My Advice To The 2012 Class

I experience lamentable at graduations. When I graduated college inward 1997, all I felt was sadness together with melancholy, rather than joy. I chose non to attend my MS together with PhD graduation ceremonies, only I recollect I felt lamentable later on both defenses. It turns out, I also experience lamentable at my students' graduations. I graduated three PhD students and a distich MS students alongside the thesis option. It was e'er lamentable to run across them depart.

This semester, I have got been didactics distributed systems to the graduating class (seniors) at my sabbatical institute, Bilkent University. They are brilliant and talented (for example, Ollaa was developed past times three of them). For the lastly degree of their semester together with their college lives as well, instead of discussing soundless to a greater extent than close distributed systems, nosotros walked out of the classroom, sat on the grass outside, together with had a overnice chat together.

I gave my students about parting advice. I tried to bring what I idea would be most useful to them as they pursue careers as knowledge/IT workers and researchers. Here is that advice inward three stories together with lessons.

1st Story: How I almost flunked the differential equations course

I was taking differential equations class inward the firstly yr of college. I was feeling comfortable alongside the class because I had seen about of the content in high school. I had gotten an A inward the firstly midterm, together with thence I didn't pay attending to the class until the finals. For the finals I had to croak through a lot of content. I read/followed the exercise questions inward the textbook rather than solving questions on my own. As I followed the solutions of the practice questions, they seemed obvious together with slowly to do. Of course, when I took the final exam I was baffled since I couldn't solve whatever of the questions on my own. What seemed obvious when I was next the mass turned out to live non obvious at all when I had to come upward up with them myself. I did together with thence bad that I almost flunked the course. I retook the course in the summer, this fourth dimension I didn't repeat the same error together with got an A.

1st Lesson: The best way of learning is past times doing

There are dissimilar levels of knowing. The firstly aeroplane is "knowing past times word". With passive learning (like I did for studying for the diff final), you lot acquire the most express shape of understanding/knowing. It is ephemeral, together with you lot are not able to reconstruct that on your own. The 2d aeroplane is "knowing past times firstly hand experience". At this level, you lot are able to understand/witness together with if necessary rediscover the noesis on your own. Finally, the 3rd aeroplane is "knowing by heart". At this level, you lot internalized the noesis together with thence that it becomes purpose of your nature. (See Grok).

The best way of learning is past times doing. You demand to function hands-on, brand a lot of mistakes together with thence you lot tin give the axe start to internalize that knowledge. That agency you lot should make, together with hit things continuously. For this to function inward a sustainable manner, you demand to alter your default mode from the consumer mode to the producer mode. Always have got a side-project to sharpen the saw. Start your solar daytime past times working for an hr or together with thence on your side-project, instead of browsing news/twitter/etc. At night, spare about fourth dimension for your side-project as well.

2nd Story: (Ok, a quotation actually, non a story)

Once you lot acquire a B.S., you lot think "you know everything". Once you lot acquire an M.S., you realize "you know nothing". Once you lot acquire a Ph.D., you lot realize that "yes, you lot know nothing, only that is non a problem, because nobody knows anything!"

2nd Lesson: We are all as stupid

This is the summary of the PhD experience, together with thence this bears repeating: "you know nothing, only that is non a problem, because nobody knows anything!"

We are all as stupid. Our brains consist of 1.3 kg (3pounds) of gooey material. It is difficult to lucifer 10 variables inward our brains simultaneously. Our brains are rattling pathetic at reasoning close fifty-fifty rattling brusque concurrent programs (I know from first-hand experience :-). Our brains are also rattling susceptible to biases and fallacies.

The people you lot run across as experts/geniuses are that way because they have got been working/thinking/internalizing these topics for to a greater extent than than a decade. Those experts croak baffled if you lot inquire them a inquiry a piddling fleck exterior of the frame they are accustomed to.

So hither is the trick, "you tin give the axe aeroplane the playing champaign past times function on novel things/technologies".

3rd Story: Kung-fu main together with his student

M: You must overstep ane to a greater extent than test: What is the important of the Black Belt?
S: The halt of my journey, a well-deserved vantage for my difficult work.
M: You are non create for the Black Belt. Return inward ane year.

One yr passes...
S: It is a symbol of distinction together with the highest achievement inward our art
M: You are non create for the Black Belt. Return inward ane year.

Another yr passes...
S: The Black Belt represents non the end, only the beginning, the start of a never-ending journeying of discipline, function together with the pursuit of an ever higher standard.
M: You are at ane time create to have the Black Belt together with laid out your work.

3rd Lesson: Just ask

There are genuinely 2 lessons to this story. The firstly ane is that, similar the dark belt, the Ph.D. is the beginning, non the culmination, of your career. But the to a greater extent than of import 2d lesson is: If you lot bother to speak to and acquire from the people who have got already gone through this process, you lot might graduate 2 years before :-) :-)

So, for whatever destination you lot are chasing, live effective. Learn the criteria for the next footstep together with optimize for it. This ane time again connects dorsum to the firstly lesson. A shortcut to getting the first-hand noesis is to inquire to the people alongside the first-hand knowledge. This is of class non the same affair as first-hand knowledge, only it is the closest it gets to that. (Steve Jobs also has the following advice close asking.)


I volition write about other weblog postal service specifically close how to succeed inward PhD, only that may have got about time.

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