Do You Really Need All Those Past College Papers?

By Rene Santana on February 6, 2020

How long do you think do you need to hold on to all those term papers? Were they all really your best work? I held on to mine for the longest time until I decided to browse through them and proceeded to royally embarrass myself. I am not proud of 60% of my schoolwork. I’m definitely more proud of completing my five years of college, but not the term papers I had to sacrifice to get there.

Image by Alec Jackson from Pixabay

Image by Alec Jackson from Pixabay

Before I decided to get rid of my old papers, I was scared that I would get in trouble for doing so. But when I thought about it, I realized that unlike tax papers and W2s, you’re not going to ever get in trouble for throwing away your old files.

I kept my papers for so long because I wholeheartedly believed I was at some point going to look through it to find some golden nugget of information. In reality, what I came to find was irrelevant info that I could find online if I needed to. But before we figure out if college should be replaced by Google search, let’s remember the main purposes of college: to gain experience and learn valuable lessons. And also to be able to show off all your hard work on a piece of paper.

While I feel as though my homework should be worth something, I can’t help but think that I won’t go back to reread my notes from every class. Even if I did actively attempt to review my notes, I noticed that I could hardly read my handwriting and that most of it was in-context to something taught in class. But even for the notes I did understand, I still decided to toss them. I only kept a few pages of notes, and did so because they had actual information I knew I’d reference periodically.

Once I finished clearing out my papers, I did indeed feel much lighter mentally. I have gotten the crazy inclination to dig out my papers and reconsider each one individually. But like I said, it’s just a crazy idea. And now, since I don’t have to look through those papers, I can rest easy and just look through the textbook (see next paragraph) or research online if I need to remember something. Even without each paper, I still hold all the experiences and memories, and maybe it’s better like that so that I can slowly forget all the parts I don’t want to remember.

I do still have a few of my class textbooks, but it’s because I have referenced each one for the work I currently do. As a content/technical writer, some of the textbooks I got in college were, and still are, super insightful. I can’t say the same for my general classes though. My rule for textbooks is if it came from a degree-specific class, consider if you can see yourself opening it up for one of your future jobs. If not, then sell it to the next student who needs it. You can also donate it to Goodwill or any other thrift store. The reason why I don’t say to toss it is because these books typically have some decent amount of information relevant to someone.

So while you could hold on to each and every one of your papers, you may want to consider lifting the burden of rereading your papers and just letting them go. And if you have made the decision to ditch the papers, check out Katie Azevedo’s guide on what to do with old papers.

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College Textbooks Listings

Far from the Tree

Author: Andrew Solomon

ISBN: 0743236718

ISBN13: 9780743236713

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ISBN: 1133308643

ISBN13: 9781133308645

Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class

Author: Joseph F. Healey

ISBN: 1452216517

ISBN13: 9781452216515

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