I am a terrible student in that I do not know how to study. Learning always came easily to me, and I was always in honors-level classes, and even then, learning came easily. I never had to study. I just…readily absorbed.
Fast forward to now: I’m tackling subjects that aren’t rocket science, by any stretch of the imagination. But they are new. And so they require studying in order for me to retain and grasp the material. And since I never had to study, I never learned how to study, and so I’m terrible at studying.
I’ve got a system that is working well, so far, but I’m open to advice. What I’m doing is not only reading assigned material, but re-writing it in OneNote, re-reading those notes, and then reviewing the material in both optional and mandatory assignments…twice. I’ll do it once with notes, and then the second time without notes.
It sucks to be struggling, to be perfectly honest with you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, my grades are great (4.0 GPA last semester, and I hope for the same this semester; my goal is a 95% or better in each class), but it sucks to have to actually work at it. It’s…foreign.
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It’s a long-time study cliche, but handwriting things you need to learn and retain really does help imprint it on your brain. It helps me to simplify the information down as well into quick dot-point facts.
Reward candy every 45 minutes is also extremely motivating.