Student follows instructions… You WON’T believe what happens next! 😯🤭

Did I just research how to write a click baity title before starting this blog post? You bet. Am I a horrible person for using click bait tactics. Probably.

DISCLAIMER: This blog post is basically an incoherent stream of consciousness on how I feel about instructions. I hope it doesn’t come off as an unconstructive rant.

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I didn’t realize I was horrible at following instructions until I started 20.109. And as you may know, there are a lot of instructions in this class: instruction for lab protocols, instructions for homework, instructions for writing effective captions, instructions for titling your submission, and probably instructions for writing this blog post (I probably should have read them before writing this all out).

Instructions are supposed to facilitate assignments and make an overall process more clear and smooth. That seems to be the case for a lot of my friends, but I don’t really know why that’s not the case for me. Instead of feeling “helped” by reading the instructions, I just feel more lost and confused. I think it’s due to a combination between my short attention span and my tendency to get distracted by the small details I’m unsure about.

For example: the moment a professor mentions something that doesn't make sense to me, my brain will fixate on it for the rest of the lecture, and I can't really pay attention on anything else. That's probably why I raise my hand kind of frequently (which I'm also kind of self-conscious about?) and if I don't, I won't absorb anything for the rest of lecture. This is basically the case for any other types of instruction as well (both "teaching" instruction and "directions" instruction). Hence, given the amount of instructions in 20.109 and how slowly I process them, I end up feeling overwhelmed.



The worst part of feeling lost in a class is that you can’t help but to blame yourself. I feel this way because the instructors put a lot of time and thought into the class and are always there to support us. It seems I have no reason to be behind—but yet, here I am (as I write this blog post Sunday, I have yet to submit this past week’s assignments and update lab notebook entries). And as much as I want to learn and internalize the material, it’s hard for me to keep up.

I know I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I know I should reach out for help more. I know there are things I should be doing—after all, there are probably instructions for how to get back on track. But with this luxury or curse of having more time on my hands after being sent home, I just spend that time less effectively (like reading R documentation for clarification instead of simply asking for help that will answer the question directly).

I guess I should be ending this blog post with some takeaway message? I think if there’s one thing I’ve learned this past semester, it’s that people are more willing to help than you think, and that’s something I really value in this BE community.

For the remainder of the semester, I’ll try starting things earlier and go through the assignment first and then go back to refine my understanding...? If any of you have tips or advice, please feel free to leave them in the comments—I’d appreciate that a lot!

And as always, thank you for listening to my TED Talk.

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Kevin Ly

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