By Debbie Chadi, Triangle Executive Editor
Junior year - one more year to go. Everyone around me has lot on their minds. Many of my classmates seem frazzled as they look ahead towards GRE’s, MCAT’s and recruiting. One thought dominates my mind. Have I made the most of my Penn experience? Will I be a satisfied graduate?
I had many reasons for coming to Penn. I was drawn to its top bioengineering program; the research here seemed novel and exciting. I also treasured my one issue of Penn Triangle (received in the mail as a pre-frosh) and desperately sought a position with the group. Besides engineering, the foreign language program pulled me here; I loved the idea of taking “Persian for Fluent Speakers” and “French for Businesspeople.” Last but not least, I wanted an amazing social life to break up the tough coursework, not to mention the relative monotony of high school and graduate school. I did not think I could feel fulfilled without checking off every activity on this mock checklist, but I have changed.
College has been more time-consuming than I expected, but I have learned to adjust. The most valuable advice I have to give is: participate in activities that make you happy. If your ambitious goals or desired résumé turn your life into an eternal sprint from one meeting or club to the next, try to at least take classes and join clubs that you will enjoy. That, and find supportive friends.
College should be about looking back with no regrets. I have a simple method for scaling the balance of “will regret” vs. “will not.” You may recognize it as a procedure from economics. When I make a decision, I ask myself a simple question: “Do the opportunity costs outweigh the benefits?” Suppose the hottest guy in bioengineering lab asks me to his date party and I have an exam the next day. If having a smile on my face for the next week outweighs scoring below the mean on the exam, I go with him. If not, I say no and hope he asks again. (I am an optimist.) When the benefits outweigh the costs, I say take the opportunity and live without regrets.
To me, college is a corridor with many open doors, and I want to be sure I went through the right ones. Whether or not I accomplish all my goals is not everything, though; satisfaction is, in large part, living a happy life. If my day-to-day experiences keep a smile on my face, it is likely that looking back, I will care less about what I actually did than the fact that I was content with my four years as a Penn undergraduate.
Junior year - one more year to go. Everyone around me has lot on their minds. Many of my classmates seem frazzled as they look ahead towards GRE’s, MCAT’s and recruiting. One thought dominates my mind. Have I made the most of my Penn experience? Will I be a satisfied graduate?
I had many reasons for coming to Penn. I was drawn to its top bioengineering program; the research here seemed novel and exciting. I also treasured my one issue of Penn Triangle (received in the mail as a pre-frosh) and desperately sought a position with the group. Besides engineering, the foreign language program pulled me here; I loved the idea of taking “Persian for Fluent Speakers” and “French for Businesspeople.” Last but not least, I wanted an amazing social life to break up the tough coursework, not to mention the relative monotony of high school and graduate school. I did not think I could feel fulfilled without checking off every activity on this mock checklist, but I have changed.
College has been more time-consuming than I expected, but I have learned to adjust. The most valuable advice I have to give is: participate in activities that make you happy. If your ambitious goals or desired résumé turn your life into an eternal sprint from one meeting or club to the next, try to at least take classes and join clubs that you will enjoy. That, and find supportive friends.
College should be about looking back with no regrets. I have a simple method for scaling the balance of “will regret” vs. “will not.” You may recognize it as a procedure from economics. When I make a decision, I ask myself a simple question: “Do the opportunity costs outweigh the benefits?” Suppose the hottest guy in bioengineering lab asks me to his date party and I have an exam the next day. If having a smile on my face for the next week outweighs scoring below the mean on the exam, I go with him. If not, I say no and hope he asks again. (I am an optimist.) When the benefits outweigh the costs, I say take the opportunity and live without regrets.
To me, college is a corridor with many open doors, and I want to be sure I went through the right ones. Whether or not I accomplish all my goals is not everything, though; satisfaction is, in large part, living a happy life. If my day-to-day experiences keep a smile on my face, it is likely that looking back, I will care less about what I actually did than the fact that I was content with my four years as a Penn undergraduate.
3 comments:
College is a fantasy world. Thats why people become professors... to NOT face the real world.
anyone with BSc., Masters or Phd. in math or physics, who wants to come work in my indian restaurant mail massacard@hotmail.com
re: above
sujit i'm just messing with you, i think you know who i am ;-]
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