Do you remember anything from your degree?

[densecity]

Twenty years ago, I studied Classics at Cambridge. Mainly Greek history rather than literature. I then took the age old path of becoming a lawyer. Still in practice. I realised the other day that I can't remember much at all from my degree. It's scary to think that I spent four years of my life studying a subject and I can barely remember dates or names.

A bit… I did medicine though so still use a bit of it (mainly anatomy, a lot of stuff goes out of date very quickly!)

Yes, weirdly, I have a very clear memory of what I studied, the modules, most of the lecturers, what my research projects were on, and who I hung out with.

I spent most of my degree in a cafe smoking and drinking coffee with some good friends I don't know anymore.

Barely a thing. It was 40 years ago, though.

Maths. And no. Not even confident I could do A level maths these days.

I thought this was just me. I did a literature degree and would be hard pressed to name any of the authors, never mind the books, I studied 😅

I also work in a profession that’s got nothing whatsoever to do with my original degree. I did International Relations and then a Masters in Post-Soviet studies and Russian influence and aggression, which has proved extremely relevant. Keep thinking I need to go back and get my doctorate.

Yes I did a medical related degree and use what I learned every day.

I guess it wholly depends on your application of the knowledge you gained.

Use it or lose it, so to speak.

If you don't use the knowledge you learn, it tends to fade away. You may well find if you were to visit a museum it be in a conversation where the topics you covered came up, you'd be able to recall bits and understand much more than someone who hadn't studied it.
It's hard to recall things without a trigger.

Yes, I have degrees in economics and political science. I have taught economics, though don’t anymore. Both subjects are essential parts of my daily work even now.

Yes. I graduated in 2006 and did politics and criminology and remember, I think, most of the stuff I learned. It was very interesting.

Since you mention it, I spent most of the time in bars and clubs drunk and/or off my face.

I must have missed quite a few lectures too.

Occasionally, something to do with art history comes up in conversation & my memory's jogged & out comes knowledge on the subject. Yesterday a colleague remarked on the beautiful painting on our work screensaver & I was able to identify it as a Courbet. It's not generally relevant to my work with young people with disabilities in a residential care home .

Yes. I was at university 35+ years ago and I remember lots. I did English Literature and remember all the books.

I did a Social Policy degree and I can remember nothing apart from vague elements of one tutorial on one day. It was about polys becoming universities (this was about 1990). I remember nothing of any of the modules, joint honours, nothing at all!
I suppose, if my subsequent career had been related, it might have all stuck in my mind? Shocking , really.

yes , it was languages and I am a teacher and met husband in my year abroad .

Yes, took mine in the late 80s and still work in the same field. Quite often things crop up in the media, pub quizzes etc as well as at work that I know about because I studied them. I still have a set of revision notes I made for my finals, my dissertation and a project I did in my industrial placement year, I do refer to them occasionally. Still got some textbooks too.

My degree is English and French. I remember some of the French and can hold a basic conversation when in France. I remember the literature I studied as in the names of the works and the authors, just not their content! Funnily enough I recall A level Spanish better than a lot of stuff from my degree - even Latin from O level (I am old!)

Yes - I use it every day as it’s essential to my job. I wanted to be a ist so I did a degree in ogy then continued with MSc, PhD. And I’ve been a **ist in one form or another ever since.

Admittedly I’ve only vague memories of some of the modules (ones I wasn’t stuck on) but others I still have my original handwritten notebooks/textbooks and refer to them. If I had a quid for every time I’ve drawn a particular type of diagram then I’d have paid off my student loans a lot earlier!

But on a serious note, I loved my subject long before university and it genuinely still fascinates me everyday. I feel quite lucky despite how exhausting my job can be.

However, what I really learned was ways of thinking and approaching problems, which has stood me in good stead both when working and in navigating SEN and medical issues.

Yes, loads. But it's something I'm really interested in and still read and think a lot about.

Some, the stuff I used day to day when working (I graduated 35 years ago but switched careers completely 20 years ago). I found my final year dissertation the other day and was impressed at how good it still looks.

Oh for goodness sake I didn’t realise it would make it bold! That should have been “I wanted to be a xxxxxxist, so I studied xxxxogy.” And I’m a xxxxxxist!

Bits. Like PPI and PPII chains. And a’a and pāhoehoe lava. Proofs of equations are loooooong gone. Especially fucking Maxwell and his bastarding equations.

I also did Classics. I translate the odd bit of Latin or Greek occasionally so that stuck and can remember what most of the philosophers I studied said roughly, what happened in the plays and what the poetry was all about. I am also pretty good on art history and archaeology. The ancient history hasn’t stuck though. Ds knows more than me from watching a few YouTube videos.

Whilst packing up the house for a recent house move, I found my final year dissertation from my 1996 chemistry degree. I didn’t understand a word of it! I got a pretty good mark so I’m assuming I understood it at the time.

I did law and am a lawyer so yes I do remember a bit.
i have an especially vivid memory of how funny Kevin gray’s land law lectures were. Who knew how much humour could be afforded by a constructive trust. That man could have gone far with some proper material.