So it’s come my attention that there are a lot of students, particularly in humanities and social sciences disciplines, who need to hear this, so here goes:
Do the readings.
Oh my God, just do the readings. I promise, it gets easier once you get into the habit of it.
What makes a good student? Doing the readings. Literally just doing the readings is enough to make you a good student.
The readings *are* the course. The lectures are just priming you for the readings. The tutorials and seminars are just how we collectively process the readings. If the readings were intended to be optional, they would have been listed under the “optional readings” heading.
“Oh, but I’m so good at bullshitting” No. You’re not. The professor is giving you the benefit of the doubt. The professor is trying to fill in the blanks in the vague, general statements that you’re making because they’re not there to judge your worth as an individual, they’re there to teach you the bloody course. And that becomes vastly more effective, collectively, for everybody, when you Do The Readings!
amhrancas 