• View the studies you do while at the university as training for (among other things) your future professional life. Study to learn the material and not simply to achieve a grade—this is also important—, since you will need the knowledge later and your ability to do your job well may depend on it.
• Try to get used to solving problems (as you will have to do in your own professional life) and not just getting answers from others or waiting to get them from the teacher. Avoid the mentality of “I can always learn this later.”
• Seek help, including from the teacher, when you cannot understand something on your own. Learn to recognize when you do not know something you need to know and take steps to eliminate your ignorance on that point.

• Be habitually courteous to teachers, fellow students and university staff.
• Be habitually punctual (including to class). Habitually meet deadlines.
• Be ready to work with others and develop the flexibility to be able to accommodate to their needs and schedules (within reason). Try to identify those with whom you can work well, since this is something you will need to do throughout your professional life.
• Avoid speaking negatively and gossiping about others, including the professors (even when they deserve it).

• Do not lie, even in small matters.
• Do not cheat or help others to cheat.
• Keep your commitments, even in small matters like social commitments.

• Work in an orderly way:
  • Live as normal a schedule as possible, generally rising early in the morning, working during the day and sleeping at night.
  • Do not waste time; use available slots of time to work productively (learn to use the little slots of time between larger activities).
  • Be careful of other people who tend to make you waste your time.
  • Do not waste the time of others.
• Develop the capacity for sustained, concentrated focus.  Some practices that develop this capacity:
  • Study for set periods of time without allowing yourself to be distracted (no internet, texting, phone, etc.) and without stopping except for pre-planned breaks.
  • Study at a time and in a place where you will be free of distractions and which will be conducive to concentrated effort.
  • Try to spend the minimum amount of time you need to do your work well; try to develop efficient ways of working that decrease the time needed.
• Habitually finish assignments on time.
  • Above all, start assignments and projects early enough.
  • Do not over-commit, so that you have enough time to do well all the assignments you need to do. Prioritize so that you do what is more important and leave off what is less important.
• Finish assignments completely: revise what you write; complete all footnotes, bibliographic references, etc.; proofread before submitting any work. All this usually means starting assignments with enough lead time to be able to finish them properly.

• Try to act in an ethical way at all times.
• If you are unsure whether a certain course of action is unethical, seek advice from someone who will give you objective counsel.
• Use your years at the university to become well grounded in basic ethical principles and in the specific ethics principles of your future profession. Seek advice from someone you respect before taking classes on ethics.

• Do not over commit yourself, neither in your course selection nor in extracurricular activities.
• Live as normal a schedule as possible and do not neglect your responsibilities outside of college (e.g., toward your family).
• While in college try to get as solid a foundation as possible in the humanities, even if you are in a technical field. It is important not to let your technical studies dominate your life (just as later your technical work should not dominate your life).
• Schedule time for friends, even in the midst of studies. Avoid putting your life “on hold” during crunch times; later you will need to attend to your family and other responsibilities even during crunch times.

N.B. For many interesting ideas on how to maintain a normal work-life balance while doing well in one’s studies, see the website of Cal Newport (www.calnewport.com) as well as his books on these subjects (How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less and How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country’s Top Students)