Should You Save Your Old Schoolwork for Sentimental Reasons?

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In summary: I don't know, I think my cats ate it all?I save my stuff, I got them around there somewhere. There is some stuff back at my parent's house and some back...I don't know, I think my cats ate it all?In summary, people who keep their school materials tend to have more interesting and nostalgic memories from those years.
  • #1
waht
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I've got a box full of notebooks, graded homework, essays, and notes dating back to high school, and I don't know what to do with it. So wondering if you guys kept your school materials for any sentimental value. Or if you haven't, would you like to look at the stuff years later?
 
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  • #2
I do, but I don't know why. The notebooks I can sort of see, but I have no clue why I hang on to graded homework after the semester is over. Doesn't seem like much of a point.
 
  • #3
I haven't kept everything. I think I've kept more than most people do, though. I enjoy looking back at what I've done and how far I've come. Some of the most interesting things I've found have been my 1st and 2nd grade writing assignments. To see the way I viewed the world back then is highly amusing. I have a few author's conference awards in which I had completely forgotten I had participated, and finding them reminded of how little I cared about such achievements at that age. I can view them now and gain some satifaction and sense of accomplishment.

I am someone who enjoys observing progress. Also, nostalgia (in "healthy doses") can promote psycological health. If you've got the room, keep 'em! :smile:
 
  • #4
I have all of my graduate class notes 3 feet away. I never know when an example of a CD nozzle, or temperature distribution of a cylinder might be useful.
 
  • #5
I didn't keep almost anything from high school. However I kept everything in college. I'm now done with the second year.

If your box grow too much, maybe you could scan all your courses and keep the images in your computer. Then trash some/all courses.
 
  • #6
I have been scanning all mine with a Fujitsu ScanSnap. I've really started to love this thing. Cut up hundreds of my books and scanned them into my computer (hundreds of pounds and I was worried they might fall through the floor!). Searchable pdfs are so... *puts on shades* ...nice to have.
 
  • #7
Newai said:
I have been scanning all mine with a Fujitsu ScanSnap. I've really started to love this thing. Cut up hundreds of my books and scanned them into my computer (hundreds of pounds and I was worried they might fall through the floor!). Searchable pdfs are so... *puts on shades* ...nice to have.

What is this "Fujtsu ScanSnap"?
 
  • #8
For personal use, a very small 2-sided color scanner.
 
  • #9
I think I have most of my workbooks from grades 1-11. I particularly like my grade 3 books: grade 3 was when I started writing in English after coming to Canada, and it's interesting to laugh at how bad my writing was back then. I was surprised that looking at the workbooks actually brought back thoughts that I had in grade 3: "hm...what's the difference between 'side' and 'said'?".

Newai: hundreds of pounds of books? :bugeye:Was this a lifetime project or just a decade-long project?
 
  • #10
It's an interesting scanner. Just insert documents like a dollar in a vending machine.
 
  • #11
Newai said:
I have been scanning all mine with a Fujitsu ScanSnap. I've really started to love this thing. Cut up hundreds of my books and scanned them into my computer (hundreds of pounds and I was worried they might fall through the floor!). Searchable pdfs are so... *puts on shades* ...nice to have.
Searchable PDF's? Wow, that's incredibly nice. What program(s) are you using?


ideasrule said:
I think I have most of my workbooks from grades 1-11. I particularly like my grade 3 books: grade 3 was when I started writing in English after coming to Canada, and it's interesting to laugh at how bad my writing was back then. I was surprised that looking at the workbooks actually brought back thoughts that I had in grade 3: "hm...what's the difference between 'side' and 'said'?".

Newai: hundreds of pounds of books? :bugeye:Was this a lifetime project or just a decade-long project?

Out of curiosity, where are you from originally?
 
  • #14
lisab said:
Do you prepare to respond to a post by donning shades :-p?
Watch MIB to see why. :-p
 
  • #15
That scanner sounds fast pretty fast compared to mine. I wouldn't be willing to pull books apart though.
 
  • #16
I save my stuff, I got them around there somewhere. There is some stuff back at my parent's house and some back at my place. I think I'll put it all together in a big box or something. It's mostly college and now graduate school. My high school, I've kept some notebooks but not everything.
 
  • #17
I think I have some stuff lying around from high school, but this is largely because I just forgot to throw it away. I've only started "officially" keeping my old homeworks starting in grad school. I figure that the average physicist's knowledge of physics only goes down after taking the PhD qualifier, so I should probably keep this stuff around so I can have some record of what I used to know, physics-wise.
 
  • #18
lisab said:
Do you prepare to respond to a post by donning shades :-p?
Not... *presses reply button* ...necessarily.

:cool:
 
  • #19
My 'pack-rattedness' is almost unsurpassed. A significant occupation of the C-can that I have parked in my yard consists of my high-school binders. (I don't know how it works elsewhere, but our textbooks remained the property of the school.) I'll probably never look at them again, but I keep them around as a reminder that I was a hell of a lot funnier 35 years ago than I have been since.
 
  • #20
Yes i do ,i still hold my primary school notes and papers.and I've gratuated from college now.i think that notes and papers includ childhood memeries.http://www.power4game.com/" hehehe...
 
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  • #21
fluidistic said:
Out of curiosity, where are you from originally?

Mainland China. I moved here after my parents decided to come back and get me (they were studying in the US before that).
 
  • #22
ideasrule said:
Mainland China. I moved here after my parents decided to come back and get me (they were studying in the US before that).

Shanghai ,glad to see u here !:blushing:
 
  • #23
This sounds like an almost vebatim repeat of a question on a similar forum...

Or perhaps my deja vu is repeating repeating itself again again.

But, to answer your question: For the math/science/physics stuff, I tended to pair down the quarter's content into final exam "study guides," just condensed notes and mnemonics to aid in studying. I chucked the rest after class, but kept my crib notes, as well as about half of my college texts.
 
  • #24
fluidistic said:
...you could scan all your courses and keep the images in your computer. Then trash some/all courses.
I agree. Just scan them into images/pdfs, and throw out the hard copies.
 
  • #25
My fathers heats home in winter with a boiler, in which he burns wood. I had too much paper anyways :cry:
 
  • #26
I've kept all my math work from grade 12 calculus and advanced functions courses... I also kept my work from my psychology class, philosophy class and I kept my kinesiology textbook (i was supposed to return it but forgot.)

I kept the math work (calculus and advanced functions) incase I ever wanted to take the course again to potentially improve my mark. I never did so I gave the notes to my girlfriends sister who was taking the course this year :smile: (not the example work just the notes on various lectures and all the tests marked with answers).

I kept the psychology work because I thought it was interesting... ditto for philosophy and I was quite impressed with the papers I wrote (so was the teacher) so I kept them too about 5 of them (for 2 philosophy courses they were on love, war, reality, time, government, and science).

The kinesiology textbook I kept by mistake I was supposed to return it but that thing is so packed full of useful information that when I found it I just decided it wasn't worth the time to go return it.

EDIT: Oh yeah I also kept some law case reviews a model UN resolution that I wrote (even though during the course of the meet every country was against me... I was the USA... my resolution was passed with 100% votes) and a random law essay on the death penalty and extradition
 
  • #27
I keep them for a year or two after the class (if the class was interesting enough to me that I think the material will be useful in my graduate studies). Then go through it and skim it down later. I just threw out just about everything I've kept.

Uhh, der, I have the intranets, I do'need no homeworks.
 

FAQ: Should You Save Your Old Schoolwork for Sentimental Reasons?

Do you keep physical or digital copies of your school notes and papers?

I keep both physical and digital copies of my school notes and papers. I prefer to take handwritten notes in class, but I also scan and save them digitally for easy access and organization.

How do you organize your school notes and papers?

I organize my school notes and papers by subject and date. I have separate folders for each subject and I label each note or paper with the date and topic. This helps me easily find and reference my notes when studying for exams or writing papers.

Do you keep all of your school notes and papers or do you throw them away?

I keep most of my school notes and papers, but I do throw away or recycle ones that are no longer relevant or necessary. I also make sure to keep important notes or papers that may be useful for future courses or exams.

How long do you keep your school notes and papers?

I typically keep my school notes and papers for at least a year after the course has ended. This allows me to review and reference them if needed for other courses or exams. After a year, I will go through and determine which notes and papers I no longer need to keep.

Do you have any tips for keeping school notes and papers organized?

My tip for keeping school notes and papers organized is to establish a system that works for you and stick to it. Whether it's organizing by subject or date, find a method that makes it easy for you to find and reference your notes. Also, make sure to regularly review and declutter your notes and papers to avoid unnecessary clutter.

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