独立日前一天和我们当地的仪器供应商的VP在我的Cubical聊了两个半小时，感触良多，此人是标准的美国5%的上层家庭，大学三年半就从Penn State毕业，双硕士学位，同时又是游泳冠军，每天坚持打两个小时网球。我就跟他谈为什么大学很难找准在学习，社交，运动和工作之间的平衡点。他笑了笑 说今年自己的女儿刚刚上大学，她爹就把自己大学写的总结改了改然后给她女儿。他手头正好也有一份，就Email给我了。
College Tips
Everyone attending college will do the following activities: study, sports and socialize. Your success is based on the ability to keep them in the proper order.
Everyone realizes that studying is the reason that you are attending college so it needs to be most important but what does that really mean?
1.Attend all your classes. Having an 8:00 AM class everyday is a blessing because most of you are going to be up for an AM practice and you might as well go to class. Sleeping in to 10:00 sounds great but you end up going to class all afternoon and how many real jobs start at noon?
2.Do your homework everyday. If you attend every class and don’t get behind you will not have to pull all-nighters to get through projects or finals. It is very difficult to swim well if you have not slept in 2 days. Treat your homework like a job and you will do fine.
3.There are many people who “study” 6 or 8 hours per day and fail. It all comes down to focus. You cannot study while listening to music, watching TV, talking on the telephone, instant messaging your friends or reply to emails. The only way to truly study is in a well-lit, quiet place where you are not disturbed by anything. Many of you will have to find the library or a team room because the dorms are too loud with people who will be flunking out or changing majors.
4.If you are going to miss a class because of a meet let the professor know, ask for the notes and what homework will be assigned. Most professors do not like scholarship athletes because they do not believe that they are dedicated students. The statistics clearly show that athletes have a higher graduation rate then non-athletes but none of the professors seem to remember this.
5.Many of you are attending prestigious universities where everyone was in the top 5 or 10% of their high school graduating class. Statistically 50% are going to be in the bottom 50% of your college class; congratulations the competition just got much better!
6.First impressions are very important. The first assignment that is due in each class will establish what the professor thinks about you so make sure that it is impressive.
Do your best job in the pool. Your coaches should realize that studying comes first but they will want to know when you are going to miss practice.
Socializing is an important part of the college experience and you should have plenty of time to do it if you keep up with your studying and swimming. There are some things that you should consider:
1.Go out in groups. Most creeps try to go after an individual rather then a group. You are also less likely to make a really stupid decision if you have a friend to bounce things off. This is a good reason to also pick your friends wisely.
2.Don’t ever let a drink sit unattended anywhere! Take your drink with you or get another one. Remember the creeps above.
3.If you chose to consume alcohol only drink beer, wine or some processed drink. Drinking mixed drinks is asking for trouble because you have no idea how much alcohol was used in the drink plus most college parties only have cheap liquor and the morning after can be really nasty. Drinking from punch bowls or trashcans, yes they will have gorilla punch in trashcans, is plain stupid. I still remember the freshman girl who was drinking from our gorilla punch trashcan one night and claimed not to feel a thing. Five minutes later she was on the floor passed out. Remember the creeps above.
4.The most controlled environment is obviously opening your own packaged drink.
Some other thoughts:
1.If you do not eat desert at home and you decide to hit the ice cream bar every night in the cafeteria those calories will end up somewhere that you see in the mirror. The same thing with ordering pizza every evening at midnight. This is typically referred to as the freshmen 15.
2.Do your laundry at odd times so that you can get enough machines to do it all at the same time. Remember to sort white from darks, towels, etc.
3.You can be part of the students that have the high grade point averages in the difficult majors or they can be your bosses someday.
4.Remember to email and call your parents.
5.Establish your standards and do not lower that standard, rather have other people come up to your standard.
6.HAVE A GREAT TIME!
大学里的建议：
大学生都要在大学里做如下几件事：学习，体育和社交。你的成功在于掌控这三者之间的平衡点并且懂得分清重次。
所有人都懂得上大学是为了学习知识所以学习是首要的。但是“学习”意味着什么呢？
- 不要跷课。每天早上八点上课是最理想的，原因在于你将会被迫每天清早爬起锻炼或者上课。睡到十点去上课听上去很不错，但是你整个下午和晚上都要上课，有什么工作是下午开始的？
- 坚持按时完成作业。假如你每天上课并且完成作业你将告别熬夜准备期末和学期项目的生活。假如你连续两天不睡觉再去游泳将会是非常艰难的。以工作的态度去读书。
- 很多人每天花六到八个小时读书但仍旧不及格。原因就在注意力。在读书的时候听音乐，看电视，打电话，发短信或者回Email是不可能的。这正效率高的学习应当是找一间合适的案件的房间，而不是和一群将要退学或者换专业的家伙们在嘈杂的寝室里学习。
- 假如你有要紧事必须要缺课务必让教师知道。并问教授索要课堂笔记和布置下的作业。很多教授不喜欢因为是运动员而拿奖学金的学生因为这些学生通常不专心学习。但是数据显示以运动员身份毕业的大学生毕业率比一般人要高。尽管很多教授没有意识到这个问题。
- 你们有很多人都在上最好的大学因为你们在高中时都是最顶尖的5%到10%的学生。道理上说这些人将来会有一半在大学里垫底。祝贺你们大学的竞争将会更加激烈！
- 第一印象相当重要。每门课第一次作业将会直接影响到教授对你的印象。所以最好让你的作业“印象深刻”。
在游泳池里也要做到最好。你的教练因该知道你的首要任务是学习但是他仍旧希望你不要缺席训练。
社交是大学里很重要的一部分而且你应该在大学里有足够的时间让你在学习和运动之外社交。不过有一些事情需要注意：
- 和大伙一起玩。很多人喜欢一人独自玩。不过假如你喜欢群居生活一半不会交一些喜欢独处的怪人为朋友。同样要学会选择性地交友。
- 不要让自己的酒杯离开你！要不喝完它要不就再倒一杯新的。谁知道人家会在你酒杯里放什么！记得第一条里提到的怪人。
- 只能和啤酒，葡萄酒或者其他纯酒。不要把酒混在一起喝因为第一你不知道调酒第二大学里一半只有便宜质量低劣的酒第二天早上醒来的感觉肯定不好。用垃圾桶或者大碗当容器喝酒是无比愚蠢的。我仍旧记得一天夜里一个大一美媚这样干然后说没什么感觉。五分钟后发现她已经躺在地板上晕过去了。记得第一条里提到的怪人。
- 在社交活动里最容易控制的环境是喝自己带的酒。
其他的建议：
- 假如晚上独自饿家里没有甜点然后你决定每天到学校食堂买冰激凌吃，这些卡路里将会在几天后镜子里的你中显现出来。凌晨订外卖pizza是同样的道理。
- 选择在非高峰时间洗衣，这样你就可以同时用几台机器。注意给衣物分类，比如深色，毛巾等等。
- 你要么选择在相当艰难的专业里拿高GPA，要么让那些在相当艰难专业里拿高GPA的人在将来当你的老板。
- 记得和父母频繁通信。
- 给自己建立标准并记住不要降低标准，要不其他人会达到你的标准。
- 享受大学生活！！！
