Some advice for college graduates (past, present, & future) & thoughts on communicating knowledge
Never forget the person you were when you entered college (or any sort of school, class, etc.). Never forget how confused you were when you heard concepts and terms for the first time. Instead of now feeling superior, try to use those feelings as motivation to be the person that past you would have wanted. Communicate and teach to that past you. And in doing so you will be able to share the gift of knowledge as widely as possible.
I have a strong memory of undergrad me and it motivates much that I do (and explains why I probably overexplain some things because I remember being confused about them). I hope that it will help make me the type of undergrad professor I loved to have. And I hope that it has helped me resonate with whoever finds my content. I never take my education for granted and I live to pay it forward. I hope you will do the same.
And when you’re doing so, remember that using big words might make you sound smart sometimes, but it often doesn’t allow you to be understood by people who don’t know those words - even well-educated people in slightly different disciplines. So it can be much smarter (though often harder) to use simpler terms that can still coney detail but are in your shared vocabulary. And introduce background as needed.
Remember that past you in part so you keep a sense of what’s “jargon” or facts that have just become second nature to you and what’s common knowledge. And use this to shape your communication efforts. It takes a lot of practice but it can really pay off.
Speaking of paying off - Congrats to all the recent grads! - and I hope you don’t have a bunch of loans to pay off…
blog version: https://bit.ly/collegegradadvicebb
more school-related-type-posts: https://bit.ly/gradpostdocetc & https://bit.ly/practicalposts
more about all sorts of things: #365DaysOfScience All (with topics listed) 👉 http://bit.ly/2OllAB0 or search blog: http://thebumblingbiochemist.com
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