| ashu |
Posted
on 25-Sep-01 05:32 AM
A few weeks ago, a Nepali freshman starting college on the East Coast of the US asked me whether I can email her some advice to make the best of her college years.
Some simple suggestions (others should feel free to add to this).
1. Learn to write well.
Writing is basically thinking on paper. Writing is not an art. It's a craft. And the more you do, the better you get at it. And the more clearly you can write, the better thinker you are going to be. It's OK to make plenty of grammar and spelling mistakes when learning to write essays and papers. After all, the more mistakes you make, the faster you are going to learn. Colleges ask you to DEFEND the basis of your beliefs, not just state facts. Also, as the world becomes more and more dependent on the sharing of information and knowledge, we are all likely to do more and more writing: writing memos to persuade bosses and colleagues, and writing proposals to get more money for our corporate projects, and so on and on. So whatever you major in, writing well is a skill well worth learning in college.
2. Take RISKS: take classes OUTSIDE of your proposed major.
Critical thinking developed in one discipline is pretty much transferable to that in another discipline. So, if your schedule allows, take a course on Irish poetry or on moral philosophy or on African history or on Chinese politics . . .the more you can place yourself in unfamiliar intellectual situations, the more likely you are going to be confident of your abilities and learn more.
3. Take time off from college to do non-academic work away from campus.
Most Nepalis, by necessity and temperament, stick to a set routine, and that's fine. But if you are on a decent scholarship package, and you are young, your college is probably rich and not going to vanish if you go away for a semester or a year or even more.
So, try a little adventure: you can afford to take risks: go away to London for a semester abroad, or to Sudan to help out the resettlement of former slaves. Consequently, think of Nepal too where you can busy yourself with any one of the tons of short-term volunteer or paid positions. (This site can be used as a networking tool.) The lessons you bring from the outside world to your college
can enrich your learning experience much more.
4. Have fun.
Americans are famous for always asking "are you having fun?". We don't ask that kind of questions in Nepal. But the idea of fun here is not mindless hedonism, but
to cultivate a state of mind whereby you feel ENGAGED to whatever you are doing, whether solving differential equations or writing a program in JAVA or throwing a Frisbee around on the college lawns.
I could go on, but others too have other thoughts.
best wishes,
oohi
ashu
ktm, nepal
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