After my recent publicized winning trip to Germany caused havoc at the faculty several months ago – I was approached by several juniors asking me to give study tips for their programs. Luckily enough, I always had better things to do; sampling trip, balik kampung, etc. Freaking out of having to face strange faces while on stage is one thing, but what keeps me refusing the invitations was actually not having any tips to begin with.
Aware of my personal experiences on the importance of conformity to social conventions, I realized these invitations were called forth for me to reiterate the criteria appropriate and fitting for successful students; strategic time management, sincere intentions, good relationships with parents, teachers, and friends, and the likes.
Having said that, I realized, apparently not every Dean’s List students are qualified to give motivational talks – me for example. However, not having any ideas to write now – I think it’s time I reveal the strategies my friends and I adopted so far to manage being in the Dean’s Lists every semester until our final year. These strategies evolve as we grow older, and most importantly, wiser.
1. No Social Life, Please
My friends and I are familiar faces during Excellence Award or Dean’s List’s dinner every year. There’s no denying that. We were dubbed skema during our second year for always trotting around with our thick textbooks and serious faces running after one lecturer to another asking question. Not only that, we were also skema because we always wear the standard university attire every day, baju kurung. No trousers, no jeans, no skirts. We had no sense of fashion, or fun.
So that was why when my roommate asked what kept me glued to my desk every night studying, I answered: Because I had nothing else better to do (given my lack of social life). How pathetic is that.
1. Last Minute Study is the Best Policy
What, unbelievable? Cross your finger, I think many students would agree with me on this. Who has the time to concentrate on lectures, and revise again two hours after that when the night before was spent meeting for a program? Wait, that doesn’t apply to me. Who has the time to concentrate on lectures when the night before was spent teary-eyed reading a novel? Or what if I just couldn’t help myself from feeling bored out of my wit with the notes that does not make sense at all from 0 hour of the class? There’s no use concentrating when I know I wouldn’t get anything different if I just read the textbook later on (save for the truly great lecturers who knows how to do their works, of course).
Trust me sometimes life at the university is simply, a life. Forget all those idealism and aspiration of living in intelligentsia world or whatsoever. As much as I was frustrated, sometimes being a student CAN be reduced to mere survival for the next breath in the next day.
1. Know Thy Lecturers
Perhaps this one tip can be considered normal. But again, is normal equal to morally sound? Because here’s how my tip goes – have the same lecturer teaching you from Year 1 to Year 4, and all you need to do to score is to know his exam question patterns. Forget looking for extra information, forget thinking outside the box. All you need is the next time it’s test, you know this lecturer so much you can simply point out which part will come up in the exam and which part will not –because you already know his pattern. Information was cut into fragments, go into your brains selectively regardless of whether the information might be useful or not. All that matter is you can answer the exam questions.
Again, it’s the question of survival. Forget knowledge here.
1. People-Ogling and Caffeine is Good for Your Health
The key to my staying up until 4 a.m. at night finishing my home works? Combine the ultimate booster for students: caffeine, and for girls: cute lads. These days, every time I need to stay up late doing three works alternatively all at once, I would earlier drive to the nearest gas station where I often get my double dose of Nescafe, and where a tall guy with curly hair and cute smile would always greet me.
Enough said.
1. Finally, Stop Being a Perfectionist.
I dreamt of studying history and philosophy with an old, great, knowledgeable professor who would always provoke me to write my best essays and challenge my views – only to find myself in a class where the lecturer would settle with the slide presentation he himself could not understand. I envision myself working with fellow students for causes that matter –to be frowned upon by so many people to whom only power and authority matters. I picture students who can tolerate each other’s differences – but all I received and see is judgments without discussions. All of us are so caught up with telling the world who’s at fault and who’s to blame, we think we’re good enough.
Having all my dreams and ideals crushed, I settle to my study. I forget saving the world, I forget changing the world one thing at a time. All I can do, and I do best is study – get a 3.5 and above GPA’s every semester, so that later when I go out to the world – I would have one thing right to show off to people.
Yes, stop being a perfectionist and taking everything too seriously – what I write here this time is meant for people who can laugh at themselves. Let’s celebrate life and all its splendor… as well as everything that makes you pull your hair out.
