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Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:01 pm
LJF says...



I thought I had writer's block beat, but now I have a new problem- one of my main characters is in college. I've never been to college, I haven't read that many books set in college, and I can't get anything I write about this character's day-to-day life feel genuine. I've tried asking people and doing online research, but no one seems to be able to really explain what it's like. Any advice?
“In order to...apply the teachings of the Aincrad style...keep its secret motto in mind: "stay cool.”-Reki Kawahara
"I’m glad I didn’t die there. I have to go home. I’ve still got things to do.”-Yukako Kabei
  





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Tue Jan 23, 2018 2:52 am
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Rosendorn says...



College is hugely varied, but some markers:

- It's usually the first time teenagers have majority freedom. All of the ways you wished you could dress in high school but couldn't because of dress code? That dress code has now vanished, and you can go nuts.

This can/does mean: Halloween costumes all the time, skin tight dresses, pyjamas, onesies, sweats, obscene t-shirts, or anything else you could've never gotten away with in high school.

Can basically guarantee you see at least 1 outrageous outfit on campus a day, to the point you do not notice.

- Class schedules are evil and you can have classes at any time between 8 am and 8 pm, sometimes only ending at 10 or 11 pm... and an 8 am class the next day. The smaller your program and the higher up in levels you are, the fewer class slots are available, the smaller your class sizes, and the more you have to compromise on your schedule. No, the people who create the slots for the classes don't care, and they don't talk to each other at all.

- As a result, you really only start to get to know the people in your program come third or fourth year. Before then, the classes are hundreds of people big and there are enough different sections that you can literally never interact with another person who's taking the same classes as you.

- Lower level classes have everyone from 4th years who saved up their electives to get a break when all of their work is difficult to brand-new, first-term freshmen. It gets weird. You can have people from a dozen different programs in the same room, and there's a good chance you'll never see them again.

- Your social groups are formed out of class. There are many, many, many many many MANY clubs and organizations you can join in college, and this is where you make your friends. The groups range from paid-for Greek life (where you have to meet certain requirements and pay fees to join) to free drop-in safe spaces where marginalized communities hang out and relax.

- Readings are monstrous beasts that take up all your time, because not only do you have to straight-up read, you also have to take notes on the readings because the most obscure things will come up on exams.

- Finals are worth an incredible amount of your grade— from 30% to 55%. They are also at highly unpredictable times. You can literally have two 55% finals within 24 hours at the very start of the exam period (exam period= no classes because you have to study), so you have exactly 0 free days to study (True story). They can also be at 8 am on a weekend.

Exams can be take-home, which makes them much more difficult. Since they're open book, the questions are worded to test your absorption and comprehension of the material, not how well you can memorize facts.

- If you managed to skate through high school, the lack of studying skills will bite you in college, and hard at that. This is why a lot of people burn out in college.

- Professors run the gamut from awesome to terrible. One thing you have to keep in mind about college is they don't have a teaching degree. Unlike in high school, where you have to go to teacher's college to even consider getting a job there, postsecondary has teaching as part of their research funding requirements.

See, colleges and universities fund their professors. So outside of their teaching and grading hours, professors are doing their own work on their own salary. They usually have PhDs (Master's candidates and PhD candidates are the teaching assistants who help with the grading)... and that's literally their only qualification. They have the barest concept of how to run a lecture, and it's usually only the really good professors who take the time to learn how to teach.

- TAs (the teaching assistants I mentioned) are your best friends. They are the ones grading your work, usually, and they can tell you a bunch of ins and outs about the projects. A terrible TA will often make the class more difficult than a terrible professor, because you'll be interacting with the TA way more than the professor.

- Student email accounts are used extensively, and not checking them is considered a death sentence.

- Blackboard is used for a lot of things. It's basically an online portal where your rubrics, assignment requirements, syllabus, and if the professor is nice, the lecture slides are posted.

Not all professors are nice, and not all professors use blackboard, so you're keeping track of both an online and paper system.

And sometimes professors don't tell you when stuff goes up, or when stuff is due, so you have to pretty religiously check it for yourself.

- Classes are canceled at the drop of a hat, no sub involved, and you can leave at any time during the lecture. Sometimes you'll only find out the lecture is canceled thirty minutes before it was due to start (good luck if you commute!).

- You can skip class and usually nobody even notices.

- It's extremely, extremely self driven. Basically everything is a choice— especially if you live away from home. Some people do manage to live at home during college, but a lot of people don't (especially in the US). So you start to figure out what's a worthwhile choice— skipping a reading to sleep? Handing in an assignment late and getting the penalty but it's a better paper than it would've been had you stressed about it? Doing your work early? It's 100% your choice.

- You're starting to learn about people different than you, and also the time you start to explore yourself. College might be the first time you're in a group that's got openly gay individuals. Or you're in a room that is majority people not-like-you. It might be the first time you have the space to realize you're not straight, or the time your depression flares up because you don't have a routine to lock away your feelings with.

Some people keep this self-exploration after college, while others go back to their bubble and forget all the stuff they learned there. Others even actively oppose everything academia stands for— where they think the critical thinking skills you develop are poison meant to brainwash you. It sounds extreme, but it does happen.

Hope that helps!
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Tue Jan 23, 2018 3:27 am
LJF says...



@Rosendorn Thank you so much! This is sooooooo helpful! Hopefully I can quit procrastinating and start writing now!
“In order to...apply the teachings of the Aincrad style...keep its secret motto in mind: "stay cool.”-Reki Kawahara
"I’m glad I didn’t die there. I have to go home. I’ve still got things to do.”-Yukako Kabei
  








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