How to: Survive College's Academic Life

Hola beauties,

This time I am not gonna write something beauty related, this will be more likely an errand or mumbling or whatsoever you might called, LOL.

You must have heard a saying about girls who wear make up don't have brain, or beauty is the opposite of smart, etc.... and I am not at all agree with that, say no to stereotyping! I don't know what's wrong with people who just love to judge, maybe they're lacking of picnic wkwkwk. It's just the same with "orang Padang pasti pelit" or "orang Batak pasti galak", why oh why people love to generelize things.

Okay, now, I don't want to brag or being snoby nor arrogant, I am definitely not the best, I just want to share my tips and tricks to survive college's academic life and graduate with pretty good remarks. First let me give a little introduction, I have just graduated from Faculty of Law  Universitas Indonesia (perhaps you're a new reader and doesn't know about this, oh hello you, welcome to my blog), and I was awarded with cum laude predicate, 1 of 12 among hundreds FHUI graduates this term. Why do I need to point this out? Because I bet you want to hear tips and tricks from someone who have actually performed and proved that it works.

I always believe that grades or GPA is not the most important thing to be pursued. And I do still believe that, there are more important things other than GPA, but let's just face the reality, number is the easiest way to determine and scale things, and people will see your GPA when you apply for a job, for a scholarship, etc. The least is probably your mom and dad, they will definitely care about your grades *again, Indonesian*. But for me, what's more important than the GPA is how you're gonna be responsible with your GPA, people's expectation about you will be as high as your grades, so make sure your grades are purely yours, say no to cheating, just do your best, you should be ashamed if you have good grades on the paper but can not perform well.

That was a pretty long intro, wasn't it?

Without further a due, let's get started... I have tried these methods and it works for me, but... it might not works for you, because we are human and we are unique, but yeah why don't give it a try.

1. Sit in the front of the class, so you will be more focused with the lecture

2. Ask questions, there is no such thing as stupid questions, but a little tips from me, make sure you have done a little research first and make sure you listen to the lecture's explanation, ask and ask, you have paid the tuition fee though, people might be staring at you especially if you ask the question in the injury time, but really I think people should thank someone who asked questions

3. Choose your circle wisely, make sure your friends are supportive, make sure to befriended the smart ass, choose friends whom you can discuss things including the lecturer, and choose friends who are not taking you to the negative way, believe me you're gonna need them ti survive college

4. Take notes, to prevent you from getting sleepy in class and it will help you to memorize things

5. Review, research and discuss, this will help, college/uni is different from junior and senior high school, you should have grown from siswa to mahasiswa, mahasiswa are expected to learn more outside the class room, as a mahasiswa you should eager to enrich yourself with many informations, don't just swallow anything the lectures said, especially for a law student. When you review and discuss, you will gain more insights and in my case it helps me understand more.

6. Many people especially the seniors will suggest you to take class a b c because of  the "easy grades" or "Absolute A", avoid or choose lecture d e f because they are "killer" "stingy" etc.
Sometimes that's right, but I won't suggest you to listen to such things, as for me, I took classes which I thought will be beneficial for me in terms of the knowledge, I have never really care about who was the lecture or is that class is known for bad grades whatsoever. Why? Because, when you take a class because of the lecture or because of the grades or any myths, I just feel that you won't give your 100%, you just believe the myth and expecting good grades. No, I believe everyone deserve what they fight for, you'll get what you deserve, never ever expected good grades from the lecture or the subject, you want good grades? Then fight for it. If you believe in such myth, when you didn't get what you have expected then it will lead you to dissapointment. Just believe that every subject give you new knowledge and there is no such thing as wasted knowledge, do not regret.

7. Last but not least, pray! And ask for prayer from your mom and dad as well. No more explanation needed.

Yup, that was all from me, hope it will helps, enjoy your college life, do many things, explore a lot, find your passion, and good luck!