OT Thread Part IIX: The How Do Roman Numerals Work? Edition

Krams

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
8,042
1,982
I have no interest in going to college...but of course, I'm going anyway. I suppose it is true that you are what is expected of you.
 

Samuel Culper III

Mr. Woodhull...
Jan 15, 2007
13,144
1,099
Texas
I had no interest either. I applied to four, got accepted into all of them, visited the first that I got my acceptance letter from and told my parents, okay, this is it. They told me wait to see who else accepted me, but when the rest of the letters came I just told them, no, I already made up my mind, and really loved the first school. In reality I just didn't want to deal with any of it.
 

Krams

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
8,042
1,982
The prospect of sitting in a classroom for another four years makes me want to tear my hair out. I have a serious problem with authority and I don't think I'll ever be able to learn effectively in a classroom environment.
 

Samuel Culper III

Mr. Woodhull...
Jan 15, 2007
13,144
1,099
Texas
Ditto. I played college hockey and enjoyed my social life at school, but I simply refused to be a good student (in college - had been a great student when I was younger until I started getting bored in high school, and then I coasted until I eventually got kicked out of all my AP classes and what not) until I was ready to grow up, make the minimal work I had done in school amount to something and finally graduate. All in all, I spent 6.5 years in college, taking as few a classes as I was allowed to each semester in order to stay on the team, rampantly dropping classes when I fell too far behind (from skipping) that I could no longer save my grade and basically just ****ing around in general. I skipped more class than anyone that knew me could even believe. I was practically a student in title only; I virtually didn't GO to school

My family went through some tough times while I was in school, which I used as an excuse for my taking so long, along with changing majors three times but, basically, I was out on my own for the first time, hated school and listening to authority, loved having a party life and playing a college sport and decided that I was going to 'go rogue', make the rules, do what I wanted and not listen to anybody. When my NCAA eligibility was up and I couldn't play anymore, I decided to make use of the 70 or so credits I'd actually earned and finished up fairly easily, still without ever trying, doing virtually no homework and never studying a day in my life. The only thing I did differently was actually go to class and keep track of when I had a paper due. I graduated with a 2.96 but I had around a 3.7 in the last 4-5 semesters and some terrible grades (not to mention dozens of Ws on my transcript - for withdrawal) pulled down my cumulative.

The funny thing is I'll probably end up going to graduate school eventually too and, although I'm more mature now and feel like I'd be doing it of my own accord, rather than because it's expected of me, I find it ironic that I hated school SO much when I was younger and made myself into one of the worst students possible, despite having the ability to easily pull As and get myself into honors sections and such. Meanwhile, regarding learning - in my opinion, I learned nothing from my classes in college. I learned a lot from doing it the way I did, living life as fully as possible, experimenting and doing what I wanted and from talking to professors and forming interesting friendships outside of the classroom with some. There's virtually no such thing as 'classroom learning'; they don't teach in classes, they indoctrinate and inundate. Being a good student is tantamount to regurgitating information that you drill yourself to remember, or if you're lucky like myself, absorb absent mindedly and simply spit back out on papers and exams. Learning takes place through living, not through sitting through hours of lectures and note scribbling each day.
 

Krams

Registered User
Feb 13, 2012
8,042
1,982
Ditto. I played college hockey and enjoyed my social life at school, but I simply refused to be a good student (in college - had been a great student when I was younger until I started getting bored in high school, and then I coasted until I eventually got kicked out of all my AP classes and what not) until I was ready to grow up, make the minimal work I had done in school amount to something and finally graduate. All in all, I spent 6.5 years in college, taking as few a classes as I was allowed to each semester in order to stay on the team, rampantly dropping classes when I fell too far behind (from skipping) that I could no longer save my grade and basically just ****ing around in general. I skipped more class than anyone that knew me could even believe. I was practically a student in title only; I virtually didn't GO to school

My family went through some tough times while I was in school, which I used as an excuse for my taking so long, along with changing majors three times but, basically, I was out on my own for the first time, hated school and listening to authority, loved having a party life and playing a college sport and decided that I was going to 'go rogue', make the rules, do what I wanted and not listen to anybody. When my NCAA eligibility was up and I couldn't play anymore, I decided to make use of the 70 or so credits I'd actually earned and finished up fairly easily, still without ever trying, doing virtually no homework and never studying a day in my life. The only thing I did differently was actually go to class and keep track of when I had a paper due. I graduated with a 2.96 but I had around a 3.7 in the last 4-5 semesters and some terrible grades (not to mention dozens of Ws on my transcript - for withdrawal) pulled down my cumulative.

The funny thing is I'll probably end up going to graduate school eventually too and, although I'm more mature now and feel like I'd be doing it of my own accord, rather than because it's expected of me, I find it ironic that I hated school SO much when I was younger and made myself into one of the worst students possible, despite having the ability to easily pull As and get myself into honors sections and such. Meanwhile, regarding learning - in my opinion, I learned nothing from my classes in college. I learned a lot from doing it the way I did, living life as fully as possible, experimenting and doing what I wanted and from talking to professors and forming interesting friendships outside of the classroom with some. There's virtually no such thing as 'classroom learning'; they don't teach in classes, they indoctrinate and inundate. Being a good student is tantamount to regurgitating information that you drill yourself to remember, or if you're lucky like myself, absorb absent mindedly and simply spit back out on papers and exams. Learning takes place through living, not through sitting through hours of lectures and note scribbling each day.
Thanks for compounding what I already suspected.
 

17futurecap

Registered User
Oct 8, 2008
18,211
13,261
NJ
Felt the same about going to college, and almost failed out freshman year. I got my degree in Accounting which I loved taking those classes, but I went to a Jesuit college, and some of the core classes that are required by everyone to take were so tedious it was painful to be there. Sitting in an 8 AM religion class or philosophy class or art history were just terrible.

Hopefully, going in you have a major, and can look forward going to those classes, and I was lucky enough to have some good business teachers. I never thought I would survive college, but then I got my Bachelors in Accountancy and had so much fun went back to get my MBA which I completed last year.
 

Samuel Culper III

Mr. Woodhull...
Jan 15, 2007
13,144
1,099
Texas
A tldr would be lovely :laugh:

I don't do tl;dr. If you didn't read, you didn't read, and I don't care. I know the internet is not meant to be serious business, but why I enjoy posting and why others might aren't always going to be the same and I enjoy the forums the most when there's some semblance of stimulating conversation to engage in (or when that sport with the black rubber thing is actually being played). Doesn't mean I don't enjoy some of the banter either, but I'm mostly only on here if I'm bored and if I'm bored, it means I'd rather be intellectually stimulated. When I can't be, I settle for amused.
 

Boruto

.
Jun 27, 2011
15,627
436
I don't do tl;dr. If you didn't read, you didn't read, and I don't care. I know the internet is not meant to be serious business, but why I enjoy posting and why others might aren't always going to be the same and I enjoy the forums the most when there's some semblance of stimulating conversation to engage in (or when that sport with the black rubber thing is actually being played). Doesn't mean I don't enjoy some of the banter either, but I'm mostly only on here if I'm bored and if I'm bored, it means I'd rather be intellectually stimulated. When I can't be, I settle for amused.

Hey hey, I just woke up from a nap :laugh:
I am a fan of the long posts myself.
 

Samuel Culper III

Mr. Woodhull...
Jan 15, 2007
13,144
1,099
Texas
Felt the same about going to college, and almost failed out freshman year. I got my degree in Accounting which I loved taking those classes, but I went to a Jesuit college, and some of the core classes that are required by everyone to take were so tedious it was painful to be there. Sitting in an 8 AM religion class or philosophy class or art history were just terrible.

Hopefully, going in you have a major, and can look forward going to those classes, and I was lucky enough to have some good business teachers. I never thought I would survive college, but then I got my Bachelors in Accountancy and had so much fun went back to get my MBA which I completed last year.

Good job on the MBA. I'm sure I'll be going back within the year, but I agree with most of what you wrote. Major problem for me was I had no focus in mind and hadn't chosen a major (well, I had, but I started as an English major because... I just love to read and write) and simply just didn't want to be there. I wanted to be playing college hockey and socializing, but I didn't want to be a student. And it turned out being an English major wasn't about reading and writing; it was about tediously picking apart and analyzing everything which you were assigned and COULD have enjoyed, but instead were forced to write numbingly dry analysis of. Even more ironic than the prospect of me going back to school is the fact that I'll probably take some education classes and take steps to get certified as a teacher because... one of the only things I can see myself doing is becoming a teacher and striving to make my class the complete opposite of everything I hated as a student. Here and there throughout my academic career, just as you described, I ended up in classes that were truly enjoyable. The potential for education to be engaging and enjoyable exists but the approach is usually terribly disengaging. Part of the reason I'd like to teach is to keep kids like myself from becoming so disengaged and giving them a reason to continue to do well in school rather than allowing themselves to lose interest and coast until they are just a middle of the pack student with a substandard academic resume.
 

Boruto

.
Jun 27, 2011
15,627
436
TIL college and university experiences are very different in the two countries. Super Duper Muper different. Much easier up here.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->