my first year at uni

•5 min read

growing up, my mom talked about university as this fancy place where everyone is super determined and smart and knows what to do with their life.

that wasn't really the case. but it's been very interesting. here are some things that stood out to me:1


  1. students are confused.

most students haven't figured out what they want to do. many others pick their major based on what sounds cool or what some friend said. so don't feel bad if you're confused. just show up with an open mind, listen to your gut, and be ready to pivot if you find something more interesting than what you're doing.2

also avoid school-cynics. i've met too many who say school is for "matrix people" yet have nothing going for them. don't be that guy. my motto is simple: i can't be sure i'm getting anywhere when working, but i can be sure i'm getting nowhere when i'm not.3

if you've chosen a major, here's two heuristics for you:

  • if no part of your program is so interesting that you do it outside of school, you've probably picked the wrong major.
  • if it's not getting more interesting the deeper you go, you've probably picked the wrong major.

  1. it's not so formal.

students are lazy. many spend second half of lectures watching ig reels. no phone checks at exams (lots of people cheat on exams.) some professors are relaxed and joke with students. certain majors seem like youth clubs.4


  1. crazy diversity.

i sat next to a father of 2 last week. i even saw a 60-something-year-old in my math class once.

if you're a curious person, this is wonderful. you meet all kinds of people at uni. (while you'll meet various people, you'll notice that the bar isn't very high.)5


  1. your competition is stupid.

at my seminar today i overheard a guy saying he'd watched 40 hours of reels this week and couldn't remember a single one. to him, this was fascinating: "how can i not remember a single one?!" he said, all excited.

i say this to highlight how easy it is to distinguish yourself. the dynamic range between the doomscroller and the creator is massive. very few people actually enjoy learning. there is so much opportunity for you if you just lock in.6

the average student's day looks something like: complain about assignments, gossip, eat food, doomscroll, study, repeat. this is your competition.

that said, there are interesting people out there. you just have to find them. great people are rare.


overall, uni has been nice: you learn stuff, get a taste for scholarship, make friends, and so on. however, it seems too common for a hungry, curious student to come out a dull and conformist normie. you have to actively protect your curiosity to not become a dull bore. don't let some depressed professor convince you that school and work are boring. read books, think hard, and enjoy life.


words from a wise man

david ogilvy once wrote to his nephew: "Anyway, you are too young to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. If you spend the next few years at university, you will get to know the world — and yourself — before the time comes to choose your career. […] Don't judge the value of higher education in terms of careermanship. Judge it for what it is: a priceless opportunity to furnish your mind and enrich the quality of your life."


bonus

things that came to mind while writing this:

  1. if you don't know what to do with your life you should go to uni.
  2. the cheat code to get good at anything: 10,000 hours.
  3. find work that feels like play. (the same way eating cookies requires no discipline because you enjoy it, doing work you enjoy makes it effortlessly productive and fun.)
  4. like what you do > do what you like.
  5. the best way to improve any experience is to talk to strangers. uni is the perfect place for this.
  6. "how many even discover something they love to work on? a few hundred thousand, perhaps, out of billions."
  7. i read this tweet while writing this post and it was too apt to not include: "the only reason to show up is to build a network but most people are unfortunately retarded."

if you're a fellow student:

  • 1 year free Perplexity Pro (including Comet browser): here
  • 1 year free Google One / Google AI Pro: here
  • student plan for lots of AI apps (Notion, Lovable, ElevenLabs, v0, Bolt, etc.): here

Footnotes

  1. this is from a CS perspective. i'm aware some i study cs at KTH in stockholm.

  2. although choosing something and going is better than not going, pls remember: don't get caught up in thinking your life is connected to whatever major you happened to choose.

  3. quote from paul graham's essay How to Work Hard.

  4. it seems attendance varies a lot depending on the university. i've heard some medical students have mandatory attendance on all lecutres lol. meanwhile, i know people at stockholm university doing two degrees simultaneously and not attending a single lecture ever because it's so light (yes, you guessed it, business degrees!)

  5. ofc most students are 20-30 tho.

  6. "learning is not memorizing information. learning is changing you behavior" - david senra