Stressed to the max with school? We’ve all been there and in those times of confusion, frustration and utter panic, it is often difficult for the typical college student to know which way to turn for reassurance and redirection. However, award-winning author and an ACSA Distinguished Professor in Architecture, Kathryn H. Anthony, of the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) believes that by adjusting your daily routine and paying better attention to your habits, the average college student can be less stressed, more productive and ultimately successful.
In 1991, Anthony published her award-winning book, Design Juries on Trial: The Renaissance of the Design Studio, based upon hundreds of surveys, interviews, observations and diaries of students, plus interviews and surveys with educators and leading professionals in the field of architecture. The book was meant to serve as a survival guide for design students, but reviews by Anthony’s colleagues and student readers were that the book’s message was timeless and would be beneficial to not only design students, but to all students.
Inspired by the 20th anniversary of her award-winning book, Professor Anthony wanted to create an innovative way for both design students in the field of architecture and the everyday student to manage their schedules, meet deadlines, and find confidence in both working with teams and public speaking. After it was suggested by one of Anthony’s colleagues that she take the material from her book and turn it into an iPhone application for undergraduate students, Anthony and her former graduate student, Gloria Colom-Brana, began working very closely on the creation of “The Student’s Survival Guide.”
Her Campus Illinois: First, I would like to compliment you on the layout of your Student’s Survival Guide application. Getting to go through the app was actually fun, enjoyable and reassuring to your typical stressed college student… which I tend to be!
Professor Kathryn Anthony: Thank you for your feedback, Anna! It is always great to hear reviews from students who are using the app and hear their opinions.
HC: What inspired you to create the app? As a teacher, did you notice that many students were not able to handle their hectic schedules? Or did you just find that the college experience is full of difficult tasks and wanted to help students manage that?
KA: It was really the 20th anniversary of my book, Design Juries on Trial, that inspired me to create the app. Students and colleagues who have read my book had always been telling me that its message was timeless, that the survival techniques it offers apply to all students — not just those in the design fields, and that they wish they had read it when they first started college. One of my colleagues who serves as an advisor to our undergraduate students had first suggested I consider developing this material into an app.
Yes, I noticed that many students were not able to handle hectic schedules. I see this all the time with architecture students who stay up all night, often for several nights before their projects are due. Some even have major mishaps along the way. Some accidentally slice up their fingers when building models. Others get into car accidents. Lots of things can go wrong, many of them serious. By the time some students show up at their review to present their design projects, they are totally wiped out, stumble over their oral presentation, and can’t remember whatever feedback they hear. This happens a lot in architecture school, but it also happens all over campus.
I’ve also seen students get into fights with each other while working on team projects. Over the years, I recall several instances where my box of tissues came in handy for students who were frustrated with their teammates who dropped the ball, let them down, or simply disappeared.
These are just a few of the reasons why I thought students needed this app to help them to better prepare and plan.
HC: I love your “manage your time” app. It’s truly the reality check that every student needs. When you say to keep a detailed time log and “pretend you are getting paid.” How do you see “pretending you are getting paid” as a motivator for students?
KA: We often have a different mindset when we think our time is valuable and that we are getting paid. For example, I like to think that someone is paying me to do exercise every day. It’s part of my job. When we’re paid to do something, we usually do it, like it or not. Seeing how we spend our time and realizing that it has a monetary value is a great motivator. It’s also a good way to avoid wasting time and getting distracted.
HC: When and how do you expect students to use this app the most? As a reminder before they start school or as they continue working through the semester?
KA: I’m hoping that students can use this app throughout their academic career — not just at the start of the term, but throughout the semester, and especially when an upcoming project deadline is due. The closer you get to a deadline — be it a project, presentation or exam — the more useful the app may be.
I think it can be it helpful when students are starting out in a new situation — for example, freshman year making the transition from high school to college, transferring from a community college to university, entering a totally new environment as an international student.
HC: What aspects of the app do you feel would be the most useful to you were you still in school?
KA: The time management guide would no doubt have been helpful to me as a student. In my early years of college I probably put on the freshman 15 pounds like so many other students. Being able to schedule in time for exercise and pretending that someone is paying me to do it would definitely have helped me. I am now happy to say that I have since lost those pounds, exercise regularly and now weigh just about what I weighed in high school.
Scheduling time to eat right would also have helped. Sometimes you get in a trance when studying — and I still do today when writing or doing my research — and often hours will go by and I forget to eat. “Eat a snack” or “eat a meal” would have been good for me!
The section of the app on perfecting the art of communication and producing effective graphics would have also been helpful to me in preparing many presentations as student. Sections on handling presentation stress and the information on “what NOT to do” would have also helped.
HC: Do you wish you had access to an app like this when you were in school?
KA: Definitely! And that’s one of the reasons why I created it for today’s students. It would have been helpful having the app in the palm of my hand — no need to carry a book around to remind me of these things.
HC: Did you use the tips and advice given in your app as a student?
KA: I probably tried to but can’t say I was 100% successful at them! I wrote the book later in life after ten years as a professor. I learned a lot from seeing students who succeeded and others who did not. I still find it very interesting why some students excel while others fail and observed through my students what works and what doesn’t.
Sometimes students think that failure is out of their control, but it is actually about planning. If a printer doesn’t work or something goes wrong, you have to have planned to expect and avoid those kinds of accidents.
HC: Would you say you were an organized student and are an organized person in your daily life? If so, what tips/techniques do you use regularly to keep up with everything? (i.e. lists, reminders, techniques like avoiding distractions etc.)
KA: Yes, I’m usually a pretty organized person – also a Virgo and Virgos like to make lists. My office, my desk, and my computer desktop do not always give that at impression, however, I do not miss deadlines, skip appointments, and I am hardly ever late on paying bills.
I learned the hard way about the importance of being organized and making artificial deadlines in advance from my experiences taking care of my late husband who was ill with cancer for over seven years. Medical emergencies could happen at any time and totally derailed whatever else we had to do. And they can happen to students and their families too – often putting them out of commission for weeks at a time.
HC: I see that your app is based on the award-winning book, Design Juries on Trial: The Renaissance of the Design Studio. What did you enjoy about writing the book and why would you recommend it to college students/readers today?
KA: The most interesting part of this book was what I learned from interviews, surveys, and diaries of students – what goes on behind the scenes – that most faculty would never know about the lives of everyday students. The book is full of quotes from students and I always remember one quote that stands out above all: “I wish I had a car accident…just anything so I wouldn’t have to face that jury.”
I’d still recommend it to readers today because I think students still need help and it’s so useful for them to know that they are not the only ones struggling. They are not alone. Learning how other students overcame struggles can be a tremendous help and source of comfort.
Reading about how highly successful designers today recalled their experiences as students is an eye-opener for students in any field. What was most surprising to me was that not all of them were star students. That’s encouraging news! Also that even decades later so many of them still remembered the exact words that their professors and design critics had said to them in school.
I also recommend it to faculty members, as one of the most important messages it conveys is that the criticism you give to a student, and the words you say to them — especially in front of others — can remain firmly engrained in their minds even years later. They can result in unpleasant memories or emotional scars that may never go away. These can also impact how alumni feel about their alma mater long after school is over.
Professor Kathryn Anthony’s iPhone Applications: The Student’s Survival Guide and The Design Student’s Survival Guide can both be purchased on iTunes. Be sure to get your application today and test out what Anthony calls the “GPS to your GPA.”