What to Learn

Sometimes, perhaps what you need to learn, isn't what you think you should learn.
Maybe, instead of learning about calculus, you should be learning about methods and habits.

For example, when you do homework, do you do it in an organized fashion? I like to see homework that is done top-done. If you insist on saving space, then divide the page down the center and form two orderly columns. This is presentable. Clear, and understandable. When you go into the real world, that's how your boss would want your work.

Another thing is learning to break down big problems into little problems. Or taking problems you don't understand into problems you do understand. For example, a linear approximation is much easier to understand than a complicated function. All you have to do is take the derivative and form the tangent line at the point. If you ever learn about Taylor series, then you'll see that you can form better approximations, and yet still keep a certain about of simplicity. In any case, we are turning a complicated object into a simple object. In real life, this is a reasonable skill. If you can break down a big project into little tasks that are simple, then the problem is much easier to handle.

Drawing pictures. Who doesn't like pictures? The more you practice drawing diagrams that help you understand the problem, the more useful they'll be. But not only to you, but the people around you. Sometimes, words get complicated, and pictures get the job done.

Practice makes perfect. You might take doing homework for granted, but when you are given something to learn without being able to practice it, or without seeing examples, you wish you had homework. In life, when you learn something just by reading about it or by hearing about it, you won't really have learned it. You need to make it your own and somehow put it to use or practice it, just like doing homework. Learning about how to ride about and learning to ride a bike are two different things. Once you learned, and haven't done it in a while, it can take a little readjustment, but if you actually learned it before, it's likely that you'll be able to pick up on it real quick the next time.

Listen. This is a good habit to practice. Here's a fact: a professor can hand students the answers in a lecture, and the people who normally get A's will likely get A's, the students who get B's will likely get B's, and so on. This is in large due to the correlation between grades and listening. It's true that sometimes, it's because people don't know how to process the information given to them. But there's usually help somewhere, wherever you are, you just have to know where to look. That's not always easy. But for example, maybe its a fear of taking advantage of help. At least in the setting of college, teaching assistants and professors hold office hours to help you. Schools have counselors. In real life, there's usually a support group for every problem you can think of. With the internet you can find all sorts of support and help.

The point is, sometimes it's the skills you learn that is important. Depending on your career choice, the content might not be that important.

All this applies to your other classes too.

Do you have any skills that you have learned in class that are useful for real life?