How to Study If You Become a University Student in a Night

I experienced it. I know that the path guided us to find our seat in university is long and hard. It never be a magical process happened in your only one night sleep as we told how Prambanan was built, so everyone must be ready with their own brand new journey. I wrote this just if in case, you’re sleeping but in the next day wake up as a university student and don’t know what to do. I hope that is the major is your favourite, because I think that is the key of happiness, but if not, just let it be, Hakuna Matata, and please gladly watch my guidance.

This is not all about university life, but only about your study. I came from an ordinary Indonesian highschool, so I am an ordinary student too. Research, ‘real’ scientific paper, and everything else surrounding my days in university life is strange for the old me. If you share the same ‘ordinary-ness’, you must be got what I mean with order and your own will, because the biggest gap is on there. What I got from highschool is all about order. In every order, you have a chance to accomplish it perfectly as asked, put your heart on and be ‘wild’, or run the mediocre mode. I was the ‘wild’ type. In every order given to me, especially if I love them, I explore what I can do and break the custom. But still, whatever we do, space between an order to another is a cut, not a break. And the result we got is an absolute judgement, not a supervising opinion. But in the university, even if you’re just in your second week of your 4 year bachelor, studying is continuity. Your rest 4 years is a single line.

First thing to do is find yourself.

For me, it’s important to choose what you like, because it will make your day up there much easier. But I know people who accomplished their study well when the choice is not theirs. The point is you find an enough strong reason to do it. Then if you’ve find a seat in a major, find your interest there. Just like what I did in highschool, even if I hate math with a full heart, I still have my choice. I prefer doing opportunity than trig or algebra. Because in university everything is about choice, it will be helped you much when you find your specialization sooner.

The point about having your specialization is you don’t have to waste time by following the flow. When I was in my junior year, I was easily enthusiastic to a new issue. This is good if you’re about to exploring to find your own interest, but if the journey is too much long, you actually deserve more things you don’t. Having specialization means be friend with the things you find easiest to do. Not literally easy, but easy for you because as I said, you have a strong reason to do it. Be friend means grow it well by brought them trough every assignment you got, and feed them with your hobby. Feed them with your hobby means even if you’re wasting your free time by reading novels or watching films, the theme is not too far from your study interest.

Specialization can be more than one even though it named special. More than one specialization might be makes you a general expert, but it also mean that you will be wider knowledgefull. It also easier to find a theme in every assignment if you have an unspecific yet specialization. One day when the day you have to decide your final theme came, you can make an abstraction from your likes.

Then, organize your files well.

I think the phrase “datang, kerjakan, lupakan” is not allowed in university. Every idea you find in books you read is a brick to build your future house. Theme of your next assignment can come from what you’ve did. Doing assignment, as I did mostly, even though it was a paper or a take home problems, is questions that will breed new question when answered. What make it easier when you developing new theme from what you have did is you don’t have to collect clues from the start. It means that you are expanding your knowledge only by adding some next required reading. It will save much of your time, especially when you caught up in a tight deadlines.

The key of expanding your journey from your last assignment is never lost your data. Because of that, organizing files is realy important. When I make a paper, essay, presentation, or even artworks that required a research, I make a folder for each project. The folder tittled same as the project and I collect everything I found in research inside from photos, articles, newspaper cuts, books, to videos. So organizing file by the type, as I formerly do is not applicable anymore. By that I can easily track what I have did and find new things to do. When I do a different theme that grew from my previous theme and I use some same data from the last one, I copied them, so every folder contains a completely packed ingredients.

Next, share your thoughts.

In Cultural History of Europe, we taught that university was originally a group of people that critically share their thoughts. So being in university means sharing opinions and learning from each other. An institution that we have right now is a sophistication to facilitate everything we need in ‘sharing opinion’ available. But our educational tradition that positioning a student to be told and listening is really strong. At the beginning of my study, I really exited about enjoying my own choice and being an active student. I glad if my opinion was asked, if I have to explaining the way I choose my wrong answer, or any other occasion where I was considered as a subject, not an object. But when what we have to study getting heavier, it also came as a burden. In senior years, our liveliness as a student is challenged. The role of university as a group to share thoughts fully worked in these times. If we’re still can not move from our old style of studying, it never be as fun as it heard.

Sharing thoughts is not same with only seeking attention to attract your lecturer. I never agreed with those kind of idea. I just believe that being true is the safest way of life because I love safety. Sharing thoughts means not afraid or worry to state your opinion or ask a question, in class or outside if the situation is proper. Not only with your profesors, but you also can share your thoughts with classmate, close friends, kids from different major, senior citizens, people, or everyone else you think you need to. It’s not a easy thing to do, so if you are a shy and quiet in public like me, we can start from our obligated forum. I mostly don’t remember what I actually questioned when I accidentally just find my lecturer outside the class, so I fully used the time when I have a presentation or part in a discussion. Because I oftenly found myself awkward when started conversation with my lecturer outside the class I also used to asking during the class. Then, the thing I do, especially in these senior days,  is go to someone I comfortably talked to and bring some piece of paper containing problem I want to share. The last one is simple, but it means a lot when you tried to used yourself to state opinion in everyday chit-chat with your friends.

By sharing thoughts you can open your horizon wider. Sometimes you feel like just found an absolute right in the world, but it will be different when you bring it outside. It sometimes disappointed you, but it’s good for your mental health by protecting you from arrogancy. Arrange an opinion after sharing also makes your thoughts gone stronger because it enriched by good feedbacks. When you arrived in a deadlock, this way makes you unstoppable by help you find the alternative way.

Don’t accused me doing bad things by posting this. I wrote it from what I’ve experienced in the aim to help people caught in a such magical night. I also tried to practise my still-bad-english in writing. And like what I’ve shared to you up there, I am doing my third list, sharing my thoughts. Thanks for reading, and glad to hear your oppinion!