My campuse life was suck. Really. I remember how loser I was in my campus live. I actually got the best access to the best connections. I actually got one of the best university in my country and I even got a major, electrical engineering that lots of people dreaming of. Still, where all of those got me? nowhere!.

Why did I get my life stucked and actually do nothing despite all of my efforts?

Back in my campus life, I was told by my parents to focus on studyingand got a good score. In contrast, My campus life instead implicitly told me that having a good score does not mean anything. So I tried to do something other than focusing on to study. I tried to manage campus events, be laboratory assistant, joined an organization just because people in campus told me to.

And I failed both, I got no good score and I got no social skills that should be useful in my adulthood life.

I was too confused of what to do. I was overwhelmed by my own thoughts of what the future would be like. So despite I did everything to got the good score and having a social skills, I still got nothing because my mind was not in the right state. I was too busy worrying about my future and not living in the present.

What I should have done instead

Campus life should be the best in my life, it allows me to make mistakes with little or no consequences. I should have studied hard but keep myself present to explore other things.

1. Instead of taking course too seriously, I should take the class be a supplement of my applied knowledge, for instance, instead of spending too much time on learning “Ordinary Differential Equations” (ODE), I should spend more time to make a control system for something, then apply the ODE into something tangible and practical. This way I have experienced of solving a problem in a practical way.

2. Instead of joining a random organization just for the sake of joining AN organization, I should have joined an organization that aligns with my interests and give me value by contributing to the organization’s goals. For instance, maybe I should have joined Robotics Club or AISEC or etc, NOT just random organizations. This way I won’t be wasting my time to something unvaluable.

3. Not too focused on studying, I should learn what real life is like. I think I should have spent more time on working as part time job, freelance work, or event small business. This way, I should understand what the real life is like outside of campuse life.

But it was years ago. Past is something we all cannot change. Now is the time to change. I got kids and a wife, I should thing carefully what should do for them and myself. Will write a post about it.