abadideaSep 22, 2025

Just realized I forgot to post my annual advice to college students before the school year started – but well, it's never too late to start:

- GOING THE FUCK TO CLASS

- GOING THE FUCK TO BED

- DOING YOUR FUCKING HOMEWORK

THIS IS THE MAGICAL TRINITY OF NOT HATING YOURSELF OR FEELING YOU'VE RUINED YOUR LIFE

YOU CAN ASK OTHERS FOR HELP

Show threadabadideaSep 22, 2025
every time I post this I get a bunch of people well past the college phase of their life saying "this is good advice"/"wish I'd done that" and a bunch of people less than halfway through college saying "nahhhh, no need to do all that, because of xyz hyperspecific reason that applies at this exact instant" as they slam the accelerator towards a brick wall
Show threadDaveSep 22, 2025

@0xabad1dea I went to university after 5 long years of being trained and then working as a banker. I had one. Single. Motivation: never having to return to a bank.

I treated my studies as my new 40-hour-workweek with crunch time at 80 hours. It paid off, I graduated top of my class *and* I had fun doing it.

The guys coming in directly after school? Most of them started partying hard and studying very little. Most didn't last long.

Show threadfairydoctor

@Laird_Dave @0xabad1dea i wish skip year was more common in america, i feel like having a year relief from academia wouldve done me much better to focus on college

but my parents were pretty... uh... abusive about me taking a year off

Sep 22, 2025 at 10:31pmWeb
Show threadrastilinSep 23, 2025

@fairydoctor @Laird_Dave @0xabad1dea

That point about skip year is good. When you graduate HS you've had, what, 8 - 10 years straight of classes and are signing up for 4 more of yet harder classes.

One other thing I'd suggest that hasn't come up yet is that people should read all their textbooks the whole way through. Not take notes and memorize, but just read the whole thing at least once so you vaguely know what's in it and can fit the lessons in class into a greater context.