The semester is coming to a close and after a long spring of endless note taking and textbook reading students may feel tempted to toss everything straight into the garbage bin.
Should students be taking this liberty, though? Or should students be holding onto their notes and textbooks for future classes and careers?
Student Success Services Director Paul Hesco said he “would encourage [students to keep their notes] if they think there’s a chance they’ll need to reference it.”
Whether or not students should hold on to these notes all comes down to what they think is important for their future classes or careers. Hesco said that if the notes and textbooks relate directly to their profession, it may be a good idea to keep them in case they need to reference them.
Textbooks and other course materials can be just as important as notes to students’ future careers, Hesco said.
“The notes are personal, [students] will know what they mean, but if they actually need to reference something, the books are useful for that,” said Hesco.
Freshman level course notes and materials that are targeted for solely toward a degree and are not relevant the students’ personal careers may not be as important as upper division courses that are more strongly related to those specific degrees.
For example, if a student were a chemistry major and took a history class just to fill one of the college requirements to receive their degree, Hesco said, their chemistry notes may come more in handy to review for future chemistry classes than their history notes.
Textbooks are also a good resource to keep and utilize, for not only referencing back to them in future coursework, but because students most likely paid for these books and they are not always cheap.
Students, in the end, are the deciders on whether they want to keep or chuck their notes. Notes and textbooks may come in handy to some degrees that are extensive in formulas and theories, while others may not substantial significant reasons into keeping them.
However, if students do feel like they do not need their notes or books, their are options in how to get rid of them. Students may recycle their notes in the the multiple recycling bins throughout campus, and with textbooks, students may sell them back to the University Store.
Students can also sell or donate their books to many different businesses around town and some of the colleges on campus.
