Things You’re Allowed to Do: University Edition
This post is not titled “Things You Should Do,” because these aren’t (necessarily) things you should do. Many people should not do many of the items on this list, and some of the items are exclusive, contradictory, or downright the reverse of what you should do. If your reaction to something is “I think that’s a bad idea,” then it probably is, and you probably shouldn’t do it. * classes & professors * attend classes you haven’t signed up for because you find them interesting * attend classes even if the waitlist is full * ask the professor to waive a prerequisite * ask the professor to join a class even if its full * drop a class that you don’t like * take a class because you really liked the professor, even if you’re not sure about the content of the class * cold email professors you don’t know, just asking to chat * show up to office hours for classes you aren’t a part of, just to chat with the professor * ask the professor questions about the things you’re not sure of * skip class(es) for great opportunities elsewhere * ask the professor if you can help them with anything in the class (grading, setting up assignments, editing papers, etc). professors have a long list of tasks, are perpetually behind, and encounter fairly correlated problems; if you track what problems your professors have, you can quite quickly become unreasonably useful for them * ask professors at the beginning of the semester what things would be most important to memorize, then throw their answers into an Anki deck * take non-credit courses or workshops in things like pottery, coding, or creative writing * studying * at places outside of your university: * coffeeshops * public libraries * coworking spaces * random offices, cold email them * start a study group for the class * ask the professor if you can announce that you’re starting a study group for the class in the class * start a group chat to ask questions abou
