What do you do during the holidays?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around how participants utilize their time during long breaks from college, focusing on activities related to studying, self-improvement, and leisure. It includes a variety of approaches to maintaining mental engagement and preparing for upcoming academic challenges.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest self-studying from future course materials or reviewing previous content to stay mentally active.
  • Others express a preference for taking breaks, engaging in leisure activities, and spending time with family and friends instead of focusing solely on academics.
  • One participant mentions reading pseudo-technical books, specifically citing "Flatland" and "Div, Grad, Curl," as part of their reading choices during breaks.
  • Another participant emphasizes the importance of understanding the practical applications of academic subjects, suggesting that exploring the non-academic side can enhance intuition.
  • Some participants discuss the importance of addressing gaps in their foundational knowledge during breaks, indicating a focus on personal academic growth.
  • There is a mention of varying financial circumstances influencing how participants choose to spend their breaks, including travel or purchasing books.
  • A few participants express confusion or debate about the classification of "Div, Grad, Curl" as a pseudo-technical book, highlighting differing perspectives on what constitutes such a category.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit a range of perspectives on how to spend breaks, with no clear consensus on the best approach. Some prioritize academic preparation while others favor relaxation and leisure activities.

Contextual Notes

Participants' approaches are influenced by personal circumstances, such as financial constraints and relationship dynamics, which may affect their choices during breaks.

Who May Find This Useful

Students seeking ideas on how to balance academic preparation with leisure during breaks may find this discussion relevant.

ManiFresh
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What do you guy's do to keep your mind fresh when you have a really long break from college? read ahead, review...?
 
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I buy the books I'll be using in my classes during the next semester, and I work through them. Otherwise, I self-study from books I already have.
 
Read psudo-technical books (I just bought Flatland and Div,Grad,Curl).
 
I take a well deserved break from studying and go on holiday, spend time with friends, family and girlfriend, work out and read books about other stuff than physics or maths.

The only thing I do is looking ahead which courses I will take next year and that always takes me about a week to go through them and choose.
 
In the past it depended a lot on what I can afford - either a trip somewhere, go home to visit family, or a book in some subject I've been curious about but don't have time to fit into my class schedule next year at the time, in order of decreasing preference, lol. Although as of last weekend me and my gf are now long distance, so that makes the question pretty easy, lol
 
I go to my country house and spend time there, beautiful grounds, it gives me peace of mind.

If I feel my mind is back to normality, then I buy the texts used for the next semester courses. An interesting thing to do will be to read "practical things" about the courses that you have planned to take next semester. For example, if you have planned to take a course on Algorithms then you can look at the other side of it, the practical side of algorithms, where and how it is used...the non-academic side, it gives me a lot of intuition on the subject.
 
Working on campus, relaxing and studying. I don't study for the next semester but review some stuff I forgot, or learn a proof I put off during the semester, read some journals and
on an area I am interested. Where ever I fill there was a hole in my foundation, I put all the effort during the summer to relearn and understand it.
 
abiyo said:
Working on campus, relaxing and studying. I don't study for the next semester but review some stuff I forgot, or learn a proof I put off during the semester, read some journals and
on an area I am interested. Where ever I fill there was a hole in my foundation, I put all the effort during the summer to relearn and understand it.

Ditto.


Also, Div Grad Curl is a psuedo technical book?
 
QuarkCharmer said:
Ditto.


Also, Div Grad Curl is a psuedo technical book?

My point was that it is not a textbook, perhaps that wasn't the best choice of words ;)
 
  • #10
Go bargain on Amazon for next year's books lol
 

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