It’s perhaps the most hellish of semester circumstances for students: We’re finished with midterms but still have weeks to go before we can say so long to fall semester and hello to winter break.
Welcome to the semester slump.
It can be tough getting through this academic limbo. Half of your mind is set on finishing up that two million — OK, fine, it’s only eight — page paper about the evolution of igloos in 17th century Europe. The other half? All that turkey you’re about to consume next week. And then, to think that about two weeks after that, you’ll be rockin’ around the Christmas tree (hopefully after you’ve rocked all your exams). And it’s going to be glorious.
And now we’re just rambling.
The Avenue knows you need a little inspiration right about now, and to help you out, we asked professors and TAs across campus to think back to a time when they were in your shoes.
They let us know where they made their mistakes and what they wish they’d done differently, what surprised them after graduating and anything (and everything) they wished they would have known back in their dorm days.
Here are our 13 favorite bits of wisdom — one for each school day of the semester left, including today.
Take their word for it, students — after all, they’re grading your finals.
“I was in Berkeley in the ‘60s when things were very active … I thought when I was a professor it would be normal for students to stand up and protest … there’s always something you can do.” - Scott Nygren, English (film and media studies)
“I wish I would have gotten to know my professors a little bit better.” - Brandon Roberts, applied physiology and kinesiology
“Grades are less important than I thought.” - Zack Gilmore, anthropology
“I think it would have been good to take advantage of [Career Resource Center] services … and I wish I would have understood better that you don’t have to go to class with a cough because it’s more annoying for the professor, and you get better faster if you just stay home.” - Joann Mossa, geography
“It took years for me to understand that the real reason I was in college was not to select a major. The real reason was to develop critical thinking and social skills that would serve me for a lifetime. I see today’s students at UF making exactly the same mistake. The major, the murky view of a particular career when one is 18 to 20, are far, far less important than developing skills of social responsibility, inclusivity and calm discourse. Wish I had known that then.” - Carl Barfield, entomology and nematology
“I would have expended less effort on my personal life, i.e. girls. If I compare the effort I put into that to the effort I put into class work, I think I would have done better.” - Charlie Mitchell, theatre and dance
“I wish I’d figured out earlier that I shouldn’t take classes that I didn’t like. No matter how good the description of a class seems or how important it seems for your course of study, it’s really important to love the classes you take, and I wish I would’ve done a little more shopping for courses a little earlier in my college career.” - Roger Beebe, English
“More involvement in extracurricular activities, like Student Government — things like that. The networks you make and community with other people I found in life are more valuable than sitting in your dorm room doing nothing.” - Paul Borsa, applied physiology and kinesiology
“I would have gone to the gym more. Take advantage of everything that’s available on campus. It’s all in one place.” - Amanda Vincent, French
“I wish I would have known more about what opportunities were available after graduating. I was a bit narrow with my choices I was involved with.” -Ben Dunn, biochemistry and molecular biology
