Just some stuff I decided to share.
Think of the whole of existence, of which you are the tiniest part; think of the whole of time, in which you have been assigned a brief and fleeting moment; think of destiny – what fraction of that are you?
Marcus Aurelius
How I study
Since I plan to be studying for a few years I spent some time reasearching how to study more efficiently. There’s a lot of great sources and books on the topic. Dr. Rainer Storn’s How to Become an A-Student in Science and Engineering was my favorite.
The biggest take away for me was to test myself as often as possible. When trying to remeber something really try to do it on your own. Don’t be too quick with looking stuff up.
Rainer Storn suggests using a flashcard system to accomplish that. I’ve implemented one myself and I think it works great. I write the flashcards myself. This helps me filter out relevant parts of the material discussed in the lectures. I test myself the following day, then three days after that, a week later, a month later and a last time three months after that.
Using this system helps me remeber what was already discussed. By the time the exam comes around I can focus my energy and time on deepening the understanding and doing excercises instead of re-studying the material.
For exam preparation doing past exams is key. Print out as many as you can get your hands on. Try solving them in the time given and do it on your own. Take your time to analize your errors and make a list of your most frequent mistakes. Study up on what you didn’t understand. Activly try avoiding the mistakes on your list for the next exams. By the time the real exam is due, it’ll feel like a walk in the park – no stress.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking reading stuff or watching explanatory videos on youtube is studying. Trying to understand something takes time, don’t rush it. Even tho it might seem slow and painfuly hard I do think the most efficient way of studying is deep thinking.
Digital Minimalism
A few years ago I read Cal Newport’s great book on Digital Minimalism. In the book Newport talks about his philosophy of digital media usage. It made me rethink my own media usage and I decided to delete all my social media accounts. Probably one of the best decicions I’ve ever made.
The thing that really pushed me to this was me realising that my ability to focus and be truly present kept getting worse. While reading or meditating my mind kept drifting away. Focusing on longer tasks was difficult. I think that has changed a lot since then.
I like being offline. Not having the phone on me makes me feel less distracted and in a way more free. The obvious downside is not being reachable in case of emergencies. My solution was a second phone with a prepaid sim. Only the people close to me have the number and I only use the phone for calls.
This year during the winter break I took a week vacation alone and offline. Even tho I used the time for studying it truly was a very relaxing and enjoyable week. Free of worries and distraction.
Military
In switzerland there is a mandatory military service. I joined immediatly after my Matura as a Panzergrenadier Gefechtler. A mechanised infantry unit man specialized in CQB (close quarter battle) and anti tank warfare.
I learnt how to deal with stress and hardship – or more importantly, how not to. I saw the importance of having good comrades and how to be one – courtasies that go beyond being a good team player. Of course I’ve also aquired some skills that I hope will never have to be put to the test.
This time was very formative for me since I learnt a lot about myself and the art of pushing limitations.
Semper Fidelis – In Corde Veritas