What I Learned In Boating School Is:

You learn something (or ten) new every day. What this first semester at NYU taught me, more than anything else, is that communication is the number 1 determinant of success. Email and Skype with your classmates and teachers; form study groups and go to your professors' office hours. Show up to every goddamn class, even if you're tired. You'll at least retain SOMEthing about what's going on, and as long as you stay up-to-date, you can't do poorly. I'm not lecturing, here; these are things I picked up only because I did the exact opposite at the beginning of the term. BHere's the coolest part of this communication thing: you can leave feedback for your profs, and they LISTEN! I give weekly feedback to my French Professor, and it's the best class I'm taking right now. Do I get THAT big of a kick from learning French? No: I put time and effort into the course because I know that I have some control over how it's taught. Beyond French, I'm taking a Precalculus class that's being taught by a first-year Prof AND newbie TA's. Because they didn't get constructive feedback from ANY of the students enrolled, they came close to flunking everyone - myself included. Are they sadistic? No: they had unrealistic expectations for undergraduate freshmen. On Tuesday, the prof, several of my classmates and I will sit down before our lecture and discuss the 2nd midterm. We expect to either have the test curved (as in normalized - none of this 'extra points' crap) or have a game plan for the final. For Writing the Essay and Proust, I have no complaints. I've been in contact with both teachers since day 1, and subsequently I've never had a problem with them. All that to say; talk with everyone you can in class, and talk constantly. You will not seem annoying or rude to anyone, and more often than not, you'll be saying what's on the minds of many in the class. It's not easy to speak out in these situations, especially for introverted personalities. Even so, trust me on this one: everybody wins. - Cameron Beaudreault