Some Cheap Advice on How to Succeed (or Fail) at USD
By Professor Del Dickson, Department of Political Science
When I was a freshman I had a recurring dream. For unknown reasons I had flunked out of school and had to figure out how to break the grim news to my parents. I went through a lot of sweaty sheets that year and never really came up with a good answer, other than to avoid putting myself into that situation in the first place.
In the spirit of trying to help you to keep your linen bills under control and to avoid at least one awkward conversation with your parents, here are a few quick tips about how to succeed at USD, with one or two extra bits about what not to do.
Expect a roller-coaster freshman year.
Your life will change more this year than any other year of your life, including puberty. Expect euphoric highs and sickening lows to come in rapid succession, sometimes both occurring within a half-hour. You will feel the bliss of being away from your parents, followed by bouts of homesickness as you realize that, against all expectations, you actually miss them. You will be thrilled beyond words by your first college A, which will almost inevitably be offset by your first F.
Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Being manic-depressive is pretty much the normal state for freshmen. Some people cover it up better than others, but don’t let them fool you-- they are just as moody as you are.
Even so, you need to stay on top of things. Talk to your friends and your professors. If the blues stay around for too long or you find yourself mapping all of the tallest structures on campus, you need the Counseling Center. Go. They are nice, they can help, and your visits are strictly confidential.
Turn off your cell phone.
There is nothing quite so disheartening as seeing great clusters of students leaving class and walking around campus, everyone talking on cell phones to someone miles away and ignoring the people right next to them.
You need all the friends here you can get, and studies indicate that one of the best ways to make new friends is to talk to them.
I knew one freshman who always seemed to be on the phone talking to her parents and friends back home. Her parents called her six times a day and she called them at least as often. She was on her cell phone from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to bed. She should have just had it implanted in her cochlea. Not surprisingly, she made few friends or attachments, and dropped out after one semester.
Remember why you moved away from home in the first place: to get away from your parents and your former bff’s. There is no rule requiring you to be instantly reachable by phone 24/7. So turn off your phone during the day. In fact, it probably would be best just to throw it under the tram’s wheels and be done with it. Talking to your parents once or twice a week is enough no matter how much you love them, and there will be plenty of time to talk to your high school pals at your five-year reunion.
About your free time….
The good news about college is that you will have more free time than you have ever had or ever will have again. The bad news is that this is mostly an illusion.
For the first time, you are truly responsible for yourself. Your parents aren’t watching over you and your teachers aren’t going to hector you about your homework. Your time is yours, and your decisions are yours alone. Unfortunately, the initial euphoria of liberation leads too many students to make some epically bad decisions.
The number one regret of graduating seniors I talk to is that too many fell unwittingly into the freshman trap of thinking that college is about having a four year blast before you have to grow up and get a job. Oops, turns out that’s not true. College is a lot of fun, but you are here to study and to learn about more than the subtle science of shotgunning beer. You need to figure out the proper balance of fun and work, and that isn’t easy.
First, consider “moderation in all things” as your motto. Second, when in doubt it is better to err on the side of overwork rather than overfun. Despite rumors to the contrary, no USD student has ever died from studying too much.
Talk to your professors.
One of the best things about USD is that you can actually talk to your professors. There aren’t any TA’s, readers, appointment secretaries, flaks, or bodyguards running interference. Unlike professors at many other schools, USD professors actually want to talk to you, too. Take advantage of this, because it is a pretty good deal. Just ask your friends who go to a UC about their professors sometime.
Get to know your professors and give them a chance to get to know you. It can be interesting and on occasion even inspiring, present company excepted.
At the very least, you can begin to learn professors’ expectations and set the foundation for the references and letters of recommendation you will eventually need. Talking to your professors will help you do better in class, and if you are lucky you might even get some decent advice once in awhile.
Don’t expect professors to be your private tutors or your personal therapists, but they are a great resource if you seek them out. Try to talk to every professor you have at least once per semester. Make up a reason to visit them if you have to. Just go.
Learn how to learn.
This is the reason why you are in college. If you just want to learn a trade or gain a marketable skill, you are better off going to welding school. College is about liberal education. This is where you figure out how to absorb, organize, connect, appreciate, and use the world’s cumulative knowledge. It is tougher than it sounds.
Learn to listen. Learn to think critically about what others think and about your own beliefs. Learn how to communicate more effectively—how to write clearly and concisely, and how to speak well and without fear.
Above all, learn how to study. My best tip here is to find one or two secret places on campus where you can hide without being found or otherwise disturbed. Find a dark corner of the library or a classroom in an out-of-the-way place where nothing but a bloodhound can possibly track you down. Having one or two secret hideaways where you can go to study and be alone with your thoughts is one of the purest joys of college life.
Learn how to complain.
You will have complaints. Most of them you should keep to yourself. A simple truth about college life is that for every low grade that you don’t deserve, you will receive at least as many high grades that you don’t deserve even more.
On rare occasion, however, you might need to talk to a professor about a grade or other issue that you don’t understand or believe to be arbitrary or grossly unfair.
There is a dark art to complaining effectively. Most people don’t do it very well, and they usually end up making things worse.
Don’t whine. Don’t grade grub. Don’t directly challenge the professor’s competence, knowledge, or parentage. Above all, never, ever begin your argument with painful clichés like, “I pay a lot of money to go here,” (we don’t care) or “I am a customer of this university” (no, you’re not). These are tactics guaranteed to lose any advantage you might otherwise hope to earn.
When you feel compelled to complain, here are two helpful tips. First, go in early in the semester, not the week before the final exam.
Second, instead of going in and demanding that the professor justify a grade, take a more positive and non-confrontational approach, something along the lines of, “How can I do better next time?” This can be a magical phrase, because it allows the professor to give constructive assistance, rather than simply inviting an unproductive argument about what grade you think you deserve. If you start arguing, you will almost certainly lose and will quickly gain a reputation for being annoying. If you can find out how to improve the next time, you will likely be much more successful in the long run.
Well, that’ s it. Follow these six simple rules and college should be a breeze!