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Geek Culture / The lets-go-back-to-uni season

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El Goorf
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Location: Uni: Manchester, Home: Dunstable
Posted: 12th Sep 2009 19:59
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It's that time of year, everyone detoxes from their summer hols, (in the UK at least, i know other countries start term earlier than we do) and prepares to get back to 7 months of watching professors reading out a powerpoint presentation, and for those of you doing computer science, 7 months of debugging the prof's broken example code which he can't get to work.

This summer I spent 2 weeks military training in devon, 24 days backpacking in Japan followed by 10 days military adventure training (drinking) in Bavaria, and now I'm back in Manchester to finish off my 3rd and final yr of Computer Studies & Economics. Personally I can't wait to get uni over with, though I have no idea what to do afterwards, but that's not going to stop me from doing everything I can to finish with top marks, after only achieving average GCSE grades and only just passing my A-levels (found out i have dislexia just before my very final exams, by then it was too late) and getting into a rubbish uni (MMU), I have every reason to do my best, I'm even living alone this yr to not get distracted by any housemates who (like last yr) try to commit suicide every weekend, for example.

The booger of it all is I'll probably end up full-time in the military (sorry to all those, who in the past have started a thread asking about joining the military, who I've tried to talk out of it), which doesnt even need any degree-level qualifications, meaning if I'd joined instead of going to uni, I'd have been there 2 yrs now, thats 2 yrs of salary, 2 yrs closer to whatever rank I'd be waiting for, and no student debt.

So, moral of this story, for any young'uns out there: once you've decided what you want to do in life, stick with it, and never change your mind or let anything influence your decision, as soon as you deviate, you'll never make your mind up again, and you'll get to my point wondering what to do with yourself, having no reason to pass your exams, hence probably wont bother

for anyone undecided about whether they want to join the military or get a degree, remember you can do both. The army, navy and air force all offer part time training to university students (though probably not at all unis).

This leads me to ask, out of curiosity, how many people are now entering their final yr, also clueless about what to do next? How many people are just starting (my recommendations to those people, beware the freshers flu, a bug that goes around every september as people come from all over the country (and world) bringing various bugs/virii that you might not have been exposed/made immune to, this isn't a joke, i suffered this myself, meaning for the time everyones meant to be making new friends, i was lay in bed the whole week). First year is the year to have fun, any crazy stuff you wanna do (i joined the sky diving club, for example), do it now, as you probably wont have time in the second year, when your work load suddenly increases 10-fold). Any first years in the forum with any questions? any coming to manchester and want to be shown around?

Good luck everyone, whether they're going back to school, college, uni, or even those just going to the office as usual, as their scrooge boss wouldn't let them have any time off over summer

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Seppuku Arts
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Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Posted: 12th Sep 2009 22:00
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Quote: "(my recommendations to those people, beware the freshers flu, a bug that goes around every september as people come from all over the country (and world) bringing various bugs/virii that you might not have been exposed/made immune to, this isn't a joke, i suffered this myself, meaning for the time everyones meant to be making new friends, i was lay in bed the whole week)"


Yes, that seems to normally happen - though it's not really a flu. Still, 2 girls at our uni were found to have Swine Flu, so maybe there's room for a joke here.


Anyway, I'm about to head in my Final year studying Writing at Derby Uni. It's not a great Uni in terms of what league its in, funnily enough I turned down a University that's one of the highest for English-based courses (Anglia Ruskin), but hey, they refused me accommodation because I lived too close and I think there would be a lot to learn and enjoy from living in at Uni and I don't regret making the decision to go to a 'lesser' University.

Sadly, I'll be missing the Freshers' Party, which my flat-mate will be disappointed, because he's been talking about going for the last 6th months and I won't be joining him. But this year, I too have planned to become an anti-social git, I failed a module in the year just gone and I refuse to do it again, particularly in my final year. Heck, I'm even leaving my XBox and TV behind. My only distractions are the interwebs, my storytelling society (me is President) and my friend's TV.

Though I've managed to have a productive holiday; improved diet, getting back into some sports (Squash, Swimming, Badminton), going to a festival in Germany, helping some people with work, doing some computer-y stuff, writing plenty as well as attempting to get my work into a magazine as part of a compo (I'm still waiting for a response), preparing for my dissertation and making plans as well as having to work on my referral, which was boring, sadly. And in 4 days I'm off to Barcelona, to return to University the day after I come back.

But as for future plans, I've actually figured this one out - we might be lucky and hit the end of the recession, but I've got a plan A and a plan B, plan A is to apply for jobs with magazine companies and find a job as a magazine writer, failing that, after I graduate I will be applying to do some teacher's training for lecturing further and higher education students, so if the magazine writer thing fails, I can become a lecturer at a University or College. But of course, they're jobs that can work side by side as well as my attempts at fiction writing. Most people who work at the bottom with a writing career usually have second jobs as things like lecturers. Two of the 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' writers graduated from Derby University and they did a seminar with us talking about the comedy writing industry and how to get work with the BBC etc. But one I think sells windows and the other is a lecturer at another University - as they only write sketches and not all of them, the money isn't big, but sketch shows are perhaps at the bottom end of writing for the TV industry, so I imagine trying to write for magazines will be a similar ladder to climb. Small article features up to writing a monthly column.


But that's just me there.

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Jeku
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Posted: 12th Sep 2009 22:07
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Well I picked up swine flu from PAX this year (along with many others), so do I still need to get vaccinated? Hehehe.

I didn't get a doctor confirmation, but I drove back with a friend for 3 hours and he was confirmed. We both got the flu at the same time. There were all kinds of nasty nerd-dom and grossness at PAX this year


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jasonhtml
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Posted: 12th Sep 2009 22:26
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i leave for UCLA in 7 days (first year) I'll be majoring in computer science (big surprise ). i am a little worried about the flu, especially since UCLA boasts its diverse student body, but i won't let that stop me from having fun and hanging out with friends.

i don't think i'll be doing anything "crazy" but i'm already an unofficial member of W6YRA (UCLA's ham radio club) and i'll be on the lookout for interesting programming groups and such.

i do have one question though: everyone i know who is currently in college says it's completely different from high school, which is understandable to say the least. but, i've never gotten a straight answer to how most lectures are run... do most professors expect everyone to be quiet and attentive all the time? or is it more relaxed? (ex: do most professors allow students to use their laptops during a lecture even if the class is math or something that doesn't require computers?) or is it just too variable from professor to professor for you to answer this question?

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El Goorf
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Posted: 12th Sep 2009 22:46
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jasonhtml, I've never seen first hand how a US uni works, but from what i've heard they seem to be just as lax as british uni's. My uni's a poly, so probably not as strict as the more reputable ones, but most lecturers wont care if you walk in so late that you only catch the last 5 mins of the lecture, and if you make a noise you're more likely to be told off by other students around you han the lecturer, who probably wont even bother to learn you name for the first year, as he knows theres a 50% chance of you dropping out. There is however a legal requirementfor everyone to attend at least 40% of their lectures (to prove you are actually being a student and not just leeching off the system while also having a full time job, for example). laptops are almost a standard, even though theres no requirement or even mention of them, you can guarentee that in any lecture there'll be a couple of laptops in the room, and chances are they're on facebook..

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 12th Sep 2009 23:16
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Yeah, and you get pretty friendly with lecturers and students too, or at least in my experience - our class is very close together, but then I hear of some students who aren't so together - crap lecturers and students who think they're better than everybody else or those willing to doss, but sometimes they get put in their place. We do a lot presentations too - so it's actually a good confidence builder with your peers.

We also find it very casual - nothing too tight, they know we're mature enough and they don't try to keep a tight ship, because they know we're here to learn and not screw around. The lecturers tend to wait 5 minutes for late-comers, and lecturers are fairly flexible - I think I've only booked a tutorial once, as normally I just walk in and say, "do you mind if I have a tutorial?" but this being the final year, the lecturers will be stricter, so no walk-in tutorials and all tutorials must be booked and you're only allowed to have a tutorial within the time slot you're given, so if you miss it, you have to rebook, or if you're late, you get less time, but then it's for our final project, so it's kind of expected.

Though our university does have a rule for attendance, which is fair enough - a couple of classmates were brought up on it, but our lecturers were keen to help them out and so far they've passed each year, as they got their act together.

We joke quite a bit as well, and even have a drink with them and we have end of semester class meet-ups, which can be hilarious as most of us (including lecturers) get drunk, I tend to supply the rum for those who don't drink wine and a couple of others get the beer. And we sit in a class-room until drinking, talking, mixing with students from other years and the lecturers as well as have a few speeches and people showing off something they're proud of, and about 10:30pm we leave before heading into the town onto the nightclubs. So whilst we do work seriously, we have a great working environment and like to party at the end of a semester, which to me is a good balance, I mean hard-work needs reward and the brain needs to be able to chill. Also, exercise is good for the brain too, so don't think you need to give up any physical hobbies - geeky hobbies though can be too distracting. Like gaming.


Or at least that's my experience and thoughts on Uni life.

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BearCDP
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Posted: 14th Sep 2009 02:39
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Good luck everyone on finishing up and getting out or just starting!

I'm starting my second year at New York University for Music Composition with a minor in Computer Science. We don't have quite the cohesiveness as it sounds like some of you guys have--NYU's a huge university, and its lack of a campus sort of creates an environment in which your social engagement is usually restricted to your dorm friends and friends from your Major classes.

I've had mostly lax professors like everyone else, but always be sure to confirm laptop and attendance policies with the professor on the first day of class if they don't cover it in class. I've got one professor that could care less if you brought a laptop and played games all lecture hour, and then another that fails you on the third absence. Also, my roommate was recording a bio lecture because he had been up late writing an essay the night before and had hoped to listen to the lecture when he was more awake, but the professor came by and said "Stop using that, you're stealing my intellectual property."
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 14th Sep 2009 02:41
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I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to hide a recording device. Isn't the whole point of a lecture to you know, learn?

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BearCDP
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Posted: 14th Sep 2009 06:32
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You'd think, right? I thought it was pretty weird that a professor would think to say that.
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jasonhtml
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Posted: 14th Sep 2009 08:41
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ok, thanks for the answers

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 14th Sep 2009 13:29
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Surely taking notes is just the same? Our lecturers encourage that you record and that's what our dyslexic students have to do as well. As far as laptop's go, I think I'm in a similar situation - at least, during a lecture using 'The Pink Elephant' as part of a discussion, I loaded up Spore and made my own Pink Elephant and even the lecturer thought it was amusing. It wasn't as if I wasn't listening and I still took notes and as long as we're learning and working, our lecturers don't give a damn, after-all that's their job.

But some lecturers are freaking weird. One of my flat-mate's lecturers walked into the class, everybody was chatting, they hadn't noticed her. She was waiting, but the shouted at the top of her voice, "Be quiet. I feel like I'm teaching a bunch of five year olds when I'm actually teachings a class of second year University students!" And throughout the semester she treated everybody like kids. Now, when a lecturer walks into our class, our class is very likely to be talking whilst waiting for the lecturer to get ready to teach, now, what does the lecturer do? They say, "Right, settle down, now we'll get started." It's not bloody difficult.

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HowDo
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Posted: 14th Sep 2009 19:02 Edited at: 14th Sep 2009 19:02
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Quote: "but the professor came by and said "Stop using that, you're stealing my intellectual property." "


wonder what he would have said if you had a disability and were recording it for use later.
The professor would be up against the ADA regardless of intellectual property, Plus isnt that why the collage employed him , to give away what he knows.

Dark Physics makes any hot drink go cold.
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BearCDP
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Posted: 15th Sep 2009 05:31
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I feel exactly the same way you guys too. The collective student body certainly pays them enough that they should be expected to be civil and relatively easy to work with. It doesn't help that NYU goes out of its way to hire Ivy league graduates.
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Dazzag
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Posted: 16th Sep 2009 10:50
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Ah, FAF week again. The memories....

Quote: "I think there would be a lot to learn and enjoy from living in at Uni"
Yep. Can't underline that one enough if you ask me. I had an unbelievable time at Uni, but no way in hell I would do it again while staying at home with parents. God no. I know a couple of people who did that and Uni may as well have been school from what it sounded like.

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
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greenlig
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Posted: 17th Sep 2009 04:23
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I'm almost in my last year of a Bachelor of Games Design. It's pretty cool, but not the most challenging of degrees. I did two years of an English/History degree a few years back, but passed that up for work. That work eventually led me to this degree, so I am pretty happy with what happened.

I guess I am not really too bothered about what will happen after uni because I already have a job offer from a studio in Melbourne. I had worked for them for three months last year, and that was a blast. I have also been approached to head up a development that is more educational in nature, so that might be on the cards. The money speaks very loudly with that one

Suffice to say, whatever happens after my degree, it will involve game development. And beer.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 24th Sep 2009 01:32 Edited at: 24th Sep 2009 01:34
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I'm now back at Uni - well I moved back into halls yesterday and enrolled today.

First thing that happens of course, a screw up with my accommodation, I was moving into the same flat as a friend, which was Room A Flat B Floor C, but I was put in Room B Flat A Floor C and somebody else was put in my room - it's just across the corridor, so it's not as if I can't chill with my flat/house-mate of the last 2 years. It's just a silly mistake.

Saying that, people in our halls are VERY socialable, we all ended up mixing with different parties last night and bringing a group of people around to our flat. Everybody, as usual is pretty cool and quite considerate actually, despite being in the 'party' spirit. All of my neighboring Freshers are gamers, so that's pretty cool as I left my 360 at home, so we ended up playing CoD 4 against each other.

They're all out tonight, but I've decided to stay in instead of getting drunk like last night. It seems all the freshers want to do at the moment is party, fairplay to them, after all, that's what freshers' fortnight is about.

Classes start next week and I think I'm going to wear a kilt to my first lecture, just for the hell of it. I can't wait either, my classmates and lecturers are awesome.

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Jeku
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Posted: 24th Sep 2009 01:53
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Wait, your classes start next week and you don't want to get drunk this week? You should now before it's too late

Also, about the kilt thing...... are you Scottish? I have *never* understood kilts, and I don't think I ever will. So many people at PAX were wearing kilts.


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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 24th Sep 2009 02:49 Edited at: 24th Sep 2009 02:56
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Haha, I did get drunk last night, so it's not as if I'm being an idiot and missing the party spirit, but I'm sitting in because I have stuff to do and need to be in a fit state tomorrow morning and I already feel a bit crap after last night. Sadly, being my final year, I have plenty of prep work to still do, like my project proposal for my big research project, which has a deadline for in a couple of weeks - so far I have a summary written of what I'm wanting to do and spent the summer looking for possible paths to take with it, now it's just getting down and planning it.

And the kilt, I like to wear one because of my Irish heritage as my Dad's side of the family is from the Republic of Ireland and at the time it was an impulse buy at a festival too, well I had no choice really because I managed to split every pair of shorts I brought with me. I'd add that I don't like to dress 'normal', and find that sometimes wearing something a bit 'different' to everybody else just makes it a bit more interesting.


I think it's a trend as well for some festivals (though in the case of PAX a convention), and I find people tend to love looking weird at festivals and people do some strange things too.

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