Posts Tagged: Don’t Be Stupid

Today’s guest post comes from author and blogger Dustin M. Wax, from his new e-book, Don’t Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying and Succeeding at College.

Special Offer: If you like this article and want to download the full e-book, use the code “BackToSchool” to get $3 off at checkout.

I’ve been a university student off and on since <whispers>the ’80s</whispers> and a university instructor for the last five years. In that time, I’ve had a chance to see over and over what worked and what didn’t, what separated the most successful students from the least successful ones — first, in the habits of my fellow students and then in the work of my students.

The #1 tip I’ve picked out of that experience is the one I chose as the title of my book: don’t be stupid. Now, I don’t mean “avoid possessing a low IQ” — I know you’re at least reasonably bright or you wouldn’t be in college. What I mean is, don’t sit back and wait for everything to fall into place. Don’t spend more time and energy looking for ways to avoid working and learning than you would just doing the work.

And most of all, don’t buy into the false distinction between college and “real life” — what you do in college matters. Of course, the stuff that matters most is almost never the stuff your academic advisor or the university handbook says is important…

At the day-to-day level, everything I have to say boils down to three things: (more…)