College is definitely a lot different than you expect. Whether you're working towards your degree at a community college, a university, or online, there are lots of ways you can be a success and achieve what you want. This semester, I learned some valuable things and I'd like to share my tips on how to survive the ever-present impending social expectations in college-form for us young
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Tip #1: Stop the media.
It's real easy to get distracted, especially when you're studying an oh-so-boring topic for your next exam. But tuning out the distractions will help you hone your studying skills. Concentration is key. Turn OFF your cell phone. Shut down your laptop. Put some peaceful music in the background, hop on your bed with a glass of something cold, and get down to it. The sooner you tackle your day's worth of reading, the better you'll understand the material you will be later tested on.
Tip #2: Learn to be a scribe.
Scribes, unless they were meant to, never wrote down everything single thing. If you did, you'd just be writing your own personally scribbled copy of your textbook and that's useless. Notes are essential to learning and applying the text you just read, so write down the important parts. What are the important parts? Phrases, things repeated, words in bold, definitions, and anything else that your teacher has hinted will be needed later on.
Sure, you can't always relive a party. But will that party matter ten years from now? Probably not. This is probably the most hardest thing to say no to, but learning to skip out of parties or dinners or events to study doesn't make you a nerd, it makes you learn. Then, once you've finished your work, then you can better enjoy your time with friends, knowing you've accomplished your homework and are treating yourself for being a better student than most!
Regardless of how well your grades were, there are ways you can improve next semester. There's hope, a little light at the end of the tunnel. Now that finals are over, it's time to turn over a new leaf.
Good luck,
Those are good tips! In regards to #1 and #3, you do need to be careful to not go to the opposite extreme. I had a period a few months ago where I basically shut off all my media, didn't really go out much, and just studied. I got a lot done, but when I got back into media and friendships and such, I realized how much I had missed and how many relationships I had to rebuild. I would recommend scheduling friend and media times, and keeping them to that time, except in cases where you do need to hit the books hard.
ReplyDeleteAh, a valid point! Unfortunately I've never had the gumption to turn off all media, but balance is key, you're right. :)
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