How Do You Make the Most of College?

<p>I've recently completed my first year of college at Swarthmore, and it made me think about what my goals are in college. I'm surprised that such a thread on how to make the most of college isn't here on the College Life forum. I could be wrong, though.</p>

<p>I'm very fortunate to have gotten accepted to Swarthmore and to have the opportunity to go to school here. When people ask me how Swarthmore is, I usually say, "Great!" I was a high achiever in high school, and I think I had a reputation of being the one who loved to learn but was also kind of a chill guy who knew how to have fun in his own nerdy, dorky way. I was on the chess team, math team, and Latin "quiz bowl" team, and I really enjoyed all of the competitions I went to.</p>

<p>Actually, though, it's hard to say that I loved my first year. It seems like all my friends in college are loving college, and it's supposed to be the best four years of your life. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed freshman year. I learned a lot, and I think I improved a lot on my writing ability and my ability to make an argument and communicate it. I learned a lot of math and Chinese, and I also made some very good friends. These are all good things, but for some reason I don't feel completely satisfied. I'm still trying to find out why.</p>

<p>We get a lot of work at Swarthmore, and that was really one reason I came here. I wanted to work very hard and get the grade I deserved. But I've found that having too much work is a bad thing. I've often found myself finishing classes, going to the library to work, having dinner, often by myself because I haven't scheduled a time for dinner, and then going back to finish up my work. And the work isn't easy, especially when it's scholarly text. I think one of the things that I never really learned in high school was how to read a textbook. I've used methods like SQ3R and other reading techniques, but I've found some sentences and sometimes whole pages that I can't comprehend even if I work hard, even when I'm working in quiet. I used to join some extracurricular activities, but I got bored of them, and I became worried that I wouldn't have enough time to complete all my work. But now I think that just working is boring and I get lonely. Has anyone had this experience?</p>

<p>I am thinking that forming a study group might be helpful, and joining some club. Usually in my free time I do solitary things, like going for a walk or reading. I also work 8 hours a week for work-study.</p>

<p>I am also starting to think that the courses that I will be taking for the next three years are just courses. In other words, they have no real relation to each other. For example, I took a course in biology, but it was followed by nothing. Here's what I took in first semester:</p>

<p>Linear Algebra
Chinese
Biology
Modern Germany</p>

<p>and here's what I took second semester:</p>

<p>Multivariable Calculus
Chinese
English
Modern China</p>

<p>I just don't get a sense that what I'm learning is coherent. I don't really know why I don't feel as satisfied, because they were mostly good classes taught by good professors. All in all, the characteristics of a good academic experience. But none of them really changed my perception of the world or changed any part of me, I don't think. I could be wrong. It seems like I'm learning a lot of information, but I'm not getting any real "Aha" moment. I don't get the sense that I've changed at all. I don't feel educated.</p>

<p>Which brings me to another thing I've reflected on. Many people go to college to get an education. Many people apply to schools like Swarthmore in order to "get a liberal arts education." But I'm starting to think that Swarthmore does not offer an education. Instead, Swarthmore, and college in general, offers schooling. Professors don't educate you; they teach you. What does it mean to be educated? </p>

<p>I was reading a book, Teacher in America, by Jacques Barzun, and here's what he means by educated:</p>

<p>"When a man has been singled out by the Fates for education, what happens is that he first disgorges all the facts he has learned. He forgets on a really magnanimous scale. It is a spring cleaning in which he sorts out his true intellectual interests from the temporary or imitative."</p>

<p>He then goes on to say,</p>

<p>"The whole reorganizing of a fine and well-stocked mind may seem a haphazard, uncertain process...it is an instance of thinking in the widest meaning of the term; which means it is the working of a strong wish, early implanted--a passion-- and out of it comes a characteristic work o art--a Person."</p>

<p>He says that education is a result of passion:</p>

<p>"To become educated is above all things the result of wishful thinking; but the wish must be for the true state, not for its trappings. Wish is in fact too weak a word, so I have called it passion..... every educated man shares their experience--the same toiling over oneself and over subject matter, the same sacrifice of usual pleasures, the same sense of never being satisfied, of never having done, in a span which dwindles as its purpose becomes clearer...it is the educated--and I do not mean the learned--who save novelty from neglect and propagate it, out of live and admiration and pride."</p>

<p>Education, then, is something that is done through the self. It cannot be given. Which makes me wonder whether I will achieve what I have wanted to achieve in college.</p>

<p>When I started college, I wanted to learn so many things. I wanted to know about chemistry, physics, biology, political science, economics, a bit of sociology, math, Chinese, the great works of literature. And I wanted to know a lot about history. I've realized that in the short four years, I cannot possible learn all these things as in depth as I wanted to. I guess that I have to pick. Most importantly what I want to get from college are the essential skills of reading, writing, counting, and speaking.</p>

<p>But I wanted to develop a sense of intellect. You know, we always speak of Swarthmore and the University of Chicago as "super-intellectual colleges." We also speak of Reed in this way. But what does it mean to be intellectual? I honestly don't think I've had many really intellectual conversations since coming to Swarthmore. That might be excused, though. It's hard to talk about Mill if you know so little about him. Now that I think about it, I myself probably cannot have many genuinely intellectual conversations, but that is something I wanted and still want to work on.</p>

<p>In short, it's hard to say that I had a bad freshman year. I learned a lot, I did get a challenging work load, and I did get the personal attention from professors that the small colleges promise. And I did feel a sense of community. All the good stuff. But I felt that I just took courses in freshman year. I kind of don't feel a great sense of accomplishment. I also feel that I haven't made as much out of college as I could have. Does anyone feel this way or have suggestions?</p>

<p>Wow. Long post.</p>

<p>Your undergrad years, especially at a liberal arts college, are the perfect time to dip into numerous topics and get a basic foundation, a general understanding of a lot of things. Learn what excites you, what you want to do in the future. That’s what graduate school is for, studying something much more specific.</p>

<p>Continue to take a wide range of courses. I personally feel, about myself, that I need to take advantage of this time in college to learn about a wider range of things. Instead of just feeling scared of science/math, maybe I should dive into it and see what I can do.</p>

<p>So far I have taken:</p>

<p>Russian 101 & 102
Japanese 101 & 102
Psychology 101
Biological Psychology
Computer Science
Writing 125: Russians In America</p>

<p>I want to expand, maybe take a Chem course, a Bio course, maybe even a math class…</p>

<p>When compiling your schedule, just look at the types of courses you are taking. Are they all the same type of courses? I would think that a good combination is a language course, some course that requires more writing, a course that requires analytical skills, and maybe a course that’s artsy or a course with a lab.</p>

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<p>It sounds to me as if you might be happier if you delved very deep into a specific subject. I will sort of supplement catsushi’s post with my own view colored by my preferences, which is that graduate school is often about becoming an expert at something really, really specific, not just specific. There are degrees to specificity, to be sure. You may find that you (for instance totally hypothetically assuming you love Slavic Literature) would love to read tons and tons of stuff about Slavic Literature all through college, while supplementing with a <em>few</em> other classes out of interest, rather than keeping it broad. You still would be getting a broader foundation than you would in grad school, where you can delve into, say a very specific part of a specific author’s life and study that, or something like that. </p>

<p>My view on being a math undergraduate, for instance, is that it’s good to start getting an idea of very specific, deep, advanced topics. That stuff is thrilling! So why not?! If that’s what makes you happy, I think it’s a good idea. As long as you spend lots of the undergraduate years enjoying the learning process, rather than trying to rush the process of just going out and becoming a researcher, I think there’s no problem at all.</p>

<p>Thanks for the wonderful post, dchow08. I’m starting at Haverford next year and have been wondering about the same thing. I too am afraid that I’ll just be taking a lot of courses that seem disparate and intellectually disconnected from one another. But it seems to me that as you begin to focus your studies into your major, it will all ‘click together.’ Although at Haverford, we have the rule of 13 – no more than 13 courses in your major. Reiterating catsushi, however, a liberal arts education is the perfect setting to explore many things, graduate school is for specialization.</p>

<p>That was probably the nerdiest thing I’ve ever read…</p>

<p>I was expecting something relating to social life, but it was all about learning. Wow.</p>

<p>One of the first things to learn in college is how much you don’t know. As you go through college, you should feel that there’s even more that you don’t know and probably will never know.</p>

<p>It sounds like you are doing fine in your studies but perhaps your social life is a bit lacking. Perhaps doing something with people would help. A study group sounds good. Perhaps a job on campus that deals with people would be good. Mixing around with other people might be helpful.</p>

<p>well do you think you fulfilled your goals socially freshman year? I don’t think very many people do feel like there’s some great connectedness in their education after one year or that they’ve academically accomplished much. I don’t think you should be focusing on taking classes in all these different departments. take stuff you’re actually interested in. high school is for breadth… that’s where you took all that science stuff, history, math, english, etc. take what you want in college, then if you go to grad school, get some real depth there in whatever you’re really interested in. you can always pick up a book on some topic you have a slight interest in… you could learn a little about some topic without having to go through taking a class on it that may or may not have attached recitations, labs, etc. personally, i’m a math major, and doing math doesn’t make me feel any more connected to the world, but i feel somewhat accomplished after completing a proof (unless it’s some lame trivial proof obviously…). that’s something that a course in topology, for example, would give you… your calc3 class is a bore in comparison. do I feel i’m missing out on some classes in not taking many humanities/social science classes? well maybe, but i don’t care, cause i’m not as interested in that type of stuff and as a result, I wouldn’t do as well in them. yeah maybe i’d be interested in knowing a little, but i’m not going to deceive myself into thinking i’m interested in them enough to actually take tons of classes in them. but yeah, I’d imagine your main issue is social activity</p>

<p>Great post. I’m only in high school, so I guess there isn’t much wisdom I can offer. I’ve actually been worrying that college would be just the way you described it: not bad, but nothing life-altering or earth-shattering. It sounds like so far you haven’t yet found that one particular field that you are passionate about. Don’t sweat it. You’ve only just finished your first, and I think (and hope) that you’ll find something you love enough to declare your major. I’m sure that the last two years of college will feel more cohesive and meaningful to you as you focus on something more specific, and, like some other posters said, grad school (if you plan to attend it) will give you even greater freedom to explore something that you love. Good luck!</p>

<p>If I were you, I would stop expecting Swarthmore to give me an education.</p>

<p>I would start thinking of college as the place to gain the tools to educate yourself.</p>

<p>For example, you’re studying Chinese. That’s going to allow you to talk to people and to read things that were unavailable to you a year ago. Think about what you want to do with that skill: what do you want to learn about?</p>

<p>You’re also taking math classes. Among other things, they are going to help you develop the skills to think abstractly and precisely. Are there things you want to learn such that precise abstract thinking will help you? For example, suppose you wanted to study 20th century Anglo-American philosophy. (You probably don’t, but you might. I like the stuff a lot, but you don’t sound much like me in that regard.) Or maybe you’d like to get into programming computers, or learn about the law.</p>

<p>You seem interested in science. Do you read any science bloggers regularly? Some of the science blogs I read (when I was studying for a BA I took 2 astronomy courses, both designed for nonmajors, and that was it, but now some years later I’m realizing that I want to understand science better) are pretty interesting, but I mainly have to take the writers’ word for a lot of things because I don’t know the science. You might want to read some of those blogs and see whether you’re interested in any of the things they discuss and try to teach yourself more about those subjects. Or maybe you’re interested in the way that science affects society, and are interested in things like whether vaccination should be mandatory or there should be single-payer health insurance.</p>

<p>If you take a philosophy course (other than logic), you’ll probably learn a lot about how to read a text slowly and with depth. You’ll be using some of the skills you’ve learned in math courses, including thinking with precision, and you’ll be developing skill at teaching yourself difficult material.</p>

<p>And so on. Learn the content of what you’re being taught – the facts and so on – but also realize that while you are doing that you are also learning how to learn, how to teach yourself. The things that interest you don’t have to be explicitly taught in your classes for Swarthmore to give you access to them, and even after you’ve graduated and gone on to something else you should be prepared to continue educating yourself for the rest of your life, or at least for as long as you are a curious person.</p>

<p>I hope that this helps.</p>

<p>After I made my last post, it occurred to me that my thinking on this issue is partly shaped by books I have read, and that you might be interested in reading some of the same books.</p>

<p>My favorite is Isaac Asimov’s short story “Profession” (the copy I have is in the book “Nine Tomorrows,” but you can find it online). The protagonist is George Platen, a young man in a future society where education is pretty much dumped into young people’s heads, first on “Reading Day,” when they learn to read, and then on “Education Day,” when they are given an education designed to train them for a specific profession. When George shows up on Education Day he is informed that he is an unsuitable candidate for an education, and he’s shunted off to a home for people who are similarly unsuitable and offered an education the old-fashioned way, the way we get it. Meanwhile his best friend Stubby Trevelyan gets an education and prepares for Olympics Month, which is when candidates on Earth (which is the place to go for an education) compete for high-status, high-paying offworld jobs. It’s a critique of the educational system as it was in the 1950s.</p>

<p>Two memoirs that address mastering new ways to think are Pepper White’s “The Idea Factory” and Scott Turow’s “One L.” White was an engineering grad student at MIT (what I do is pretty far from engineering, but I still found it an engaging and informative book) and Turow was a law student at Harvard.</p>

<p>And two science fiction novels – both clearly intended as didactic – aimed at students much younger than you are (I still read that kind of book sometimes, especially if I need a break, though I don’t know whether you do) are Robert Heinlein’s “Space Cadet” and Charles Sheffield and Jerry Pournelle’s “Higher Education.” Both are about (yet more) young men who are trained for careers in space and both address the educations they are given and what they get from them. I first read the Heinlein book when I was in middle school or high school.</p>

<p>Trust me, Swarthmore has a much more intellectual atmosphere than most colleges. At the majority of colleges in the country people are airheads who don’t really care bout learning and are just getting their degrees as the next step in life. At schools like mine, they are on the same level as Swat, but students don’t care as much about learning or breadth, and more about setting themselves up for investment banking or med school and stuff like that. At Swat you have more people who are interested in just learning in college and taking classes for their fulfillment, and less so about getting that internship at Goldman or getting into Harvard Med.</p>

<p>About those intellectual conversations, what do you want? Do you want a deep conversation that helps you learn about yourself and how the world works or do you want a conversation where you drop names of philosophers and books and whatnot? If you want to discuss Mill, you can have a deep meaningful conversation about his teachings without the other person ever having read his work. Just ask questions like “what do you think about this idea…” and so on. The conversation can go “I think this” “I agree with that” etc. It doesn’t need to be “well Mill said this” “But Kant said that” etc. Most kids at your school are smart enough to have their own thoughts and ideas. They might not be introduced to every philosopher or every book, but they can hold a good conversation. Honestly, I find a person to be pretentious if they start dropping names of authors and philosophers in their conversations. It makes you seem like you don’t have your own ideas so you use the fact that you are well read to make it seem like you know a lot when in fact you can’t, or don’t want to, think for yourself. I wouldn’t stress this part of college though. I’ve only been able to have deep philosophical conversations with maybe 3 people my whole life, 2 from high school and one in college. You really need to click with someone else and be on a similar intellectual wave length. To tackle science and economics, take an intro course or two to get an idea about the subject matter. Then take a lot of math so you can understand the more quantitative side of those subjects. If you want to learn modern physics or economics, a strong math background will get you farther than taking a bunch of classes not intended for majors.</p>

<p>About your classes, do you want to major and minor in everything? You can’t go very in depth in everything. There aren’t enough hours in a day to learn everything in the world. I often feel the same way. I’ve finished my second year of college and still don’t feel like I’ve had that “ah ha” moment with my studies. There are many classes I want to take, but I know there isn’t enough time, even if I spent 5 years in undergrad (and I’m finishing in 3.5). It seems like you want to be able to learn a wide variety of subjects. Here’s how I propose you go about it (and how I am going about it):
Take a bunch of intro classes. The toughest part about some of these subjects is learning the language and learning how to read the information as it is presented. A scientific paper is very different from a poly sci paper. If you have the foundation down and a way to learn new information then you will be able to learn about the subject well after you are done with college. With a solid math background you should be able to learn a lot of science and engineering on your own. With intro courses in econ, poly sci, and sociology, you should know the vocabulary and language of the subjects and be able to pick up books or papers and learn more on your own. History is very easy to read on your own and learn more about. My dad went to an engineering school for undergrad in India after a sceince heavy high school education. He didn’t have much history in terms of classes since he was maybe 15. However, he still knows a lot about history because he reads books during his free time. You won’t remember most of the information you learn from the courses you take in college. However, you will take the skills you gain from a college education with you for the rest of your life. Don’t worry that when you graduate you won’t be an expert on all of those subjects. You can’t expect to know so much information when you’re 22. However, set yourself up so you can learn whatever you want after college is over.</p>

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<p>I think the thing is, the answer to this is personal. Firstly, not all you learn is in a classroom – at that, not even everything academic. A lot of it, you have to get an intro in a classroom and then go read on your own. </p>

<p>But one thing I’d advise – do you have a way of organizing seminars with other students where you all get together and read about a special topic you’re interested in? It’s a common thing in the math world – something many graduate students do, and undergraduates probably should do more often. </p>

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<p>Sometimes, you have to go very deep into a subject before it’ll really change how you view the world.</p>

<p>Thank you for all the comments I have received so far. I guess I’ll address each person who has responded individually:</p>

<p>catsushi and mathboy98: I totally agree with you. I also think that it’s important to take advantage of the college’s academics and explore a wide range of interesting subject matter. For example, in high school I wanted to learn about the history of modern China because I’m Chinese. I did take the course in second semester. Now I can talk about Sun Yat-sen and the Great Leap Forward, which I was not able to do before I took the class. But for some reason I don’t feel too satisfied. I don’t think it’s so much a matter that I have just gotten an introduction (albeit a quite thorough introduction); maybe I feel disconnected from the subject matter because it seems to have little relation to my own life. It seems like the best classes are those that really are life-changing. They might not change your life in a huge way, but instead connects the subject matter to you. Perhaps that is what is missing.</p>

<p>Slight_Anarchist: Yes, I do get a sense that my courses are disconnected. Like, what connection does intro-level bio have with the history of modern Germany? I kind of have a theory that all this stuff is related to the Western tradition. Not to sound like a Eurocentric snob, but Europe has a significant impact on the history of the world. Not only that, but the way we study biology involves the scientific method, which developed in Europe, too. I think the way to approach the subject matter and try to connect them is to see them in the backdrop of the Western tradition. That probably has to do with why at Columbia, Contemporary Civilizations is a required course. It helps them connect the things they learn later (politics, philosophy, economics) to what they learned at first. The reason I’m not taking a course in Western civilization is because I already have the credits from AP European History.</p>

<p>BCEagle91: I definitely have the sense that I’ll never know everything I want to know. But if that’s the case, what do you think college schooling is for? I guess that connects to nontraditional’s post. And yes, I do think I should meet up with my friends more often. It’s just hard because of all the work. How do you reconcile wanting a very good grade and being a hard worker with having time for hanging out? I mean, I’m not busy 24/7 but my friends are always off doing their own thing, it seems like. I guess joining some group that meets regularly is a way to make more friends.</p>

<p>awb1989: I guess I did achieve most of my goals in freshman year academically. I got pretty good grades overall (B average, which was sort of expected). It’s just that what I learned didn’t really connect to me, even if they were things I really wanted to learn about. Socially, I did make a bunch of friends. Small class sizes that meet every other day are conducive to that, but I didn’t do a whole lot of hanging out. I feel that college is also about breadth, not just high school.</p>

<p>eliana: Thanks. I am thinking of majoring in mathematics. Actually, I’m like 99% confident that I’ll major in mathematics. I really like solving math problems. But for whatever reason, I’m not motivated enough to learn more of it on my own. Maybe because I’m interested in so many things, like reading Goethe, that I want to spend more time on that first. </p>

<p>nontraditional: Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Yes, I probably should stop expecting that Swarthmore will give me an education. I’ve sort of realized that an education isn’t something that a college gives you. It’s something that you have to do on your own. I am starting to think of college as a way to get the tools, as you say, to educate myself. But then how is college satisfying? I can’t see too far into the future, but it seems like I won’t be satisfied with just having tools. Is it really that great an accomplishment? I’m taking Chinese because I am Chinese and want to be able to go to mainland China and communicate with the people there. And I want to be able to read a Chinese newspaper. Not because of the skills acquired through learning Chinese, but just for the practical benefits. As for math, I’ve taken math my whole life, and I enjoy working out problems, and I enjoy learning how to compute volumes of strange shapes, and I like puzzles. I do not take math to get analytical skills. I guess there’s a conflict between, am I here to learn subject matter, or am I here to get the practical skills of thinking and writing and so on? I feel that I won’t be successful in college if I don’t get both. I just think that there are some things that everyone should learn in college. Like reading some of the “Great Books.” I’ve read very few, and I am not really having the opportunity to read a bunch of them in college. But at the same time, I want to read them and discuss them in college, not afterwards.</p>

<p>Venkat89: I would certainly prefer to learn about myself and how the world works in an intellectual conversation. But you really have to have read Mill in order to discuss his thoughts and connect it with yourself. I don’t think that intellectual conversations necessarily are deep and philosophical. But they should be about ideas. I know I can’t go very in depth in everything, but there are so many things I want to learn. The method you proposed is interesting. I do want to learn what I feel like I should know before I leave college.</p>

<p>mathboy98: I haven’t thought of that.</p>

<p>OP, if you want to discuss ideas, take a class where everyone will read about a set topic and discuss that topic. You’re at a good school, so a small discussion based seminar course of 15 students should have at least 5 who can hold a good conversation about the topic. </p>

<p>About a Mill discussion, I’m saying that you can have a discussion about Mill’s ideas without the other person knowing anything about Mill specifically. You can still discuss the same ideas and the other person will have an opinion about the material. I don’t see how a conversation about education can be weaker if you come forth with your own ideas and thoughts without any reference to some famous dead guy. Then again, I know nothing about philosophy and might be completely wrong.</p>

<p>Here’s an idea of what skills you should come out of college with:
How to read
How to speak
How to think
How to learn
Some idea of what you enjoy doing
A better idea of who you are
Maybe some marketable skill to get a job like programming, engineering, accounting, etc.
All of the above will occur while in college so long as you take an active roll in education except for the last one. To get a marketable skill, you have to go out of your way to take a course or two in that area, but aside from that, it’s not too much.</p>

<p>With a major in math and some intro courses in subjects with different vocabulary like biology or economics, you should be able to pick up a book at any time of your life and learn whatever your heart desires. The toughest part of learning physics is the math, and with a DiffyQ course you should be able to do that without too much trouble. The toughest part of learning history is getting through the dense readings, which you should be able to do if you’re really interested. I understand that you want to be able to discuss the stuff you learn while you’re in college, but I wouldn’t worry about it. You can join book clubs when you’re an adult, go to online discussion forums, and do other things to talk to people about things that interest you.</p>

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<p>I’d rather that than a socially inept nerd…</p>

<p>^There are how many thousand colleges in this country? If you include community colleges and junior colleges to that, most kids aren’t the smartest in the world and most are going though it for the degree and not really for the sake of learning like the OP.</p>

<p>I dont see your point. You basically just restated the quote.</p>

<p>^I think you’re missing the point I was trying to make. While “airhead” probably wasn’t the best choice of words, it still doesn’t change what I was trying to say. The OP wants some intellectual atmosphere and I was telling him that Swat would be a better place to find it than the vast majority of other colleges out there. Most are not at the level that Swat is at, so there wont be as many super smart kids who would sit and talk about philosophers instead of the NBA championships. I went on to say that Swat is probably a lot better than its peer schools, like my own, because at peers (like Penn) there might be a high concentration of really smart kids, but that still doesn’t mean that the OP would find what he’s looking for. </p>

<p>The schools I was referencing as places with lots of "airheads"were ones way outside the top 200 of so colleges and universities in the country. I’d say the majority of students at a school with an average SAT score of 1000 aren’t the best and brightest in America, would you?</p>

<p>Venkat89: You mentioned that there will be plenty of opportunities for me to discuss books in book groups and stuff like that. That’s true, but isn’t college really the place to do that? I mean, by discussing the “great” works of literature, one develops listening, reading, and thinking skills too. I looked through the course catalog last night and I found that there are a lot of courses that are all about some of the great books I had in mind. I’ll look further into those. Unfortunately, the survey literature courses here are only offered every once in a while. So if I wanted to read Homer, Shakespeare, and Cervantes, I’d have to take one class on Homer, one on Shakespeare, and one on Cervantes. Thanks for your help.</p>

<p>Your skill developmend doesn’t end after college. Sure, college is a great place to read and discuss great works of literature, but unless you’re an English major or minor, you probably won’t have room for too many of those types of courses. Just don’t get hung up on taking all the courses you want to in college and doing all the stuff you want to do. You have another 50+ years after college is over to read, learn, and discuss.</p>