University sure as heck isn’t natural, but it’s necessary

When everything around you is new, who or what do you turn to?

Ready to take on the uni scene!

New room. New culture. New climate. New classes. New people. New routine. New teachers. New friends (no friends?). New traditions. New social events. New activities. There's one word that encompasses all this: university.

Weeks 1-5 were peachy. I felt well adjusted, ready to take on this new experience like a boss. And I felt I was handling it really well. And I felt proud of myself for that. Was I missing home? Naw. Was I missing my family and friends and way of life? Not really. This was new, and exciting, and everyone here is so supportive and welcoming and all the experiences have been great so far. Have I ever felt left out? Nope. Lonely? A bit. But that might have a lot to do with my introversion, not the lack of people.

A Note on Note-Taking

It’s unbelievable how very small your world is and how you don’t actually realise until it slaps you in the face. And when your world is small - as mine was, as all of our worlds inevitably are - then your thinking aligns itself within the confines of your world, and your perspectives are - sad to say - narrow. It’s not like we can help it. No one can know everything there is to know about the world, but what I’ve realised is the key factor to fulfillment and learning is to have an open mind and attitude to change and learning.

The world is so big, and we are ultimately so small

How College taught me how to Read (again)

So much reading, so little time

I didn’t expect to learn how to read when I came to Stanford, but you can bet that’s one of the first lessons I learnt. There I sat in the lounge at 1AM (or was it 2AM) with about 20 pages to read for one history class, and 4 chapters of a thick book for another. I popped my headphones in, got comfy, and began the journey.

Sometime during my in-depth reading, I realised that half the details I sat there painstakingly internalising weren’t even necessary. The general theme of my class was History of the Middle Ages, the “Fall” of Rome, Christianity etc, so why did I have to know the details of King Clovis’ love for gore? Sure, it helped me understand the culture and atmosphere of that time, but did I need to know what he might have been wearing down to the colour of his last button? Naw. What was important was the big picture.