N
Nirvana In Karma
Guest
Strangely, this might be my biggest fear with entering university.
How did TLO manage?
How did TLO manage?
MadsPLP
Grimscribe
I have heard about this phenomenon, but I've never really encountered any problems myself. Of course, writing my Master's Thesis didn't give much time for personal reading, but I was never affected by the desire not to read personally during my time. The best thing, I find, is to find a routine where you read every day, be it at home, in the supermarket queue, during public transportation or whatever. Occasionally read books that are lighter in tone and style during stressful periods of your semesters.
Liam Barden
Acolyte
NIK, what are you studying . . . if you don't mind my asking? I just completed my degree last year in Anthropology and Sociology – Literary and Cultural Studies. I really regret not doing business and economics in conjunction with one of my other majors, but whatever, I'm a stupid prick, I had no idea what I was doing when I enrolled. My mother's a dentist, my father – a chief firefighter . . . they didn't bludgeon me enough with good wholesome, right wing, capitalist values . . . the bastards!
Anyway, in concert with all the suicidally boring weekly readings, set by esteemed academics, I was balls deep in writers like Nietzsche and Bergson. I'd skim the weekly readings, make notes to talk about in class and then after, begin reading the writers that interested me in a personal way.
In my final year the academic left turned super saiyan with SJW rot. I became a total reactionary and began reading fiction instead . . . So thank you SJWs, every writer I indexed in my recent "top 10 authors of all time" post is because of you.
So yes, it is totally possible to read the fiction you love, get your academic work done and maintain solid grades . . .
Hopefully my experience translates in some way.
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N
Nirvana In Karma
Guest
Thanks for the post, Liam. It was indeed enlightening.
My major will be an interdisciplinary Biological Sciences degree, and might also minor in Geology or English/Creative Writing. Will apply the science degrees to vertebrate paleontology.
My major will be an interdisciplinary Biological Sciences degree, and might also minor in Geology or English/Creative Writing. Will apply the science degrees to vertebrate paleontology.
Liam Barden
Acolyte
"Enlightening" hahaha . . . It wasn't all negative, socially it was great.
The Biological Sciences may require actual study . . . All I needed in the Human Sciences were a few well constructed, progressive opinions on American Psycho and Sex and the City.
"Honey, what's the point of being in the suburbs if you're not going to f#ck a gardener?"
– Samantha Jones, Sex and the City
The Biological Sciences may require actual study . . . All I needed in the Human Sciences were a few well constructed, progressive opinions on American Psycho and Sex and the City.
"Honey, what's the point of being in the suburbs if you're not going to f#ck a gardener?"
– Samantha Jones, Sex and the City
qcrisp
Grimscribe
For some reason, I don't remember this being a problem, and I was on a course for which we were advised we were expected to do at least 50 hours of study a week (unusual at university, where most other students would complain, "I have a lecture this month - I'm not ready!").
I remember reading Kahlil Gibran in the common room, and a girl came up and told me, rather graciously, "You're too intellectual for university." (I didn't really think Gibran was that intellectual.) Basically, though, I think that university is a great time for reading, if one has the will to. There may be other demands, but they are not the kind of demands that one experiences post-university, mercilessly and from all directions at once. Having said that, I was among the last in the UK to receive a student grant.
If time is limited, a few off-the-beaten-track books that demand engagement can still be deeply rewarding.
I remember reading Kahlil Gibran in the common room, and a girl came up and told me, rather graciously, "You're too intellectual for university." (I didn't really think Gibran was that intellectual.) Basically, though, I think that university is a great time for reading, if one has the will to. There may be other demands, but they are not the kind of demands that one experiences post-university, mercilessly and from all directions at once. Having said that, I was among the last in the UK to receive a student grant.
If time is limited, a few off-the-beaten-track books that demand engagement can still be deeply rewarding.
Justin Isis
Grimscribe
I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding time to read. University is one of the few times in your life where you can really expand and explore all kinds of directions - I think you’re already well ahead of the curve with books, but I’m sure in the next few years you’ll find yourself interested in all kinds of things you’d never imagined. You might find yourself completely changing directions with writing too and hitting upon something you couldn’t have imagined beforehand. Those four years will fly by though so be sure to make the most of them - the working world doesn’t exactly make it easy to find time to read, and in the long run, a serious commitment to reading and writing is a pretty difficult path and not one that society will encourage, for various reasons.
I’m not a fan of academia in general and I think in the long run it promotes a pretty insular view of life, but the undergraduate experience can be a great time, provided you go in with the right mindset, which is that you’re committing to a course of self-study as much as you are just learning from others.
I’m not a fan of academia in general and I think in the long run it promotes a pretty insular view of life, but the undergraduate experience can be a great time, provided you go in with the right mindset, which is that you’re committing to a course of self-study as much as you are just learning from others.
Nirvana, I agree with the others. I think you'll be fine. From the entire course of academic development from undergrad to professor I, and all the colleagues I have, were able to carve out personal reading time. It's a bit seasonal in the sense that exam time, thesis, dissertation, etc will dominate your time for a bit but that's with anything. You'll always be able to get back on track. I agree with Justin that undergrad was a far richer time of literary and intellectual expansion than graduate school. My experience was undergrad was breadth, while grad was depth, and as a professor I get to pick the best of both worlds at my particular post (which I know is not always the norm so feel very fortunate).
I found two other things. One, like Kevin, I NEEDED/NEED non-work related fiction just to mentally function. When I jettisoned it my academic work suffered. Two, that I found a lot of like minded individuals. One of my favorite memories of grad school was a short story club we did for about 2 years. Great, great, great. I'm excited for you entering this experience and really feel that it will be a positive one. Good luck and Congrats!!!
I found two other things. One, like Kevin, I NEEDED/NEED non-work related fiction just to mentally function. When I jettisoned it my academic work suffered. Two, that I found a lot of like minded individuals. One of my favorite memories of grad school was a short story club we did for about 2 years. Great, great, great. I'm excited for you entering this experience and really feel that it will be a positive one. Good luck and Congrats!!!
Frater_Tsalal
Grimscribe
I seem to recall that I spent more time in the campus library pursuing my own studies and interests than I did in the classroom... maybe that's why it took me 5 years to graduate, ha ha (things got even worse when I eventually joined the campus gay/straight alliance student group, which became a major time sink for me). Of course, I was an English major, and you can easily coast a lot of those classes. I didn't even read most of the stuff assigned, which was boring as fuck: I would just read the questions at the back of the book and from that develop a general idea of what the book was about, and just wing it. The only classes I really applied myself to were the creative writing courses.
One thing I really miss from college: going into those exams with the "blue book" essay questions having done almost no studying beforehand and just utterly bullshitting stuff off the top of my head. Closest thing I ever got to an adrenalin rush!
One thing I really miss from college: going into those exams with the "blue book" essay questions having done almost no studying beforehand and just utterly bullshitting stuff off the top of my head. Closest thing I ever got to an adrenalin rush!
ToALonelyPeace
Grimscribe
I have a similar-if not worse- problem, and I'm also a Biology major. My private reading not only needs to compete with my current classes, it needs to compete with previous classes' materials. I review back and forth, so things eventually accumulate. The result is I stew on a 300 pg book for 3 months. 
N
Nirvana In Karma
Guest
ToALonelyPeace's response was precisely what I was afraid of, but this does not negate the empowerment the rest of the comments have given me. Thank you all!
To try and curb this, I'm going to try my damndest to get a job at the campus library.
To try and curb this, I'm going to try my damndest to get a job at the campus library.
miguel1984
Grimscribe
Well, I did OK at university, but I could have been so much better. It just happened that I love to read, but I love to read what I want to read, not what someone else gives me.
It is the same reason I did not read almost any of the books I ever received as presents.
It is the same reason I did not read almost any of the books I ever received as presents.
Zaharoff
Grimscribe
I have told family and friends for years -
Do Not Buy Me Any Books!
then it became
DON'T BUY ME ANY DAMN BOOKS BECAUSE I WILL THROW THEM AWAY
I mean, really, the books they buy are either coffee table tomes or thriller crap I read on airplanes then abandon in terminals for the next victim.
And yes, at my age, I give unwanted books to the Salvation Army.
Speaking Mute
Chymist
To echo the general sentiment, I never had an issue with personal time in general - during my undergraduate years I was a double major in philosophy and mathematics and then in graduate school I went into statistics and actuarial science.
I can offer some cynical advice based on my own experiences on how to preserve your free time and keep your schooling on track: first, try to separate what you need for your own professional and personal advancement from what faculty, departments, and colleges try to load onto you just because they can - be ruthless about giving the later the bare minimum of time and effort required. Second, be extremely wary about taking up research projects and who you're taking them up with - there's a lot of push for undergraduate research now, but unfortunately a lot of faculty just use it to unload busy work and pet projects that, aside from working you to the bone, might actually hurt your graduate school application. Third, whereas this may be a bit far off, prepare for it now if you're in the USA: avoid teaching and/or assistant teaching at all costs in graduate school - the majority of horror stories I know about graduate school chewing up and spitting people out involve them getting forced into teaching and grading responsibilities to pay the bills.
I can offer some cynical advice based on my own experiences on how to preserve your free time and keep your schooling on track: first, try to separate what you need for your own professional and personal advancement from what faculty, departments, and colleges try to load onto you just because they can - be ruthless about giving the later the bare minimum of time and effort required. Second, be extremely wary about taking up research projects and who you're taking them up with - there's a lot of push for undergraduate research now, but unfortunately a lot of faculty just use it to unload busy work and pet projects that, aside from working you to the bone, might actually hurt your graduate school application. Third, whereas this may be a bit far off, prepare for it now if you're in the USA: avoid teaching and/or assistant teaching at all costs in graduate school - the majority of horror stories I know about graduate school chewing up and spitting people out involve them getting forced into teaching and grading responsibilities to pay the bills.