is an environment of people who want to better themselves rather than sit at home and watch movies all day, and there is a much higher density of geniuses there than most other places. That means people you can learn from and befriend. At my school we have a lot of free pianos. Last year I started teaching myself piano and now I'm damn good, much better than anybody else would be after two or three years of controlled study.
Don't let school, status, and the expectations of other people infect your psychology— that's why you're stressed out. Because you think it's important, or meaningful. It's not. If you choose to be stressed out at every little or "major" thing in school, you're choosing to lessen the average length of your life because of a game that you've been fooled into believing is real. Just take it easy and get done whatever you can. Focus on making yourself happy and living with personal integrity. You will do well either way you look at it— and you'll be happier one of the ways. Wouldn't it feel nice to be carefree?
The specifics of how many and what type of classes you should take, whether you hold a job or not, whether you have a girlfriend or want to travel, smoke pot, read books etc. are up to you to take the time to think about at length and figure out. If what you've been doing now isn't working out, try something new for one semester. You can always go back. (And if you can't, fuck it!)
In sum: don't "put your life aside." You ARE living, right now, and you have always been. Recognize that, be fully aware of that, and realize that you have to live now how you want to live— not always in the future.
On Nov 11, 2011, at 9:04 AM, CoryG wrote:
Personally, I'd suggest focusing on projects that can be turned into
sustainable profit to further your research and education.
Universities stopped being a place of higher learning when they became
an accreditation facility for the second tier of remedial education -
you don't need someone who couldn't hack it professionally to give you
a stamp of approval if you are capable of prospering otherwise. Of
course, I hold a heavy slant towards the view that individuality is
great and most forms of standardization are inherently evil, so take
it for what you will.
On Nov 11, 4:14 am, Nathan McCorkle <nmz...@gmail.com> wrote:So I've been terribly stressed by school my whole life, from the timeI was 4 or 5 years old I've been chronically late arriving to school.I don't dislike learning or hard work, but mornings have always beenhard. This latter comment is potentially due to genetics (my parentsare both 'night owls'), but there is a lot of evidence that it couldjust be environmental conditioning (i could hear the clotheswasher/dryer sometimes when falling asleep as a child, my father is amusician and is accustomed to working nights and being active then)When I was in 1st grade at a Catholic school, I remember being caughtreading a story in the back of the work book, and though I hadfinished my classwork I was 'off task' according to the teacher.Sometime in that era discontent with school began to breed.I've been struggling for 4 years in College now, trying not to dropout... I feel my workload has been too diverse for the amount of timeI have to devote... What I mean is, when I get into something, acontext switch can be very difficult. So while some people can study afew subjects each day, I'd rather spend all day for days on endstudying one thing... and come out with a very detailed understanding.This is nearly impossible to do in most schools (I've heard Evergreenin Washington State has an academic system that ties differentsubjects into common themes).So with about 12 classes between now and a bachelors degree for me, Istill contemplate quitting. I rushed to prepare for Open ScienceSummit, over-exerted myself, and just never recovered from the stressand jet-lag until it was too late. While I didn't really come toCollege for a degree (if there was a Biotech master-apprenticerelationship I would probably have opted for that instead), my logicalsense tells me to put my hacking aside and basically, not have a lifefor the next 6 months while I finish this up.I really don't want to give up doing the things that I can get lost intime with... but I don't see a middle ground. I've been reallystressed for about a month, the last two weeks I was so apathetic Ithink I only attended 2 or 3 classes (sometimes I have that many inone day), and slept between 12-18 hours a day, with a 12-16 hourwaking period... so my bed time has been shifting 2-3 hours forwardeach day.Any tips for how to put my hobbies/what I call 'living' aside for thenext 6 months?--Nathan McCorkleRochester Institute of TechnologyCollege of Science, Biotechnology/Bioinformatics
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