What I would have done if I could restart college

[w4read]

Greetings guys

I'm finishing university this year and I've been thinking a lot about what I would have done differently if I could go back in time and do it all over. I've noticed that there are a lot of youngsters here at this forum who's probably going through the early stage of university/college or are planning to go there soon or in the future, so I thought I might share one important thing that came to mind this other day. 

So what I would've done is make an online course of all the subjects I had. That's it. Learn the lessons, prepare to make a video, make it, and share it if you feel for it. Why should you do it?

1. You learn your subjects better! Making videos forces you to be able to explain the concepts you are learning. Can't explain it? Well, then you haven't learned it. I don't know how many times I've been reading stuff and felt like "wow, I'm really understanding it now!" for then to just show up on a test and not be able to solve the questions. That's the illusion of learning and it created so much suffering for me before I learned the lesson. The lesson actually didn't land for real before I took a course on Coursera called "learning how to learn", which is a course I highly recommend.

2. You learn communication skills! Speaking in front of a camera requires communication skills, at least if you want to make good videos. You are forcing yourself to explain the content in a good and understandable way and engage the audience.

3. You learn video editing! (which can be cool). 

4. It is something tangible! If you end up searching for jobs at some corporations you will probably compete with people who have nothing but maybe some good grades and a side job at best. You, on the other hand, have good grades AND one or more online courses that you have created from just learning what you were supposed to learn anyway. But this is something tangible. And if the videos are well made they clearly shows your skills and knowledge, not just within the subjects, but in ways of communication and explanation which is extremely important skills in the workforce. 

5. You can help others learn! If you are on this forum you probably have some sort of interest in creation and the sharing of knowledge so this would probably be a good motivation as well. If you don't like the idea of standing in front of a camera and exposing yourself that way there are lots of ways to make videos that don't require you to show your face. Khan Academy uses a great teqnique with few associated costs related to equipment and softwares. Just do a quick google search and you'll find it.

And lastly, if you prefer writing more than speaking to a camera you can do the same thing just making a website and release articles. Or, you can get LinkedIn premium and share it in the different groups there so that other professionals can read them. And out of that you may get in contact with someone who likes your content which can open the door for potential job opportunities.

Well, this is my 5 cents. Hope it inspires some of you! If you don't do this make sure that you do something or engage in an activity outside of school. Personally I joined a music festival and worked there as a volunteer. This gave me working experience and access to a social circle I wouldn't have otherwise. But if I was going to choose again, I would rather have made an online course or something tangible where I was forced to improve and show my skills in the area of study.

[Noahsteelers34]

Thank you for sharing this. I am entering college at the end of the summer and will definitely consider this advice. Another good think would probably be to create independent projects to show to a corporation, especially if you are doing engineer like I am considering.

[w4read]

@Noahsteelers34 That's awesome man. I wish I were in your shoes!

You bring up an excellent point, independent and creative projects is the key, no matter what it entails specifically. 

I would also like to add that if you are not sure what kind of engineering you find most interesting or what your life purpose is, you should take some time to explore the different fields before commiting. I think a lot of engineering studies also allows you to change after a year if you find out that something else is more interesting, at least that's the case where I come from. 

So yeah, give yourself time to explore your life purpose if you haven't already and then commit 100% to some kind of project during the time of study. That would be my final advice.

[Danioover9000]

   If I had to redo my entire education, There would be a lot of changes I would make. Here are a few I'd do real quick:

   Train to visualize and hold multiple objects, big and small, in my mind, and compare/contrast mentally, in as much detail and duration.

   Train my concentration, mindfulness and meditation.

   Develop a like for challenging topics, instead of procrastinate for the majority of the time.

   Take the majority of my free time into building skills on fields/topics I like.

   Avoid video games and junk foods like the plague. At the very least, long periods of abstaining from these.

 

   Side note, your approach is good to me, because making these videos acts like a supplementary training for the mind to hold various objects and situations in an imagined mental space, in relation to the self concept and other concepts.

Edited February 22, 2021 by Danioover9000