braiwns.

er wait what?

kierg10 wrote on Aug 13^th, 2014 at 6:10pm:

Be an athlete. People in peak physical condition are also shaping up their brains to be in the best condition they can be.

Revaulting wrote on Aug 13^th, 2014 at 6:15pm:


TBH I'm starting electrical engineering this year and as part of my student fees I get access to the gym, so if I have spare time (doubt it) I will go to the gym and make myself less likely to die at age 42 from a heart attack.

It worked for Jerry...

kierg10 wrote on Aug 13^th, 2014 at 6:20pm:

You never have spare time. It always comes at the cost of something else.

Sounds like you're starting college? If so, you've got a whole world of choices opening. Or, looking at it a different way, a whole world of options to say no to. For many, the habits they start in college are the habits they carry through life.

Team sports are excellent (Plaxico Burress notwithstanding).

kierg10 wrote on Aug 13^th, 2014 at 6:20pm:


Nice!  always a lot of hot guys in the gym. 

if you're lucky you'll have the pleasure to see someone whacking it in the shower opposite you with the curtain only part way drawn.  or you might see a 65-year-old man trying to navigate his way across the wet, slippery floor without tripping on his ballsack.

and the FLORA!  athlete's foot!  ring worm!  hep A!  ebola!

gyms.  they are the best!

Revaulting wrote on Aug 13^th, 2014 at 8:32pm:


I'm sure I won't have much spare time, I have around 26-27 hours of class a week so it's gonna be fuuuun.........and hopefully I'll actually start making good habits rather than the crappy ones I have made during high school.......

kierg10 wrote on Aug 14^th, 2014 at 1:59pm:

The hardest change to make is the switch in mindset from "have to be here," to "want to be here." High school does an excellent job of teaching you that somebody else makes the choices. When you get to college, that's supposed to suddenly be different. But not many people will help you figure out how, or help you deal with the increased pressure.

One good strategy is to spread your classes out across all kinds of different disciplines. Drop & change the classes that bore you immediately, and keep the ones that interest and challenge you.

If you leave it up to hope to start making good habits, what you're saying is that you feel just fine with the habits you have now. Which is, in fact, just fine.

EE is one of the two degrees my children are allowed to pursue if they want a technical based job.  The other is Accounting if they want to be more business / financial.  The two are the foundations of most jobs (and give you the most pay out of college).

If any of them want to work in a technical field, they should be an EE.  It is a great foundation to work on anything from electronics to patent law.   The only caveat to going into patent law is to make sure you pick your law school wisely.  Top 1-2 tier firms frown on the lower tier schools (as well as lower tier undergraduate), but can offer 150k/year for first year associates.  I did not choose the EE route and have a useless degree in History as well as Economics and had to play catch up the first 3-5 years as a network engineer.  Good thing for me is that my wife did choose wiesly.

If I knew then what I know now... I would have done EE.  Every other kind of engineering is kind of a waste (people will hate on that statement, but it is true).

Kluege wrote on Aug 15^th, 2014 at 10:46am:


I wouldn't say this is true, because I feel like people should do what they want to do.....however most of the math and science teachers at my school were mechanical engineers

Kluege wrote on Aug 15^th, 2014 at 12:40pm:


Well to make sure I won't have to take student loans I am:

1) living at home (residence is like 15k a year not including meal plans.....so yeah tons of money saved)

2) I have an RESP (registered education savings plan) which will cover a lot of my education (although not as much as it would have by pre2008 estimates for its end value)

3) there is part of OSAP (ontario student assistance program) where you can get a 30% tuition rebate if your parents make less than 170 thousand combined each year (my parents do not).

4) working during the summers to pay for part

5) generally relying on my parents quite a bit........

So all of these things combined (hopefully) will keep me away from student loans.

What is kind of funny is that my dad thinks I should get student loans anyways (which I probably won't need to, and my mom doesn't think I should), and I'm like no.......I don't want to be like you and paying off student loans until I'm 50........

kierg10 wrote on Aug 15^th, 2014 at 11:41am:

Try to take your electives outside of your discipline. There are a fair amount of GE courses, and it's possible they come on a rotation, so if you miss them you might have to wait a year or more before they're offered again. But it's also possible that you're auto-enrolled in order to help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.

A secret exploit that exists in almost every college: they listen to what you want. Administration may appear inflexible, but they usually give in to persistence.

Another secret exploit: all advice is optional.