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Surviving College With Gear And Sanity Intact?
Mshift2x writes "Like many others, I'm shipping off to college for the first time in a few days. I'm excited, nervous, and a whole array of emotions at the same time. I'm sure many slashdotters have gone through this already, and I'd appreciate any wisdom, suggestions, or thoughts the community could provide." More specifically, phrogeeb writes "Per our earlier Slashdot article on laptop lock insecurity, I've been looking around recently for other options as far as keeping track of my laptop and other semi-expensive and certainly valuable (for a college student) stuff in a dorm room setting. Any ideas? I'm looking for both laptop-specific and comprehensive solutions. Locks? Alarms? Video cameras? Trip wire? (A few serious suggestions would be appreciated.)"
Get Renter's Insurance. That way you no matter if your security fails or not, you can still replace your stuff.
lock ur door
Most campuses offer insurance policies for your dorm room. They aren't that expensive ($25-50) and will replace the gear if your stuff gets stolen. Granted it won't keep your stuff or data from being lost...but it will help replace it.
is the one the on your door. Virtually everyone I knew who had anything stolen from them freshman year in my dorm had left their doors unlocked or open - even for a second to go to the bathroom. If you have an incompetent roommate, then I'd hide your laptop whenever you leave the room - prefereably in your underwear drawer. Or better yet, take it with you and surf in class if you're lucky enough to have a 802.11b school (like mine).
In some way, this is good advice. If you are submissive (and a dick lives on your dorm floor) there is a chance you will receive some flak of good old frat-boy goodness. Be social, don't take shit, and you'll do well.
I know that people sell things like safes, etc. to paranoid college students, but honestly, don't waste your money. Take a few minor precautions (a laptop lock is a good idea for use in libraries where you're going to be up and about getting books and want to anchor your effects in a secure location) but basically you need to remember that, by and large, college kids are really stupid and naive, and they leave lots of expensive stuff lying around everywhere. It a criminal comes into your room trying to steal some quick booty, and doesn't see three iPods and a digital camera lying out in plain sight, he/she will go on to the room next to yours, where said items will amost certainly be in plain view on a desk. Lock your door; you'll be fine unless your college is in a really bad area. Also, for the love of god, lock up your bike. As far as more general advice, heck, I'm still figuring college out myself, but I'd say be open and don't slack off too much. Also, take advantage of what will almost definitely be the best library you'll ever have access to, no matter where you are.
If the dorm fire alarms at your school are anything like most, the freshmen will be spending quite a bit of time outside at 3am. Lock your door. Lock your door. Lock your door.
Laptop locks are handy, but not that secure, and you won't necessarily find the requisite lock receptacles on all desks or tables. You can tie it around a leg, but that's an invitation for somebody to walk by and snag it with a piece of clothing or something and have it crashing to the floor. Restrained, but broken.
The best idea is not to leave stuff unattended in places you don't trust. More often than not you'll be fine, but there's always that one time you go down the hall for a Coke.
A better idea is to get an inconspicuous little suitcase lock and put it on your backpack, or the pocket holding valuables. This may sound silly, but remember that laptops aren't the only expensive thing you have in there: laptops have serials and can be hard to fence. You're about to spend $400 on books, all of which at the beginning and end of the semester can be pawned for cash.
Finally -- it costs marginally more to add items like a laptop, PDA, etc. to insurance. Ask someone who plays an instrument; they'll tell you.
The topic says it all, really.
Don't leave your stuff out where just anyone can see it. Keep stuff within arms-length. Stay alert of your surroundings. That means don't jam to the music at full-volume, allowing someone to come up and jack your gear.
If your roommate seems like the type to take your stuff and pawn it, nip any possible problems in the bud. Lock up smaller valuables, talk to him or your RA, or move (if possible)
Consider what you actually need to bring. I personally have to have my entire material goods packed into a dorm room, but most people can leave stuff at home. Do you need to bring your diamond-encrusted iPod, or will the regular one do?
But, most of all, just have fun. Remember that it is all material goods. My CD Player in my car got stolen, but I left it in plain sight in Atlanta. My (more expensive) amp was safe, because it wasn't visible from outside, but it would have been easier to steal. You most likely will have problems finding girls to talk to than having stuff stolen. Unfortunately, I don't know nothing about that. You might need to go to another site....
1) Primary computer too big to be easily stolen
2) Laptop too crappy to be attractive for stealing
3) Roomate who had similarly expensive computer gear, hence there being a shared interest in protecting one's stuff.
4) Not letting my personal portable gear out of my sight.
5) Leaving unnecessary yet expensive crap at home.
No locks, tripwires, security cameras, security alarms, etc. were involved.
The real stuff that tends to disapear isn't your hardware, it's somebody nicking a CD or two, clothes that dissapear, etc. At this point in life, I probably would have left the CDs at home and stored them on my hard drive.
In fact, the main thing that walked off when I was in college was a leather jacket that dissapeared somewhere around move-out.
Also not that your posessions may be, either currently or optionally, covered by your parent's homeowner's insurance.
Oh yeah, and engraving your name on the really fancy expensive posessions.
Gentoo Sucks
First rule of dorm life: Don't go nuts on the 'sexy' looking hardware.
Everyone in the dorm will eventually walk by your door and catch glimpses of your computer/stereo/whatnot.
Don't go for a case with bling-factor-- get a nice subdued thing that screams "boring machine". Quiet cases are a godsend in small rooms--- I've built ten systems using Sonata cases in the past three days for college students.
Stereo wise (assuming you have a separate stereo)--- get the least obstrusive thing you can find. If it looks pricey, it's a target.
No one looked twice at my first generation Harmon Kardon equipment until the day I chose to escalate a Loud Music During Quiet Hours battle with some Carmina Burana. ( The Ormandy recording, for the curious.)
Second-- think before you start blabbing about how cool your hardware is.... you don't know if the people behind you in the line are going to be in awe of your hardware, or if they're going to wait till you go home for a weekend to break into your dorm room. I'm not saying you shouldn't be proud of your hardware (what self respecting geek isn't, anyways?)..... but for pete's sake, talk about something else at first, until you're able to discern if someone's an asshat or not.
I had a friend who got a laptop stolen. As he was also running a side business as an alarm installer, this pissed him off. So he installed the most ridiculously HUGE alarm system, everything you can think of...Then got his new laptop stolen because he didn't have it on.
What it really all comes down to is: Keep an eye on your stuff. Lock your doors, keep your valuable stuff out of plain sight.
A weird one: Where I went to school, if you lived in the better part of town, you were MUCH more likely to have your stuff stolen, even if you took precautions. If you lived in the "bad" part of town, you could leave your doors unlocked---and this is New Jersey we're talking here.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
This is good advice. Bring as little crap with you as possible. One, because there isn't much room in your dorm for it, and two, because you'd be surprised how little stuff you actually need.
As for security, as others have mentioned, a locked door is a good, low-tech solution. A roommate with cooler and more expensive gadgetry than you doesn't hurt either.
Later, once classes start to kick in you can start to distinguish yourself as the alpha-male of the technology realm. But if the first impression people have of you is a computer geek, then they won't bother to get to know you and you won't have an opportunity to know them.
"Oh dear, she's stuck in an infinite loop and he's an idiot" -Prof. Farnsworth (Futurama)
Ok... I don't know if you're a troll, but you have a good point. I hated high school. Not so much the learning part, but the people I had to go to school with. My parents always told me that 'it will be so much better in college because those people are usually too stupid to go to college.' Boy were they wrong. Those kind of people are the same ones that have rich parents.
MY rule for college (I'm still in it) is the same as it was in high school. You know the kind of people you like hanging out with. Stick with them! Since you're on slashdot, you're probably pretty computer smart, and you'd be AMAZED how many CoSci majors are really cool people.
I usually keep to a smallish group of friends. Makes staying out of trouble easier.
Not Free(as in beer). Free(as in "I'm free to beat you over the head for being a dumbass")
If you have high end flashy electronic devices to bring to class, don't brag about them being big time expensive, and hold on to them. Don't leave them on a bench in the library while you go look for books, keep them in your backpack and cary that around with you. If someone wants to give you trouble, and try to take your stuff from you just contact campus police--they should be easy to find(lots of schools have blue light thingys that will call them). Better to call campus police and look like a dork than lose a $3k laptop ;)
Boxing Equipment Reviews
you'd be surprised how easy it is to break into college dorms.
also, make sure you get a trustworthy roommate.
Most thieves are opportunists. Even a crappy Kensington lock will stop most thefts. Get one that you'll actually use and do so. It may not stop boltcutters or lockpicks, but it will cut your risk by 90%.
I'm not exactly a sage old man (I'm merely a sophomore), but there are some things I've learned: /., you're probably more interested in a college's academic program more than its party school ranking. It's a lot harder than what you're used to (and this comes from someone who blew off high school and was fine). Don't skip classes either, there's a lot of money invested in that 8 AM lecture (or 7:30 if you go to Purdue).
1) Dorms are your friend, and your home to friends: Regardless of what you're like, you're bound to find someone with whom you can hang out. Don't be afraid to knock on some doors.
2) Colleges have lots of neat convocations and clubs...join them and check things out. You'll probably try and join different stuff from the things you were involved in back in high school. I've switched from somone involved in band and speech to someone in fencing and our physics chapter.
3) Study. If you're on
4) Have fun. Your life takes on a whole new meaning, it truly becomes yours in a way that wasn't possible back in high school. Make the most of it.
You zap the moderators with a wand of humor! The moderators resist!
Everything. Especially the MAC addresses of all your devices. Most people who would steal a laptop wouldn't be smart enough to change it. When I was in college I would occasionally run into a student who had the foresight to do that. When they came in to report something stolen we could help them out. It's relatively easy to search a network for a specific MAC address and determine which ethernet port or WAP it's connected to. The only people who got their gear back did that, or got really lucky.
If you have a laptop, get insurance. I got burglarized my freshman year, although they didn't see the laptop under all my papers. They did find the playstation 2 though.
If you're worried about data lost, get an external firewire or usb 2.0 and a long cable and hide it away. They're not going to go through your stuff just to find where the usb cable leads to.
As for other matters that are far more important than any laptop:
Make new friends, but keep your old friends from home just as close. Friends from college are different than friends you grew up with. If you're computer science or computer engineer (I assume something along these lines since it's slashdot) make friends in your major. Stick together and do homework together. There's no need for competition and you'll connect with them on a specific level since they share your interests.
Of course, use the internet to find books. Go to the campus bookstore ahead of time, get the ISBNs and go to cheapesttextbooks.com and find the best deals. They search all the sites, like pricewatch, for the best deal.
And finally, don't underestimate the power of alcohol. It can make great friendships, but don't abuse it too much.
always lock it anyway.
if you locked the room, your roomate can't lock your keys in the room while you're in the shower, leaving you standing half naked and dripping wet waiting for your RA to unlock it and laugh at you.
Douglas P. Price
...or come finals time, you'll never get a moment's rest. And that is a serious suggestion.
Howdy.
but I have heard plenty of stories about people walking into unlocked rooms. ...and not just when they're not there.
I was up coding at around 5am one Wednesday morning my freshmen year when I some guy popped out of the bathroom and, seeing me, walked down the hall in the other direction. I didn't think much of it.
About 15min later I heard some doorknobs jiggling down the hallway where I couldn't see and I figured people on my hall were getting up. I was a bit shy back then so I shut my door so no one would know the lamer had been up all night (again).
Shortly thereafter the guy next door to me knocked on my door. He asked, "Hey man, were you just in my room?" I said, "No, why?" He told me he thought someone had just been in his room but I didn't know anything so he went back.
He came back to my room again saying, "Holy shit man, someone took my wallet." We called the police but by 7 AM it was clear nothing could be done beyond having me give a description of the guy I saw coming out of the bathroom.
Direct away from face when opening.
No, not the trunk of your car. A steamer trunk, a large rectangular piece of luggage commonly used before air travel was common. Keep it in the closet or at the foot of your bed, or use it as a coffee table. Keep valuables in it when you are there, and use it for shipping or storage when you leave. And lock it!
Thieves will look for something smaller, lighter, and obviously valuable before they tackle something big, heavy, and possibly containing only your winter clothes.
Don't bring it to class. You do NOT need a laptop in class just to take notes on. A pen and paper work just fine, or a small microcasset recorder to just record the whole thing. With very, very few exceptions, classes that require the use of a computer in class will be held in a computer lab.
Don't bring a laptop just because it's neat, as it's an invitation to have it taken. It you insist on having something elceltronic, a PDA is probably the way to go as it's cheaper and less obvious.
If you own a safe you just let people know you have something worth stealing.
Do your homework as soon as possible, the longer you wait the more homework will be stacked up with it.
Grades are determined on Friday Nights:
A students take notes from class and notes from chapter reading and combine them
B students take their notes and file them away
C students watch the D students start to drink.
College is about adapting
WoW: Scheod 70 orc warlock on Shadowmoon
Seriously. You can lock the door religiously, but you'd better damn well hope your roommate is just as responsible. I'm convinced schools do their best to create "odd couple" situations, so there's a good chance you're going to be sleeping next to some guy you'd never in a million years talk to or trust otherwise. I had a bit of theft at school, and it was all directly related to my club-kid roommate and his sketchy friends.
My advice? Don't own anything worth stealing. Buy a used laptop for a couple hundred bucks. It'll be dated, but it'll get the job done, and most important, no one else will want it (and if they do, buy another and you'll still be saving money.) Back it up religiously, hide your data in a few locations, get a webmail account and send everything you worked on that day to yourself nightly. Life is much easier if you aren't carrying a two thousand dollar laptop around with you at all times, and if you remember that your work is more important that your machine.
The same goes for other electronics-- get a cheap stereo, you don't need a nice one in a tiny room. Same goes for TV, Microwave, etc.
Yeah, your stuff will look like crap compared to everyone else's, but chances are it won't be stolen. And if you don't go nuts buying cool stuff you might have some money left over for socializing, which will put you way ahead of the game. You'll make more friends if you can afford to hang out than you would by having a nice computer.
Oh, and if people think you're weird or poor, tell them you like "retro" computers. That usually works.
The subject line there says it all. You're there at college, first and foremost, to better yourself.
/after/ you've done what needs doing. You're there to impress other people with your thoughtfulness and hard work. You do this so that they later on think of you when there is an opening where they work, or the little start-up they're assembling needs just your type of talent, or when they're the person doing the hiring.
Drinking, sex, love, gaming -- they are enticing distractions best taken in measured, infrequent doses. You can have fun
Don't allow yourself to stay depressed. Don't allow yourself to become bored studying. Don't fixate on what you miss about home.
Studying is hard work, and sometimes it's shit work. That's part of preparing for the useless drivel that your boss is going to require you to do after you graduate. Studying is like jogging for the mind. Sometimes it's very hard to get started, and then harder to keep going steadily.
Study, get plenty of rest, eat properly, excercise. Set a schedule for everything, then stick to it. Even schedule your recreation time. Be strict with yourself.
I really enjoyed college, and wish that I had studied harder. I fucked around waaay too much, and graduated with a 2.8 grade point average (plus two academic suspensions). I've learned more since college than I did in college because I've been trying to make up for the pointless laziness I had through college. If I had my act together, I would have been where I am now ten years sooner. I could've retired at age 45 with the investments I am making, but now I won't be able to retire early until age 55. Ten years squandered.
If you get the chance to study abroad, study at sea, or even join the Peace Corp, do it. Experience everything you can. You may think you know what you want to do in life -- but if you haven't investigated everything, how can you be sure?
Best of luck.
Do all the stuff you are supposed to do:
Exercise 30 minutes a day 5-6 days per week. Find people who want to exercise with you, and mix up your routine with fun things. This is, I think, the most overlooked thing at school. Exercise will give you more energy and a higher IQ.
Take vitamins every day, especially on the days you are hung over. Vitamins are pretty cheap, especially if they give you a little bit of an edge in avoiding sickness.
Drink lots of water. Drink 3 glasses of water right before you go to bed if you have been drinking, and drink another 3 when you wake up after drinking.
I presume you are going into a scientific or computational field. Make sure you have a firm grasp in math and physics before you jump into your other courses--these subjects provide the mental framework you need to succeed.
If you aren't already thinking about it, consider getting a minor in business, or try double-majoring in business along with your primary degree. Figure out the registration system, and locate areas of overlap in requirements for your liberal ed and major classes.
Do your homework right after class, and enjoy your evenings.
When you visit friends and family back home, do not try to show them how much smarter you are than them. Instead, try to understand what they are saying.
Get on a regular sleep schedule.
is that possible? I've got a good stock pile of booze in my server room. That shit is HVAC controlled to be 55 degrees. Beer stays cool enough to drink even out in the open *g*
<happiness>beer</happiness>
It's a simple solution that may not help if someone really wants to steal it (isn't much you can do about that other than locking it to something immobile... though that can just be cut in seconds if they have a bolt cutter). Stuffbak plus some lockdown would probably be good. That way when they steal it and can't use it, they'll return it for the reward ;)
OTOH, if you just leave it somewhere, Stuffbak alone does wonders.
I beg to differ... I guess I probably qualify as a pimple-faced teen (18, for the record, and off to college myself), but I've also contributed a lot to the Slashdot community: I'm a metamoderator and post constructive comments - or keep my mouth shut if I can't think of anything intelligent to say. (And, by the way, I am one of the people modding down the trolls around here, not posting them). There certainly are a lot of immature people on Slashdot, and it's always great to hear the perspective of, say, a thirty or forthy-something programmer with real experience, but you're giving young people less credit than we deserve. And um... I'm not sure why you're ashamed of being a "pimple-faced teen" - you are what you are, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Plus the acne clears up eventually. :)
(By the way, I know this probably is technically "off-topic", but I think it's still a discussion worth having, and this is an appropriate time as any to bring it up.)
why do you need porn when the real thing is readily available?
Respect yourself, value your time, do not help others with computer problems. Do not feel obligated. You will not get play from girls this way. Charge per hour, say you're too busy, tell them to go to student services and wait in line. Hours will go down the toiliet installing some stupid windows driver for people who will look upon you as a servant after you "helped" them.
Bring a crappy computer to school, use the computers in the labs where you can collaborate with others face to face. You'll stay on task better. Your classes are what you'll be judged by after graduation. Unfortunately the people doing the hiring will only look at your gpa, and will totally discount any IT skills gained outside of class in a college environment. Stop screwing around with linux and reading slashdot and do your scheme project and cpeg lab. If you were smart enough to pick up linux in high school you can catch up during the summers on changes during the school year.
Get to the gym get in shape, lay off the tripple big grille burgers in the student centers.
I'll add three: Get up Early. Do the homeworks. Work in the summer.
. html instead. It'll make getting up much easier.
Nobody gets up at 8am in college - be the exception. If you don't want a class first thing, get to the gym every day. It's a habit you'll thank yourself for when your thirty five and your waist measuement seems to want to progress with your age. Can't get up in the winter? Take the $130 you were going to waste on an MP3 player and buy a SunRizr http://www.lighttherapyproducts.com/products_dawn
Do your homework. 9 times out of 10 the tests are going to look just like the homework. Do every problem. You're paying $100 every time you walk into a class, you may as well be prepared.
Work in the summer, not during the school year. Work you @ss off at two jobs if necessary, or do a co-op program (work/school alternately, usu as an intern-type job in your field). School schedules aren't always a good match for work schedules, no matter how flexible the employer is. Focus on the school work, play when you have "slow" times, make money when you don't have classes to worry about.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
That isn't the case with me. I hated high school as well. Although there are lots of stupid people here at college, most times they don't get in your way like they did back in high school. You can't avoid all of them, but hey, that is going to be true throughout your life. But at college, there is enough space and enough people that you are not completely surrounded by morons and jackasses. You can still find them without too much effort, but you can also find a lot more really cool people if you try.
Whilst kensington locks are quite easy to bypass, they are an effective deterrent, although downright unneighbourly :) These can be modded with screamers if they are not removed correctly. But by and large they arent helpful and give the impression that you are an anti-social, anal retentive prick :)
:)
:) they are, after all, just gadgets and if they get nicked, you get the insurance upgrade without loss of significant data.
Perhaps a large, heavy piece of furniture with a robust lockable compartment; served me very well in my dorm days at uni (Swinburne UoT in Melbourne, Australia; go the Swine!!)
Furthermore, we mod. our laptops here at work to "phone home" whenever connected to the internet; this has allowed every stolen laptop to be recovered over the past 2 years. I wont go into details or our IT guys would kill me
Otherwise, backup important files and keep in a safe deposit box and insure the devices against theft
err!
jak
Do you know any universities that will let you keep a gun in the dorm?
There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
Locked doors are important, but unless your dorms use key-cards, master keys are probably in circulation. As a staff member, I had stuff stolen out of a locked desk drawer in a locked, private office in a restricted-access building. But that's no excuse to leave your door unlocked, just don't rely on this as your sole protection.
And now for my 8 simple steps to minimize loss:Most of the above apply equally well to other gadgets as well as notebooks.
--- A man with a briefcase can steal more money, than any man with a gun. [Don Henley]
There is better advice, but almost nobody takes it:
Own cheap expendable toys, buy them used, and don't waste your too-precious time and energy worrying about them. Put a dollar value on anxiety and add it to the price of any big-ticket items you are thinking of getting.
Then take all of that unwasted energy and put it towards having fun. You'd be amazed how much more fun life is when you aren't worrying about your possessions.
You are only someone's bitch when you are a TA. College professors don't even teach, they just get paid while TA does all the work.
You've hit the nail on the head. Have stuff that nobody wants to steal, or at least, that looks like stuff that nobody wants to steal, but that does the job good enough for you. And make sure you can live without it.
I had a crappy bike in college, but it looked really flashy. I left it locked up, but with a crappy cable lock. It got stolen.
I had a great bike that I built myself from an aluminum frame with a bunch of great components. I painted it with a tooth brush, and the handle bar tape looked like it had been put on by a monkey on speed. Don't even get me started on how old the leather bindings on the rat traps were. It looked like crap. I left it all over, unlocked. The only time anyone touched it was when the campus cops picked it up because it wasn't locked.
Most thieves, especially on or near a college campus, are looking for the easy theft and the easy sale. The want to grab something, unload it, and buy their booze/pot/coke/etc. So, don't make your stuff easy to steal, and don't make it look like it's worth stealing.
On a similar topic, don't ever buy something that looks too good to be true, either. It was probably stolen from someone else. People that buy stolen stuff are what cause stuff to be stolen.
BTW, emacs is the ultimate note taking engine. Abbrev mode and outline minor mode make it simple to get down the things your prof is saying in the correct structure.
1) Don't schedule 8:00 a.m. classes. Never. Not for any reason.
2) Go to class every session and sit in the second row. When you later have to argue/beg for a grade, it'll be much easier if the prof recognizes you. This will almost guarantee you a B.
3) Never fall into the trap of thinking that you don't need to know what one of your classes teaches. The only things I regret about my education are the things I didn't pay enough attention to, and now have to learn in a time when learning isn't my full-time occupation.
4) Buy a bottle on N-Acetyl-Cystine and take 2-4 before you go out drinking, especially on a school night. You will thank me.
5) Unless you're taking out loans to attend a private university, don't graduate too fast. You'll want to, by the end, but remember that the real world will always be there for you, whereas you'll spend the rest of your life remembering college fondly, even if you're happy with your family and career.
6) Try as many things as you can, it'll help you learn you who are.
7) Good luck.
Don Negro
Perl 6 will give you the big knob. -- Larry Wall
Amen on that credit card advice!!! Trust me, if you can't eat it, f*ck it, or drive it, you don't NEED it. There's the key....before you spend use credit to acquire a THING...ask yourself REAL hard if you NEED it, or WANT it. You'll likely be moving a lot in the next few years, the less stuff, the better. Wait til your out of school, more or less debt free, then spend the fruits of your labor on good stuff, not middle of the road crap that looks good and performs mediocre. Trust me....lesson that was personally HARD earned.
Gear -- Laptop security hardware
:)
Unless you bring your laptop to every class with you every day, or leave it in your car from time to time, your laptop will be out of your sight for several hours/day. As in, sitting on your desk where your roommate(s) and other dorm buddies might -- if they are the unseemly type -- consider stealing it and selling it while you're gone. In this case, no laptop security hardware will save you -- time is on their side, and your hardware, at best, is a lock strapped to a probably-wooden desk.
That said, a laptop lock is still better than nothing, and for that reason, is worth the investment.
Mostly though, I wouldn't worry *too* much about physical security unless your roommate is untrustworthy. Of course, you won't know that until you've lived with him/her for a few weeks, will you?
Now my other subject:
Sanity -- Self-discipline, time-management, and happiness
Here are my 3 main tips:
1) DO NOT SLACK OFF LIKE IT'S YOUR SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL, EVEN FRESHMAN YEAR. Your GPA is King if you want to go on to grad school, med school, law school, etc.. That said, you really only need a minimum of a 3.1-3.2 or so to get into grad school or law school. Med school is harder though.
2) DO NOT SPEND ALL YOUR FREE TIME LEARNING LINUX/*BSD IF YOU HAVE NEVER HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THESE OS'S. They will eat up all your free time (compiling god knows how many libraries you also have to download first, manhandling config files, reading poorly-written documentation, etc.). Learn them over time, but do not live them as I did. OSS is a very small subset of life.
3) DO NOT GET (too) BIG INTO THE CAMPUS LAN-GAMING AND WAREZ SCENES. Warez is too legally-risky these days, and besides, it requires lots and lots of manual searching; Google doesn't cut it here, and thus it takes lots of time to get the philez you want. It usually isn't worth it.
Welcome to the reasons I voluntarily dropped out of a major, well-funded, well-respected 2nd-tier science/engineering university, and will now be finishing up my degree at a shitty, underfunded 4th-tier liberal-arts state school.
Oh, and one more:
4) Don't fall into the "I wanna be a God admin/coder" trap and ignore women (or men, if you prefer) and dating for your 4 years of college. This has been the biggest reason I am a bitter, unhappy man in my early-mid 20s. I am only just now learning how to date women, and am still a virgin. [1] Most guys (about 73%) get laid by the time they're 18. Me? I might as well be a hardcore loony-bin Christian straight-edger waiting until marriage for sex, so far as I count, statistically.
I have a monetarily-successful life (almost certainly) coming to me in spite of all of the above, because I have managed to determine and pull myself up from my failings, but in doing so, like I said, I'm as bitter and unhappy a man as anybody I know.
I have discovered after years of soul-searching that money isn't everything (and if you read my previous posts, you will find that I am a diehard believer in the free-market, and resultingly, money transactions). Friends, love, laughter, and the free time and freedom to choose your own path in life are. Of those, my life is sorely lacking the first 3 (of any quality, at least). Money makes all of those things easier to obtain, and it makes those things go more-smoothly and easily. But money is the means, *not* the end...
Don't waste the most-vital years of your life geeking-out like I did. Go out, party, get drunk, get laid every weekend. Do your homework too, and if you're in CS or Engineering, you may well have to sacrifice a party or two to do the assignments, but what I have just described is a far-better balance than I have achieved the last 4 years in school.
Work hard during the week, and party hard on the weekends. That is how co
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?
Try to apply this to more than sex. If you're going to a good school, people are doing a lot of freaky cool stuff. Get involved, and keep an open mind. Don't give into conformity when it comes to any group, jock or geek- try a lot of things out, figure out what you like, and persue it.
If your college doesn't have lots of crazy/cool/fun stuff going on, and you aren't finding anything you really enjoy, transfer, take a year off, or at least find some new friends. It's a big world and there are lots of options, so don't squander your time doing the same old BS. Find a way to grow, learn, find talents you didn't know you had, whatever.
2. Class. A good education is important, but don't let it interfere with #1.
Actually, yes- class is very important, but never let your schooling get in the way of your education. Focusing too much on grades and toeing the line can make you miss out on truly educational experiences. Learn everything you can from wherever you can. Work hard on your classwork, work hard on your social life, work hard on your soul. And remember: Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
3. Network. Not TCP/IP, but people. Every job you get in the future is going to be because of who you know, so get to know a LOT of people. Get to know them well so they don't forget you.
True. Knowing people can be a great resource. Also, learning how to deal with people can be a great resource, and college is a good time to practice on a wide variety of people. Ignoring all that, knowing lots of people and staying pretty much on people's good side will make college a lot more fun, whether it's useful or not.
4. The Law. Graduating from college doesn't erase your law record, so don't get arrested.
In other words, a little mischeif makes for good memories, but keep it light and harmless. One really bad mistake can screw your life up for several years, so just try not to get into too much trouble.
5. The Dollar. You are going to get a lot of offers for credit cards. Credit cards are not 'free money'. If you can't pay cash for it, and if you haven't managed to save enough money to buy it in the last 6 months, what makes you think you are going to earn enough money in the next 6 months to pay for whatever you are considering putting on plastic? Graduating from college doesn't erase your credit history either, so don't screw it up.
Not really going to add anything here. I just quoted it for repitition. This is one you can't hear enough.
7. Take a few classes for personal enrichment.
I have to shout this, being slashdot and all: DON'T JUST TAKE COMPUTER/ENGINEERING COURSES! Take some philosophy, psychology, literature, etc. You know, useless stuff. Read some Plato. If you don't like it, find me in the forums, I'll talk to you about it.
This hooks in nicely with my adaptations of #1, #2, and #3. College should be opening you up to new things. Try things you don't know about. Make friends with good people you don't understand. Take classes about interesting topics that are over your head. Learn a musical instrument. You'll be glad you did.
Most of all, have fun. If you don't like what you're studying, then what you're studying is preparing you for a career that you won't like. Find something you love, and study that, and you'll figure the rest out later.
What else... what else...? Ok, I can only think of one more thing. Don't believe everything "smart people" tell you. Smart people can be wrong too, professor or not. Stupid people can be right. Like I said before, keep an open mind and learn whatever you can where you can. If someone says something you don't understand, don't just assume he's right and you don't understand, and don't just assume he's wrong, and therefore not worth paying attenti
Amen - if you think late-teen / early-twenties women are hot, wait till you catch up to the 40yo single women. In a nutshell,
/. today...
- many remember their wilder younger days, and want to relive them after a marriage/relationship ends
- many/most know what they actually enjoy, and will happily tell you if you ask (unlike many 20yo women)
- give them what they want, and they'll give you what you want, almost without exception. Again, big difference from many 20yo women
- financial independence is a wonderful thing!
Best of all, the tables are almost completely turned from when I was ~18. Then, my sex drive was sky high and I would do just about anything to get laid. Now, my sex drive is (relatively) under control while theirs is sky high; hello, home-cooked dinners and fully catered TV football games with your mates around!
Now I'd better make a call to ensure *someone special* doesn't read
Document everything you own and KEEP THE RECEIPTS! Document the expensive contents of your dorm room. Note serial numbers of everything. If something does get stolen the cops will need the serial numbers. That is they will need it if you ever hope to get it back, ever. Most of the more reputible pawn shops will call the local PD to see if an expensive item that's been brough to them to pawn is on the cops' hot sheet. Without your S/Ns and descriptions the only way you'll ever get your items back is dumb luck, pure and simple. Have a copy added to your dorm's Housing and Dining file (with the contract and whatnot). Photos might be useful too.
Keep your doors locked. I know it sounds silly but keep them locked. Even if you're just running down to the crapper for 5^h10^H^H15 minutes. Make sure your roommate understands your concerns and locks the doors when he leaves too.
Make friends. Make friends with the folks on your dorm floor. This will be your best defense against theft in your dorm room (except for the 20,000-volt electric fence around your desk). You might not be the type to make friends easily but try. Your friends will keep an eye out for each other. Way back when I was in the dorm my friends looked out for my stuff like I did for their's. We always took note of new people walking down the hall (especially if they were hot chicks... :-) ). Friends are your best defense against theft.
Don't take an expensive computer to the dorms unless you have a room to yourself. Keep it simple. Wait until you move off campus to build a billy-badass computer. You could also put your kick ass computer in a piece of shit looking case. Use duct tape and primer on it. Make it look like a complete piece of shit. The goal is to make people think it's not worth stealing and pawning. Hell get yourself and old circa-mid-80s IBM case and retrofit it to hold your new dual Xeon mobo. Call it physical security through obscrutiny. It might work. *might*
You might not be able to keep someone from stealing your computer but you can always catch them in the act. Get yourself an ultra-slim and silent computer anda digital camera. Hide both units and aim the camera(s) at the door and computer. You just might catch a face. It's always possible.
Funny story....my roomates friend hooked up with Robert Norton's daughter over the weekend. He was telling us, and said "It would be pretty ironic if she gave me a virus." I was laughin for like 5 minutes solid.
Who the heck is Robert Norton?
Or have we collectively forgotten how to handwrite?
For 1.
be careful also.
Just because someone can afford to go to college does not mean they are clean. I'm not talking about AIDS, most people are tested for that. I'm talking about genital warts, herpes, and other fun STDs.
A freshman girl came to school last year without being tested, and spread HPV (genital warts) to 9 other people, which then fanned out to probably about 30 at this point. Numbers are one in two or one in four of the people you meet at college will be exposed to HPV. Then if you are a responsible partner, you will have to inform other partners before hooking up with them. If you aren't, well then you don't deserve to have sex knowingly spreading a possible cancer causing illness.
And avoid sleeping with anyone on you hall. It probably wont last, and it makes things weird.
1) Don't get drunk. I'm not saying don't drink, but don't get drunk. I believe the statistic goes that 1 in 5 girls are raped in college, and that alcohol is involved in most of the cases. Besides, don't you want to remember your fun and sexual experiences? I'm glad I remember mine.
2) Don't accept drinks from others or leave your drinks behind and pick them up later. I don't care if s/he's your best friend, turn it down and get your own drink. Doesn't matter what time of day it is. Be careful. If this doesn't make sense to you, reread #1.
3) Read "The Debt-Free Graduate", "You Are Smarter Than You Think!", all college advice books, and anything by Patrick Combs. Good advice there. Check them out at your college library or at the college bookstore. I ran into these my fifth year of college, and I wish I had read them sooner.
4) Major in your passion, not what your parents or teachers suggested you major in. I majored in Computer Science and I don't regret it. Unfortunately, I majored in it too late in my college career, and it didn't work out, so...
5) Always have a backup plan when things don't work out. If you end up not majoring in your passion for some reason, at least come out with a degree, even if it's a Bachelor in General Studies.
Hell, I'd even say that if you can't eat it, wear it, or study out of it (textbooks!), you don't need it. Forget about fscking it or driving it. Gas is too expensive, and everything you could need should be in walking distance of campus.
Besides, who has time to go fscking things in college?
Haec merda tauri est. Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
You do realize you've just depressed the hell out of all the geeks out there who will never have sex in college...much less in life.
There's a silent majority of people for which sex doesn't play a major part in their life. For one reason or another, mostly looks and the inability to socialize, there are some who will go their whole life without the sex you describe as "freaky". I've longed for "freaky" sex with a hot college chick all my life, thing is, now I'm old enough to be their dad. If I were you, I'd simply shut the hell up about how great sex is in college, because it pisses the hell out of us who don't get it to no end. Keep your sexual acts to yourselves. It just isn't good for a person to know about the enjoyment other people are having.
So piss off!
Do not go home for the first month. Same goes for your laptop. leave it tucked away for for that first month. Attend the social events and get to know a few classmates. You social contacts you make the first few weeks will reward you over and over again.
And the less you talk about computers the better.
Or you can be the savior the first week removing spyware and viruses and installing network cards for other students in your dorm/classes.
Im a gamer, not a grammer major. This post is full of spelling and grammer mistakes.
High school kind of sucked for me too. But sticking with a small group of friends is going to come back to haunt you later in life. Even if you're the smartest guy since the guy who invented sliced bread, it's networking, networking, and networking that opens doors. And no, I don't mean the kind of networking with packets and frames.
So most people around you are stupid. So what? I did my undergraduate degree at a school where many of my classmates and friends were people who got into MIT but couldn't afford it. You know who I wished I could have met? A good plumber, and a good electrician. Lucky for me, my family is already good friends with an auto mechanic, or I'd want to meet a few of those too. These people may not be brilliant, but like most other professions, they are good people and bad people in the field. Find the good people, and help them out when they need it, and they'll return the favour.
It's not hard to network. You like computers. Is that all you like? What about (for example) gourmet food? Why not join a dining club? Sure, the members might not be the brightest of people when it comes to computers(or even other subjects), but some of them might surprise you with the breadth of knowledge they have on their favorite dishes. Or perhaps its old movies you like. Then find a film club and share your interest with others. You don't have to be the best of friends with these people, but if they can at least like and respect you, and you maintain contact with them, they'll bring opportunities to your doorstep, as you will with them.
Hey, I admit it. I learned a heck of alot about computing at my university's ACM Chapter, and as a Computer Scientist, I found that valuable. I also learned about debate and dispute mediation by competing in the Model UN, and about how fiscal decisions were being made by attending Student Government Finance Committee meetings (which were open to the public, and which helped me figure out how to get more money for the clubs I liked). The lessons I learned, and the people I met in each are valuable in different ways.
I must concur with your last point, though. CompSci majors are really cool people.
Some more rules:
Never love a woman more than she loves you.
Never go down on a woman before she goes down on you.
If you get to her belly-button and you can smell 'it' - make a u-turn.
A drunk puke is a happy puke.
A happy puke is when you pinch your nose.
This won't help with the car, but it may help someone who needs to get a credit card. Get a secured credit card, where you have to lock $600 into your bank account, in order to gain $500 worth of credit. (This means you keep $600 in your bank account at all times. Plus you need other money to pay credit card bills.) When I was in university, the bank wouldn't give me a credit card because I didn't have a job or a student loan. (Just a bank account plump with scholarships and summer job savings.) So I convinced them to let me have a secured credit card. As I proved my worthiness, I was able to get a line of credit when I graduated, allowing me to buy a car...which I paid off in under a year. Now the bank loves me.
-- SYS 64738 --
Sex. Women do all their freaky stuff in college, so have an open mind and hit as much of it as you possibly can. Buy a big box of condoms and some good lube (google for 'millenium id').
:(
I really don't understand how so many people are totally care-free about having casual sex. I fully acknowledge that I'm paranoid, but I'm scared to death of getting my girlfriend pregnant, and this is despite being extremely careful and having a really trusting relationship. How on earth do you people not go mad worrying that you might have gotten a girl pregnant from one of your wild and crazy flings? Supreme trust in condoms? Knowledge that abortions are easy? I just don't get it.
I'm worried that I won't be able to enjoy sex care-free until the day (if it ever comes) that I truly want to reproduce.
Also, the hot chicks are all taking Psych or Sociology.
Speaking from experience, both recent and remote, the parent is both oh so right and oh so wrong.
NEVER date a psych major. I would seriously recommend staying away from the discipline entirely as the temptation is usually irresistible. I'm convinced they learn stuff in those classes you couldn't learn from navy seals interrogation training.
I have no idea about the Sociology majors, but I do highly recommend entomology if you can take some of those classes. I've met many a very cute, super-cool bug-loving girl in my day, and have found their worth and demeanor to be much more reliable.
Of course, most generalizations are crap, but the thing about crazy Psych majors stands up to the test of time. Do yourself a favor and run like hell when that cute psych student starts making eyes, you may end up a research subject.
Of blankness, I know nothing.
And was it fun? No. I have major regrets on that, because I alienated a bunch of people I really liked/loved. And besides that, I'm relieved that I didn't get any freaking disease related to both. Whatever religion you're after, whatever parents you have, it/they will probably teach you to be careful with sex and alcohol. There's a logic behind that.
8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
This is mainly reiterating what has gone before, but I would advise that you buy a desktop computer rather than a laptop. Take lecture notes with paper, though not at the cost of listening to the lecturer. As soon as possible after the lecture transcribe your notes to your computer. The act of transcribing them forces you to reread and think about them while the lecture is still fresh in your mind.
Partying advice: Alternate soft and alcoholic drinks. Always have at least one drink fewer than the person you are trying to chat up. Party with as many different people and in as many different styles as you can over the course of the year. Never worry about not being cool enough to go to any particular party; it's staying in your room that's not cool.
Security: As has been said, always lock your door and make sure everything is insured.
Those who do not learn from Dilbert are doomed to repeat it.
All these "laws" presuppose wealth... is this intentional? or is this only appropriate for those who have their uinversity paid for by their parents?
When did I start to hate people who enjoy their life?
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Easiest way to throw college down the crapper is becoming a father by sophomore year. Remember, condoms have an average 3% failure rate. So if you get laid only once a week for a school year, chances are at least one time you'll be playing Russian Roulette with either the girl's cycle or how well she sticks to her contraception schedule.
Yes, it can happen to you. I knew a few people in college who got seriously messed up this way. The risks, even with chemical contraception, are still much higher than the possibility of getting pegged by the RIAA.
It's an individual's decision if they want to take that risk. But I think that it's not wise to advocate four years of fucking everything in sight, but not explain the real risks and consequences of doing so. Flash forward to junior year when you're standing face-to-face with the parents of their little 19-year-old pregnant freshman chick. It happens and I personally know people it has happened to.
Thank you very much for saying that... it's posts like these that make me regret opting out of moderating. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I am actually going to university for the education, not for the glorified brothel.
First, you have to understand the psychology of the thief, and them make him NOT want to steal any of your stuff.
The simplest way is to make it not worth their while, and I personally think the fastest way is with a can of spraypaint and some artistic licence.
Ever wanted to spraypaint your deck cool camoflage colours just like the 'leet Hackers in That Film With The Cute Girl? Go ahead! You'll screw it up, repaint it silver, get funny bubbles on the case where the paint reacted with the plastic, and accidentally wipe off the key labels with acetone... and then your gear will be completely unique, instantly recogniziable, and often unsellable at pawn shops.
The more beige and standard your gear, the more likely it will get nicked.
My laptop got "stolen" (possibly by someone I knew) some years back, and turned up a few days later under a nearby tree. It was covered in unique PsiCore stickers, and whoever had "borrowed" it had failed to even get past the linux login prompt... CLI's are another great theft-prevention device.
Some final words of advice, since many, many other threads seem to be filled with hints on how to have Frequi Sex with Crazy Girls...
1. Never forget: Safe, Sane, Consensual.
2. Everyone else in University is having a LOT less sex than they say they are, or you think they are. (Trust me on this.)
3. The ones that tell you they're having sex don't realize how badly they're doing it. (One night fumbles simply don't compare to a lover who knows you well. Trust me on that too.)
4. Crazy girls are fun, but they're still crazy.
Jeremy Lee | Orinoco
So, let's make some assumptions. First, you are going to use a condom because of concern over STDs. She is going to be on the pill because she wants to finish her education.
Condoms, when used properly have about a 3% failure rate per year.
The pill has about a 1% failure rate per year.
I would guess that many sexually active college girls are will to have an abortion.
So 1% * 3% * 50% = 0.015%
Now this means roughly that you could fuck like bunnies for 100 years and have about a 1.5% chance of having a child. Or you could have 100% chance of years of sexual frustration.
So, my advice is this: experiment a little but be smart. Combine two good birth controlo options -- you end up with *REALLY* favorable stats. Learning to face up to calculated risks is part of growing up. I don't mean to belittle you at all. There a lot of people who should know better who don't and spend thier lives worried that they're going to get carjacked when it's more likely that they'll die in a household slip and fall.
BTW, I'm getting old. I don't regret *ANY* of the women that I shared sex with. I do regret a few that I didn't.
You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake -- but you could be if you got off your ass.
"Or you can be the savior the first week removing spyware and viruses and installing network cards for other students in your dorm/classes."
That is great advice! Volunteer as a "network admin support" guy at your dorm. My friend got laid so much doing this it wasn't even funny. More importantly, he met lots of really cool people who had interests other than computers. That got him a lot more in the long run than just getting laid...like jobs and different experiences he wouldn't have gotten hanging out with all engineers and CS majors.
bkr
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
Don't panic, man. You should thank God you've been saved from all the hassles, fights, distractions, embarassment, emotional trauma, guilt, regret, diseases, pregnancy, financial burden, and other ripple effects that could have totally wrecked your life.
I have discovered after years of soul-searching that money isn't everything.
Perhaps, in a few more years of soul-searching, you will discover that sex isn't everything.
Patience... There is a time for everything.
There is a time to have sex,
there is a time to not have sex.
Life will reward you for waiting for the right person and the right time. It will curse you for acting foolishly. That's why it's so important to remain sober-minded - so you can make decisions that are truly in your best interest. Consequences, my friend. One stupid move could ruin your life.
7. Take a few classes for personal enrichment.
I can't agree with this advice more, though I will add that if it's possible, get a second major in a different an area you like as well. I went to college to get my physics degree, but also picked up a sociology degree because I really like the classes and the teachers. The reason I suggest the major is it gives you something concrete to put on a resume to show that you are a diversified person. My physics degree will get me a job, but that additional sociology degree catches peoples' attention and has helped me stand out.
Plus, it was nice to go from classes where there were only two girls out of twenty students to classes where I was one of only three guys out of fifty students.
-Colin
My freshman year, I lived with 3 guys that were basically married and had "TC Syndrome" - TOO COOL. They were too cool for the 'dorks' on our floor. Too cool for the ugly girls. Too cool for the fat girls.
Let me tell you something, kids. You are NOT too good for anyone. Everyone out there has something good to offer. That fat girl? Not only does she end up being really fun to hang with, but she has some HOT friends. And guess what -- those hot friends will LOVE you when they realize that you're a good dude and you can proudly hug the big girl in front of everyone.
Don't limit yourself. I would do anything - ANYTHING - to have my freshman year back. Don't conform. It took me 2 years to make up for all the friends i should have made as a freshman. Don't conform.
And also, to the original ask-slashdotter - assuming you're a computer nerd, don't get mad when people want help from you... but make sure you let them know that it'll cost you a 12-pack - 6 for you, 6 for them, and then go out with them. What a great way to make friends.
God I'd kill to have it all back. I'm now about to enter my 5th and final year, and i'm calling it "Freshman Year Part II" - doing all the stupid things (without getting arrested... i kinda want a job) that I should have done freshman year. Don't waste it.
PS: If you do turn into a party animal like i have, then do your schoolwork early in the day so that you can go out at night. Party animals who procrastinate too don't make it in college.
Sleep, Grades, Social Life -- CHOOSE TWO.
Berto
#1. Party: Socialization will be very important in your future work. Be a geek, but be a geek that parties. Get drunk on weekends. Have some girls without paying money for them.
#2. Projects: Practice is the best way to learn. Go to class, take a few notes, then try to pratice. If your graduation is close related to computers this is even more easy. Usually professors always have good projects in which you can participate, talk to them.
#3. Enough grades: This item depends on what the market expects from you. Talk to several empleyers and try to discover what is enough for them, keep your self a little bit above the enough. If you focus too much in grades, you won't be able to focus in other more imporant things.
#4. Parents: Don't ever forget your parents. They are working really hard for you to get this opportunity. Always thanks them, and always visit them. Respect your parents, and raise your kids to respect them, and respect you.
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?
I'm sitting here reading these replies and thinking how sad it is. Every school is different but I can tell you there are still many schools out there where crime is very rare. My freshmen year I went with security at the top of my mind. I had a security cable and full cabinet for my pc, a secure box for other gear, etc. My roommate and hallmates turned out to be my best friends in the world. A few weeks after moving in, all that security seemed more then a bit lame and bite-in-the-ass. By my senior year we lived in a house with no locks on the door, hell, people coming in and out at all hours, huge parties, the works all with a number of PCs, a unix (real unix not linux) box, laptops, nice stereo gear, and more and never had a single thing stolen. Use your head but still trust your neighbors. And most importantly, enjoy these four years (strike that, make it 5 or 6), works is nice but a lot less fun then college....
I would just like to echo and affirm all the warnings about staying away from credit cards. It is really quite shameful, but as a freshman in college you will be inundated with credit card offers. Do yourself a favor and just say no. I know you'll be tempted, but trust me when I say that debt is like a black cloud hanging over your head. Even if you can make the minimum payments (and then some) without difficulty, being in debt still sucks. IMHO the only things worth going in debt for are a home and a reasonably priced car. If you ignore my advice and get the credit card anyway, try to follow this rule: don't charge things like food and gas, only charge durable goods. When you have a big pile of debt you need to at least be able to look at something (such as a big screen TV or a nice laptop) and be able to SEE why you're in debt; however with things like food, you have nothing to show for your debt.
Then GET OVER YOUR BITTERNESS ABOUT YOUR LIFE and realize that there's always going to be somebody richer and somebody poorer than you and learn to deal. You are going to be working your ass off after graduation, and you know those parents you "sucked at the teat" from? Well, eventually they get old and need somebody to take care of them.
Life lesson number one right here, asshole: my mother developed cancer 3 and a half years ago. Guess who's been taking care of her since, paying the bills, managing her finances, and now taking time off from work to spend with her? That's right, the "asshole" who sucked on her teat. I'm sorry that so many people around here seem to have no idea of what it means to be a family or how to take care of each other. That must be a sad way to go through life. I hope you don't treat your children the way you were treated by your parents.
A postgrad chemistry student friend of mine told me of something that happened to a colleague of his (another postgrad in the same department). He'd turned up to the department, nice and early, ready for a solid day's work on whatever it is chemistry postgrads do all day. Locked his bicycle up in the rack in the departmental car-park, in full view of the prep room.
Came back at about 6pm, to find bike missing. Wanders around for a bit, double-checking that he hadn't locked it up somewhere else and forgotten. Gives up and knocks on window of prep room. Technician wanders over and opens window.
``Hi - what's the matter?''
``My bike's missing - you didn't happen to see anyone dodgy hanging around out here today, did you?''
``No... sorry.'' replies the technician.
``Wait, there was that guy at about 2...'' interjects his colleague, who's just wandered over.
``Oh. No... surely... Erm... Oh...'' replies the first technician.
``What guy?'' asks postgrad cyclist.
``Well, there was one guy earlier on, who was having a lot of difficulty with his bike lock - keys were stuck or something. So we... erm...''
``Yes?'' enquires cyclist.
``We... lent him some tools...''
Sometimes even sensible precautions are no match for a confident thief who looks as though he should be doing what he's doing.
That's just a great idea. You can't keep a PC under control, but somehow having a firearm is going to make everything better. What a mentality. No offense ;)
Firearms on a campus? That's a stupid idea! Remember, a firearm is built to injure or kill people, nothing else. A campus is not the place to carry one around, it's not a place where your life is in danger. Guns and exams don't mix well, either.
Personally, I've sworn to myself I will never touch such a thing. You don't need one either.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
I lived off-campus, renting a room from friends of my parents. They were an older couple who valued their peace. This meant that:
I still managed to make lots of friends, despite missing out on the whole dorm experience, by joining clubs and lurking at various related hangouts, so I wasn't an anti-social loner or anything. But it saved my sanity to have a place I could go and get away from the noise.
Disclaimer: I'm somewhat introverted by nature (in that I need to be alone to recharge) and I'm not a party animal. This worked for me but it really depends on your personality.
On the other hand, I spent most of my non-sleeping time on campus so I don't think it would have been a problem for me were I an extrovert, nor do I think I missed out on campus life in general. It was just where I slept and kept my stuff.