Do you save & look over your old work from college?

[itskub]

Typical work such as weekly assignments and papers, etc. do you save them after the school year is over? And those of you that are long out of school, do you ever read your old stuff?

 

[DocHolliday]

I started saving stuff in kindergarten and never really looked at any of it, except to marvel that I'd kept it. There's a certain novelty to revisiting the storybook we stapled together in first grade, but that novelty is pretty short lived. Not worth hauling it around when you move, IMO. Save a few favorites, along with the stuff you might need in the immediate future, and trash the rest.

 

[celery]

Actual school work? No.

But I did save everything that I wrote for the school paper. I don't read it, but I did save it.

 

[Jumbie]

I've saved so much crap from highschool, undergrad and my post grad that it's ridiculous. I never look at 99.9% of it. Last year, I finally threw out my highschool stuff. Still have all the rest though but I guess I'll be getting rid of my undergraduate paraphernelia after graduating from my current degree.

 

[shoreman1782]

Michael Showalter does a funny bit where he reads a piece from his high school lit mag that is painfully unaware that its cynicism is unearned.

I did a lot of writing in college, and I wince when I read most of it, so I prefer not to, although I have an old iMac full of pieces. I shudder to think of what I wrote in high school.

If you're asking "should I save it?" I would save it electronically, but not the actual papers submitted.

 

[montecristo#4]

All mine died in a hard drive crash. Ditto for law school four years later. It's for the best. The work was brilliant, but I don't want a paper trail.

 

[tiecollector]

I used to save everything for various reasons. Recently, I moved into a very small place and I got rid of everything I hadn't used in 2 years. I have very little now.

The purge was cathartic, it helped me to stay moving forward in life. In the end, nobody cares about any of that stuff but me, and I don't even know why I cared about it in the first place.

I have saved every college textbook though because I look stuff up in them here and again.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by montecristo#4

All mine died in a hard drive crash. Ditto for law school four years later. It's for the best. The work was brilliant, but I don't want a paper trail.

You went to law school? I always thought you were in finance or something... Did all that work for nothing?

Originally Posted by tiecollector

I used to save everything for various reasons. Recently, I moved into a very small place and I got rid of everything I hadn't used in 2 years. I have very little now.

The purge was cathartic, it helped me to stay moving forward in life. In the end, nobody cares about any of that stuff but me, and I don't even know why I cared about it in the first place.

I have saved every college textbook though because I look stuff up in them here and again.

Ya, I keep textbooks around too. I throw out the work and notes though. My father still has some of the papers he wrote from university. He didn't keep most stuff, but I remember going through his things and finding it when I was a teen and thinking it was kind of cool. I'll probably keep the papers that I particularly enjoyed writing and got an A in though.

Generally, everything in my apartment has some function. I don't keep things for no treason and I don't collect trinkets. Some people's houses are literally filled with junk. I don't get it and I'd hate living like that.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Originally Posted by celery

Actual school work? No. But I did save everything that I wrote for the school paper. I don't read it, but I did save it.
+1 I save all my writing, art, music and even my playbills from yore. Some of it is fairly embarrassing but...meh.

 

[Go Surface]

Yes, writing anyways. But, I used to burn old artwork.

 

[bomber]

A guy at work was just talking about this...apparently he saved every single assignment/test/etc from HS/college and kept every single book as well.

I thought he was nuts, but it looks like maybe I am the weird one.

I would throw that stuff away the second I got it back (ie: teacher hands it back to me, I look at grade, I recycle). I also used to sell my textbooks back the very first day of finals (not even waiting for the actual final) just to ensure I could sell them back. If you waited until your Thursday final there was a good chance they wouldn't be buying back that particular book anymore as they would have too many copies.

What's the opposite of a packrat? That is what I would call myself

 

[kwilkinson]

Originally Posted by GoSurface

Yes, writing anyways. But, I used to burn old artwork.

God, that's terrible.... you should be burning the stuff you're working on now!

 

[montecristo#4]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

You went to law school? I always thought you were in finance or something... Did all that work for nothing?

I'm actually an exec at a software company. Law degree comes in handy in a startup environment from time to time, but basically it was a very expensive three year vacation.

 

[LabelKing]

I have kept all the walruses.

 

[repressedm]

I am throwing it away right now as we type.