Life Hacks for Exeter
Greetings fellow Exonian,
My name is Luis Sebastian Bango. I am a three year senior in Cilley Hall and one of The Exonian’s Opinions Section Editors. The following article is my personal opinion and does not reflect the views of this publication.
We are already two weeks into the 2018 fall term. As Exonians, we face many of the same challenges within our Exeter experiences. In my years at Exeter, I have accumulated an arsenal of wisdoms and tactics with which to face the firestorm. This arsenal has been forged by failures, successes and a few splashes of spite and disenchantment. I would have never stuck around long enough to assemble this arsenal, if not driven by an ultimate love and appreciation for the transformations that Exeter provides to all of us. Today, I give you, reader, a sample of this arsenal in the hope you may use these tools to better your own Exeter experience. The following article is divided into two parts–practical tips and meditations.
Part 1: Practical Tips
On Science—
Don’t buy the book if you can find the pdf for free.
On Math—
Take a picture of the math problems that have been put up on the board, after they have been corrected by the class. Take those pictures and compile them into a PDF. Use this PDF as a reference and study guide for tests and homework. Also, speak up sooner rather than later if you are beyond confused.
On English—
Keep in mind your main goal when writing to efficiently communicate with your reader. Don’t be cryptic because you’ll only succeed in confusing people. Don't be fancy. Be concise. Obscure words don’t make good writing. If you can express your message in simpler terms, do.
If you are having trouble being concise at the Harkness table, write your point down before you say it.
Use Thesaurus.com correctly. If a word in your writing is not faithful to your intended image, instead of tacking on a bloated chain of adjectives, use Thesaurus.com to find words with adjacent meanings. Then, leverage the nuance to realize your intended image.
Eliminate the passive voice from your writing, especially in the narratives common in lower level English classes. Once you recognize the passive voice every time you use it, reintroduce it to your writer’s tool box to be used with intention. Incorporate your description into sentences with active structure. Only add description that is important to your story.
Write what you know.
Befriend someone who corrects your grammar.
Part 2: Meditations.
On Friendships—
Good friendships at Exeter are essential. Befriend some people in the grade above you who have gone through what lays ahead.
All things social accelerate at Exeter. The boarding environment leads to an industry of fast friendships. Like fast food, many of these friendships satisfy you momentarily and then the lack of nutritious substance makes you feel like crap.
Due to the new ability to spend massive amounts of time together, people will bond over superficial experiences, getting extremely “close” before the honeymoon highs wear away. Before you know it you’ve spilled all of your deepest secrets to someone you met in D-hall three days ago. Find people who make you a better person. Be wary of the aggressively extroverted. An imperfect guide: small minds talk about people; regular minds talk about events; big minds talk about ideas.
On Self-Advocacy—
Many adults at Exeter will tell you to advocate for yourself. However, many self-advocating pushes for a change inconvenient to those same adults end up with a pat on the head and a “No.” If you really care about the issue at hand, don’t give up. Find a faculty member who can yell for you. Be persistent. Make it easier and more comfortable for them to say “Yes” than to say “No.”
On Teachers—
Some teachers make it much harder to get an A than others; Exeter isn’t always fair. Every teacher has something valuable to teach you, whether directly or through the failures and frustrations they inflict. It is your duty, as a student, to seek out the way in which your teacher can best help you grow. Our instructors have lived much longer than any of us; they hold troves of wisdom and experiences from which we can learn. Befriend your teachers. In addition, don’t trash talk teachers who give you bad grades. If you wait a year, then retrospect on your work in their class, your paper was probably a fat “no bueno.”
On Ego and Ambition—
You’re not special, and you can do anything.
Until next time,
-SB