A Survival Guide for the Tech Students | Sri Ramakrishna Engineering College
Greetings to the surreal world of ill-advised criticism rather than constructive feedback. The challenge comes from maintaining the right balance between being the Student Innovation Ambassador, a tech enthusiast, and navigating through assignments, exams, and interesting, passionate projects. Fear not; simply take this Survival Guide as your guide on dilemmas. In this age of personal hyper-focus, it is imperative that time management skills are learned and non-negotiable. Generate for yourself a robust timetable that allows specific durations for lessons, study periods, and, above all else, your passion projects. Use technological advancements; employ productivity tools or techniques to stay on course. However, you cannot undermine how important it is to have soulful moments that rewind your mind occasionally. Differentiate between what is important and what is urgent. Do not forget the lifetime importance that your passion projects have in the rush, despite assignments and exams appearing to be demanding. It is advisable to always give priority to tasks based on their deadlines and implications for academic duties as well as personal aspirations. Lastly, being proud of excellent academics comes with full control over the calendar.
Do not overextend overcommitting yourself, a cycle that never ends. The best way is for one to set realistic goals that are achievable both in academics and passion projects. There is no substitute for quality over quantity. If you can curate manageable objectives, then stress will go down significantly while also solving dilemmas so that every effort matters towards meaningful outcomes, which must be progressively benchmarked and strongly upheld.
Assign a specific place for studying or executing tasks like projects. The concentration becomes more focused when you create space specifically meant for this activity instead of leisure time signaling to the brain when work should be done. A well-arranged working space saves time since it prevents distractions. Use SREC CoIN's workspace strategically and gain an edge above others.
Form active study groups and curious project teams to share the workload and ideas. Collaborating with other interested technology nerds not only enhances your integrated learning experience but also provides a support ecosystem for both academic and personal pursuits. After all, two heads are better than one!
While it's tempting to join every coding challenge or attend every event, learning to say no when necessary is a skill. Be rigid and fierce in guarding your time and focus on activities that drive you towards your ultimate goals. Declining invitations is perfectly alright if they don't contribute towards your academic or personal growth anyway.
Tap into the wealth of SREC resources available to you. Enhance your understanding through online learning platforms, educational apps, and community forums. Additionally, tap into open-source projects and professional platforms such as LinkedIn or networking events, which can bring fresh perspectives and collaborations to fire up their passion projects.
In the pursuit of academic excellence and innovative projects, do not forget the importance of breaks. Schedule regular downtime to rejuvenate yourself. As said, this brings you a raft of fresh perspectives. Thus, whether it's a short walk, a hobby, or a quick gaming session, taking breaks is important for maintaining focus so as to avoid burnout.
Your schedule and productivity should be regularly benchmarked and personalized. Get to know what works and what doesn't for each activity. Keep on changing your method based on the transient demands of your educational and personal journey, which are always changing. Agility over continuous improvement in actions is the central pillar of sustainable success.
Just like rewards in Reinforcement Learning (in ML), you also need to celebrate victories, whether big or small. It may be when you pass or top an internal test, accomplish a difficult project, or achieve a personal milestone that you need to say out loud about your efforts. Rewarding oneself is a way of reinforcing the hard work that individuals put into their studies as well as things they love doing.
Being a tech student traversing through academic dynamics and passion projects can be truly challenging but achievable with the right mentality and proven strategies. Learn time management skills and prioritize properly because the journey towards success is an unending battle fought day by day. And henceforth, moving beyond this chapter of your life, may your code remain free from bugs, tests be stress-free, and passion projects ever abundant in Collaboration & Innovation @ CoIN.
By the words of,
G R Mohan Krishna,
Student Innovation Ambassador,
II, M.Tech CSE.