And yeah… engineering is insane, I have no idea why they make the courseload so heavy. I believe it is the heaviest of all the undergrad programs? Most programs won’t allow you to take more than 16 credit hours per term! Engineers should be so lucky.

When workload is totally outside your control I guess it’s only reasonable to acknowledge that there is only so much a person can do to keep up and/or excel. But I don’t think that is normally the case. IMO most people don’t really work that hard at school. It’s not that they don’t have enough time, it’s that they’d rather spend their time watching TV or getting drunk and didn’t have the foresight to take a lighter courseload.

And I totally don’t think everyone has to go to school or that getting A’s is the be all end all! *If* you want to do well I think my prescription is by and large going to be a reliable one. If you don’t care, then cool, do what you want. (But don’t bitch about your marks.) Academics is not the most important thing in life either – we would be greatly impoverished without the fine arts and skilled trades as just two examples. I guess I mainly think the best way to live your life is to give your all to the things that matter to you, to the extent that you are able, and to be nice to other living things.

At the same time, you’re on your own for the first time, and making lots of new friends that you want to spend time with. Add to that the realization that you can drink beer and/or have sex at any time without having to justify or explain yourself to anyone is not a conducive environment for developing self-discipline.

As for both working hard and having a balanced life – that can heavily depend on what degree you’re working towards. In engineering, to get every assignment done and attend every class would probably have been about 60 hours per week, bumping up to 90 during mid-terms, finals, and when big projects were due.

And I don’t skip the roses. Surely that is obvious? I spend a lot of time doing things I enjoy and I’m happy with my life. Working hard in no way precludes having a balanced life. That’s just a myth perpetuated by the people who think it’s a good use of their time to watch 4 hours of TV every day (that’s the US average). ;P

If your goal is “learn all I can,” then perhaps busting your colloquial balls is the way to go. However is there anything wrong with living a more balanced, less intensive life at the cost of a little knowledge, or a few grade points? The Academy is a joke in many ways, and if you have to jump through hoop X and Y at 80% to get the paper, that gets you the job you like, and money you need, why not smell the roses at 82% rather than run by them because you feel you should make the 95% hoop?

Where’s the absolute merit in doing ones best?

~I.

Sometimes it’s all about brilliant talent.

I know two brothers, both with graduate level educations in the humanities. Let’s call them Mark and Mac.
Mark is just more naturally gifted. Mac works his balls off. They once took an upper division UG class in Philosophy together. They followed their respective patterns, Mac killed himself with hours of research, revisions, edits, and polish, until it was the best paper he could produce. Mark looked at some sources, and intuitively made some startling connections, and wrote a better paper. Mark and Mac both ended up with A’s, in the course, Mac in the high 90th percentile, Mark in the mid nineties, because he couldn’t be bothered to do show up to all the class discussions. Mac’s attendance of course, was perfect.

I think Mac resents his brother to this day because Mark always manages to accomplish the same results and grades almost effortlessly. He didn’t work hard, got his degree, and moved into a well paying job where he can still not do a lot, effort wise and be lauded for his results. He’s just ahead of the curve, intellect wise.

I was friends with Mark, and intellectually we were in the same boat. I would often be puzzled by how stressed my classmates were as exams and papers approached. I didn’t quite get it at first. We had all been in the same lectures, they took notes, I didn’t. Surely they picked up all the information they needed to know. I blew through the texts, I saw the connections, why were they reading the chapter again? Why couldn’t they write like me? Why did their writing styles seem so mechanical and forced?

They just weren’t naturals.

I agree that people shouldn’t bitch about bad grades when they don’t work hard. Honestly though, some people do very well without working too hard at all. It took me forever to get up on water skis, I took a friend of mine out to the lake the other day, and he was up on the first try. A natural. Also, dumb as a post.

For the vast majority I’m sure it’s all blood, sweat and tears, but not for all.

~I.