Lessons from the first quarter of my Master’s degree

These are some of the most important things I’ve learnt after a challenging first semester at Maastricht University.

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I expected less “soft-skills” and talking to people from a degree training me for a career in knowledge work. I was ready to stare at my computer for 10 hours a day and write code until my brain forced a window’s style software update.

I quickly learnt just how much of the process is communicating with people. Be it swallowing your fears and asking your professor stupid questions, working with different (and sometimes annoying) people to achieve a single goal or selling yourself convincingly enough in 5 minutes to land a position a throng of people are fighting for.

I first thought it was a bug, it irked me that people didn’t share my motivation, my though process, my worldviews (Yup, it does sound stupid writing it out). But it’s a feature, a feature you can’t escape. It’ll always be this way in life, and some people realize that and master this skill. And while I didn’t take this seriously enough, and deluded myslef into thinking that technical skills are all that matter, soft skills are definitely on my to-do list henceforth.

On a slightly different note, it’s cathartic talking to people. To let all the ugly boiling deep down out. To tell somebody, anybody. There have been many situations that I’ve painted a bad situation into an avengers level threat and let it fester without taking a breath. Talking to family and friends helps diffuse the tension and get me back on stable ground. It’s crazy how much it’s helped me these past few months.

I’m just a small fish in a big pond

I was used to being the topper during my undergraduate studies. I expected the Master’s to be difficult, but I did not imagine it would be this difficult. It was uncomfortable not being the smartest in the room. It was uncomfortable not getting straight A’s from the word go. I felt stupid compared to everybody around me. I felt unsure about my abilities and preparation, and questioned if I was ready for this, on multiple occasions.

” … I think that being fearless is having a lot of fears, but you jump anyway.” - Taylor Swift. Now that I think about it, I didn’t start out as a topper in college. I never bothered to pay attention in school, never took studies seriously, just got by doing reasonably well because I had to, not because I wanted to. I was as scared and uncomfortable starting my undergraduate studies too. Here were people who were serious in school, who almost cleared gargantuan competitive exams.

Imposter syndrome will probably be your constant companion if you have ambition. As you get better and improve, you move on to bigger and better places. You can only learn something by stepping out of your comfort zone. You’ll never meet all the pre-requisites for everything you do, the important thing is you do it anyways. Do it scared, learn to be okay with being uncomfortable. I’d rather be a small fish in a big pond, than the biggest fish in a small pond. There’s no other way I’d have it.

Prepare ahead whenever you can

In the first period here I had a course called Computational Statistics. A year before I started my Master’s degree, when I first made the choice to switch from Physics to Data Science, I did a course on probability to start my preparation for the switch. Doing that course well, and at that point of time set me up for success in Computational Statistics. I had an easier time understanding the things in the lecture and was able to ask doubts and contribute in class.

In the second period I had a course called Algorithms for Big Data. I had never studied an algorithms course in my undergraduate degree, and this course had a reputation for being the hardest course in the degree. I spent weekends in the first period learning ahead, trying to replicate my success with Computational Statistics. But it wasn’t enough and I struggled in class all 6 weeks.

Even though I wasn’t as successful at Algorithms for Big Data, I knew I would be worse of if I hadn’t prepared in advance. This is why I think it’s so valuable to prepare before time, and prepare some more. The sooner you start, the more you can cover. “Batman can beat anybody with prep time” it is said, and I am starting to see why.

Balance is the optimal condition for success

This is probably the most costly lesson I’ve learnt this semester. 2 weeks before exam week I started to go all in for Algorithms for Big Data. I was scared for this exam, rightfully so, but I let everything else go. I would start studying as soon as I woke, skip workouts, study till midnight and have dreamless nights waking up in cold sweats about the exam. I went through my entire undergraduate degree without a single all-nighter, and this one week made up for all of it.

I knew that it’s not optimal to study all day, that it’s not the number of hours you put in, but how much productive work you put in a day. But my anxiety forced me to ignore all these warning signs, I was guilty when I did anything but prepare. It was extreme, it was unhealthy. I can’t know for certain, but I think I would’ve done much better if I had a more balanced daily routine.

Some form of physical activity on the daily is a must. Equally important is taking breaks. Do atleast one thing everyday that you enjoy. Work hard and play hard. Balance is necessary for sustained, long-term success. There’s no hack, and only working is a quick road to sub-optimal results and burn out.

Don’t take yourself too seriously

It’s good to aim for grand things, dream big and let your ideas consume you. But it’s not the worst thing in the world if we can’t get there. Having started and quit many things in my life (football, physics and being a pilot to name a few), I should have realized sooner that it’s only the process that we control, not the results. It’s important to try as hard as you can, and not have any regrets. That’s all we can control by definition anyways.

But on a slightly different vein, it’s also important to be okay with living. You get only one shot. Your entire life needn’t be a rocky training montage. It’s not only difficult and tough lives that are worth living. A nice balanced life is worth it all too. There are many people who don’t have a lot who are happy and many people with a lot who aren’t.

This is something I struggle with a lot. It’s a lot easier for me to forgive and advice family and friends when they err. I wish I could do the same with myself. I am a cruel self-flogger and have a hard time accepting my mistakes and moving on. It’s quite toxic. I need to stop taking myself so seriously, be kinder to myself and stop making everything an end of the world level situation.

Use AI to augment your knowledge, not replace it

I’ve seen a few people who do everything through GPT. They make it solve their assignments, write the code, answer sample exam questions, read research papers on their behalf, etc. It’s one thing to use the technology to learn and another to replace your brain with a next word prediction machine. It’s like the LLM is earning a Master’s degree.

I’m not a proponent of never using AI either. It’s not black and white. Use it, but don’t make it do everything for you. Only you can replace yourself. Make it do the grunt work. Gain insights and resources much faster than if you had to search by yourself. Try solving said problem by yourself first, be it essays or code. Use it as a teacher, a teacher who never tires. Use it to debug, use it to understand what’s going on. As stupid as this sounds, don’t use Generative AI to generate, use to learn.

Apparently, folks at MIT agrees as well!