“How do Indian engineering students utilise their free time in college? The answer is by doing nothing’.
We get a lot of free time during our college life but in most cases we fail to utilise this time period. The best thing to learn during our college days is to learn how to learn. Once you master that, learning of any skill becomes easier.
Learning is a never ending process. However, our default education system has some traditional learning formats. Colleges are a very crucial part of this system. We get a lot of time to explore ourselves, our interests and to learn new things during our college life. But the question arises, do we utilise our college time to the fullest? Probably not.
The transition phase:
The school to college transition is a very unique phase of our life. For the first time you start feeling the sense of freedom. It can result in both positive and negative ways though. However, the experience, learning and memories you get during your college life will always have a separate place in your memory lane.
Are you serious?
“So, you are advocating for studies, right? Should we just keep concentrating on only studies during our college life? Is college life not meant for enjoyment and all? You are just manipulating our minds. You have no idea what college life is all about”. Many of you might be thinking like this. Wait. Let me explain then.
A semester in general is of six months. In an Indian college, classes occur for hardly three months. Now you will say that those three months also get dedicated towards internships. You are absolutely correct. Forget those three months. Let's talk about the remaining three months then. Considering those three months when classes occur. What do you do basically during those three months except classes? I can guess the answer. So, you are getting at least three or four hours daily to learn some new skills. But you are wasting all this time by getting involved in some useless random stuff. That's certainly not a wise way to spend your time. Hope you have got an idea of how much time you are wasting.
The best thing to learn:
Now coming back to the track again. What were we talking about? Yes, we were talking about the best thing to learn during our college life. Let's continue then.
How to learn:
As I already said, the best thing you can learn during your college days is to learn how to learn. It's an artform in a certain way. Everything becomes easier when you know how to approach them. Nothing is tough actually. It's the attitude and approach that matter the most. College days are special. The best thing about college days is that you get a lot of free time. You don't have any kind of responsibilities in most cases. Where we are doing the mistake is not trying to utilise this free time. You don't know what kind of benefit you can get later if you utilise this time properly.
Learn, unlearn and learn:
We mostly hear this sentence whenever someone explains about growth. It's important. A filled glass cannot be filled again with water. Whenever you are trying to learn something, the first thing that is required is you have to consider yourself as a beginner even if you are aware of many things about that topic. Every teacher has their own style of teaching. I am talking about anyone who can teach here. You will feel bored or disinterested if you already assume yourself to know a lot of things. You may be highly knowledgeable. But assuming yourself to be one is toxic. It leads towards an egoistic attitude which is not a good sign at all.
I am not going to talk a lot about how to learn here. That will be out of this blog’s boundary. I will surely create and post another article of the same here. So, don't forget to subscribe us
Now what?
Once you master the art of learning, you are ready for the adventure. Countless skills are there to learn and master at. It totally depends on your interest though. However, I would like to suggest you to at least try a lot of different things during your college life. If it doesn't interest you, leave it; try another skill. This will only help you to find your likes and dislikes and who knows what will be your career choice after these four years. So, try to dedicate your time to at least three or four skills. One is for relaxation, one is for personality development, one is for fitness and one is for career. You won't regret it. That's a guarantee from my side.
Some skills you definitely should try to master during your college days:
1. Coding:
Coding is the future language. The world is changing rapidly. Technological advancements have changed the job market in a drastic manner. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are going to overpower a lot of jobs all over the world. If you don't have the required skills, you will be left behind in the race. You may not want to go into competitive coding, but at least you can learn web development, app development and algorithms as a side learning project during your college days. It will only help you in the long run. Many students think that they dont require coding knowledge as they are from non CSE branches. Many also think that they will learn it later if required. Both are extremely wrong here.
First of all, it's a skill and branches matter nowhere here. And secondly, you won't get any free time once you join a job. We pre assume that we will have a lot of tension free time once we enter any job. But the real scene is just the opposite. So, don't make this mistake of not learning coding during these four years. Ok, if you are not liking it at all, no issue; just leave it and try another skill. The main point here is that you shouldn't waste your time at all and for which you may have to regret later.
2. Public speaking:
Many of you may be introverted here, like me. Not an abnormal thing though. But people like us have to lose a lot of opportunities due to our introvertness and shyness. Nobody will know how talented you are just by looking at you. If you fail to show your talent and competence to the world, how will they know about you? Make sense? We know many people throughout our lives who get more attention, more respect and more acceptance in a social scenario even after being below average or mediocrite. I am not judging anyone here. Just sharing some facts. Why such a discrimination? No fault with the audience. No fault at your side too. But yes, you are lacking some skills. That's why you are facing such things. You always like to play on the back foot. You hesitate to answer the question the teacher asks in the classroom even after knowing the answer. This is just an example. Many more are there.
But how to overcome shyness and introvertness? See any fear can be won by confronting it. You fear speaking at the stage, attempt it more. What will happen? You may look awkward, you may look funny or you may stumble during your talk. No issue. Or in the worst case scenario, the audience may laugh at you if it consists of some losers. You don't have to think about that. Your aim is to overcome your fear, overcome your shyness and to be a good speaker. Just keep focussing on that. After some talks, you will be automatically better at public speaking and your fear and shyness will automatically disappear. Just try it. Don't stay back this time.
3. Writing:
Writing is a very unique kind of skill. It just connects yourself to the real you. But why college students? This is the phase when we start getting to know about ourselves, our likes and dislikes, what we feel and how we feel about anything. What does writing basically do? The process of writing requires a pre visualisation in your mind. For that you have to think. But this is not something like you click the ‘ON’ button and the light bulb starts illuminating. Our brain doesn't work like that. You have to read a lot of books, listen to a lot of podcasts to train your mind to think. This is not a one day process. This is where introverts win. Introverts are generally deep thinkers. They read a lot of books; definitely in the process of staying away from people. Extroverts can also be good at writing. No such discrimination here.
I would love to mark it as the best thing to learn during your college time. Having a good writing skill will help you in career, academics, life and you never know where else. This is such a unique skill
At first it seems difficult and it definitely is. You will have to struggle a lot to write an article for the first time. Getting the flow of words is really difficult at first. But just like any other skills and artforms, with consistent practice, you will eventually be good at it.