San Bolkan - So, You Are Going to College?!

Things you wish you knew before heading to class

SECOND EDITION

by San Bolkan, PhD
California State University
Long Beach

Copyright 2013 by San Bolkan, PhD. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information retrieval system without the written permission of University Readers, Inc.

First published in the United States of America in 2011 by Cognella, a division of University Readers, Inc.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-62131-202-4

Acknowledgments

T hanks to all my friends and family who have helped me get to where I am today. Writing this book was not an individual achievement. Only through community has this work been made possible. Thanks especially to Darrin Griffin who believed in this book and helped it become what it is. Also, Darrin drew the stick figures in the book.

Dedication

A lthough I have had many great pupils, this book is dedicated to all of the terrible students I have ever had. Thanks for making this book possible ;-)

Preface: Before we Begin

I bet you want to know why you should read this book. Good, read on and let me tell you.

I am sure you are aware that college offers you terrific opportunities for personal growth. These occur both inside and outside the classroom. For instance, college offers opportunities to socialize with your peers, opportunities to travel and study abroad, and opportunities to join extracurricular groups. College is a great place to learn about the world and it is important that you use the experience to develop your potential and meet your goals.

Although there are a variety of things that are important to consider when it comes to college, this book focuses on one in particular: doing well in the classroom. I wrote this book to help explain what it takes to meet the expectations of your professors and succeed in your academic endeavors. Of course, because the book is designed to teach you what it takes to excel in your classes, there will be topics that I dont focus on. Thats OK, I cant cover everything. Just know that this book was written for a specific purpose and when you read it think about how the information provided applies to the way you approach your studies.

You should also know that I designed this book to be concise. I bet you are excited about that. You should be. This book is brief and to the point for a few reasons. First, when I was a student I hated reading books that included fluff just to meet certain page requirements. I do not do that. When I am done saying something I may explain it in a different way to help illustrate an example, but I try to stay brief and to the point. Second, although I could talk about any one topic in this book forever, there is a point at which you would probably stop reading anyway. I cover a variety of topics in this book in an effort to get you thinking about school in a different light. If you want more in-depth information about a certain subject, consider reading a book dedicated to just that one. Third, this book was written to accompany a variety of courses. That is, what you have in front of you was not written to be a full-length textbook itself. If you are going to college you already have enough to read. To make you read another four hundred-page textbook about success in school in addition to the textbooks you already haveor will havein your courses would be ridiculous.

Finally, because I know that students learn more when they like the material and when they like their teachers, I have tried to make this book a fun read. Part of my teaching philosophy is that learning should be enjoyable. In fact, some of my own research points to the notion that the more you like a class the more you learn, are motivated to learn, are satisfied with your communication with your teacher, and participate in class. So, I hope you appreciate my efforts to make the book enjoyable and I hope that the tone of the book makes you want to read itand, importantly, follow my advice. That is not to say there wont be important information in this book, there will be. It is just that instead of reading a book written by a stuffy professor, I want you to know that I made an effort to create a book that I would enjoy reading if I had to do it. I hope you like the book and I hope you learn a lot from it! Let the journey begin

Introduction

No book can start without a terrific introduction. So, lets begin with a preview of whats to come.

A fter graduating from college with a GPA of 3.83, then moving on to a masters program, a PhD program, and teaching at four-year universities for more than a decade, I can safely say that I know what it takes to succeed in the academic world. And it is my opinion that just about anybody can do well in school if he or she takes the right approach.

I say just about anybody because, in reality, some people do not have the ability to do well in a structured educational environment. Thats fine, everyone is not created equal; some of us are better at some things and some of us are better at other things. Take me, for example. I am really good at a lot of things including being extremely strong and doing tons of pushups, being awesome and funny, Wii tennis, running long distances without stopping, and being a ridiculously good driver. Sure, those are a lot of great things that many people want to be good at, but there are other things that I am not so good at. These include swimming, diving off diving boards, running fast for short distances, getting good haircuts, and sleeping for an entire night without waking up at least once.

What is beautiful about not being great at everything is that this is normal. Some researchers suggest that to get good at something, and I mean genuinely good at something, you have to deliberately practice a skill for at least ten years. That is a long timeand, really, that is what it takes to become proficient in a certain field. Considering that you have a finite time on Earth, you cannot hope to become an expert in everything you do. Instead, specializing in one thing and doing that well seems to make the most sense as far as your time management is concerned. Luckily, this setup works for us as humans because we can count on others to fill in where we need them (and vice versa). It is this exchange of services and resources that allows us to build communities and prosper. Think about it, if you had to build your house, stab a deer for food, cook the food, teach your kids, and put out fires you would be spread way too thin to do any one of these things well. Instead, we have construction engineers, food processors, grocers, teachers, and firefighters who do their respective jobs so that they can specialize and do well in that one thing. Then we barter, trade, share, and we all live happily ever after.

OK, all that was a long way of saying that we are not, in fact, equal in our abilities and we shouldnt want to be. We should celebrate our diversity and realize that it helps us to live happy lives. So, if you are a person who does not do well in school, dont force it. Figure out what you need to do to succeed in life and do thatsome of the most successful people I know have never taken a single college course.