iPad; A Student's Best Friend
What tablets can do for you as a student
Branches | College
As a future Engineering student, I have heard multiple horror stories about how difficult Engineering is in college. Engineers are portrayed as students who spend 13+ hours a day in the library studying seemingly impossible subjects such as Thermodynamics or Advanced Calculus-based Physics. However, when I visited my future college, I met engineers who go to the gym d aily, spend time with friends, and maintain a healthy work-life balance while managing the renowned impossible engineering coursework.
Through this revelation (that you can both have fun at college and study engineering), I strove to figure out the key steps to manage a heavy course load and a fulfilling personal life. I came to a final and definite answer from countless hours of research in discussions with current engineers, youtube “day in the life” videos, and personal experiments with my current high-school coursework. There is no single secret to succeeding in college. While I wish there were a “one size fits all” approach to how you should manage your studies, social life, fitness, diet, and all the other nuances that come with living alone for the first time, there isn’t. Success in college will come from trial and error, thousands of mistakes, and endlessly navigating new situations daily.
On that note, let me offer you my one-size-fits-all, guaranteed, foolproof, crazy-engineer-proof, solution to all your college problems: the iPad.
Bud | The iPad
As my 2023 AP Exams approached, I experimented with my iPad for two weeks. Every review document, practice test, or brain dump was done with a stylus on my family’s 2020 iPad Pro. I often took it to the library and would take 2-3 hour-long study sessions without touching a pencil, pen, or keyboard. In this practice, I learned where an iPad excels and falls short of traditional methods I have used in the past. Here is what I found on the benefits and pitfalls of the iPad
Benefits:
Organization
Using my favorite note-taking app, Notability, I utilized the natural organization tools within the app to keep all of my review materials organized and sorted. I kept my review materials for each class separate using folders within the app, so I knew where each document was and could locate it quickly within seconds. This saved me time fiddling through dozens of papers or folders or shuffling through my bag for answer keys and charts I made previously. Another popular note-taking app on iPads is Microsoft Notes, which allows you to take, organize, and edit online notes in an organized format. One of the big pros of Microsoft Notes is its user-friendly software and convenience, essentially digitizing what would be your otherwise scrambled and disorganized paper notebook.
Tidiness
The Apple Pencil allowed me to make notes more effectively through the use of color-coding, highlighting, and changing fonts effortlessly and seamlessly. There were no eraser marks to pervade my documents, and I could copy and paste charts and diagrams seamlessly to create practical notes more quickly than with a pen or pencil.
Portability/Accessibility
Through the digital scanner, which is built into the Notability app, I could scan physical sheets of paper and store them digitally in a subject’s designated folder. Because of this, when I studied at my desk, I had all the documents I needed on my tablet; which, as it turns out, is much better than having to ruffle through my desk and backpack in search of that one document from two months ago. Furthermore, I could study anywhere, whether it be outside or in bed, without needing to sort through papers or awkwardly mount binders against my lap to write something down.
Focus
An unexpected benefit came from the iPad as well: focus. Since my iPad receives messages and emails, I can place my phone in another room and focus on my work. I was able to remove my primary distraction, my phone, from my environment and focus on my work without stressing about missing messages or emails.
Pitfalls
Cost
I was able to experiment with an iPad Pro, which my family already owned. Because of this, I did not need to spend $600-$700 on an iPad, which I was unsure would be the right solution for me. I understand that buying an entire iPad to "try out" is unreasonable, so I recommend asking people you know if they have iPads you could experiment with. If you feel the cost of the iPad is not worth the benefits you will gain from it, then it is perfectly reasonable to stick to the traditional study habits you are already familiar with.
Technical Failures
Unfortunately, like all pieces of technology, I did run into some struggles with my iPad setup. I went through a short period where the iPad would register my palm as the Apple Pencil, which was frustrating and took up to 20 minutes to troubleshoot the problem. The problem was fixed after a quick restart of the iPad, but I was reminded that no technology is perfect, and 100% reliance on a device for all my needs is not ideal.
Adaptation/Familiarity
Using an iPad for the first time feels uncomfortable and unfamiliar. The pencil slides too smoothly on the glass, and my hands stick to it when it becomes warm after long study sessions. I plan to combat this with a paper-like screen protector, which (supposedly) mimics the feel of paper with more friction and a matte finish. However, since I have yet to try this solution, I have labeled it as a potential downfall to this setup.
Leaves | Resolutions
When people attend college, they tend to set impossibly high expectations for themselves, which they convince themselves they’ll be able to maintain throughout their college career. Similar to New Year’s Resolutions, people expect to join 50 clubs, go to the gym every day, stop 100% of procrastination, eat healthier, stay clean, and maintain a 3.8 GPA. Studies, however, say this unforgiving approach to setting impossible goals will lead to discouragement, self-judgment, and anxiety.
Instead, by focusing on one goal, you build habits more efficiently, and your motivation to improve yourself grows exponentially. For me, that one resolution was organization.
My reason for choosing organization as the habit I want to emphasize throughout my college years is simple: an organized mind pioneers an organized life.
In my mind, the more organized I am, whether that be my notes, my possessions, or my laptop, the more I can devote my mind to my studies, the gym, my friends, or my diet. This is when our miracle device, the iPad, comes into play.