choose a partner who is good for you. not good for your parents. not good for your image. not good for your bank account. choose someone who’s going to make your life emotionally fulfilling.
I did really well during my first year of college, and aside from a B+ in statistics (which was really good for me, haha! I’m not good at math), I had A’s in all of my classes. I’m certain that the reason I did so well was due to the way that I figured out how to study, so here are some tips I have based on what I did to study this past year!
This isn’t high school anymore, it’s not embarrassing or nerdy to sit in the front row. By sitting in the front row, you won’t be tempted to check your phone and you won’t be distracted by looking at the people around you. I focus best in the front row. This also gives you a chance to easily ask any questions you have.
Show up to class about five minutes early every day, if possible. During the time it takes your professor to get set up, read through your previous notes. If you do this every day, you’ll begin to memorize info that you certainly wouldn’t have learned if you spent those five minutes before class just scrolling through tumblr.
If you prefer to spend a lot of time on hand written notes, then go crazy. However, I don’t really have time to make aesthetic notes, so I prefer to just write my notes by hand during class, then copy them into microsoft word so I can organize and print them out. This makes the notes much easier to read, and it’s much easier on the eyes.
I don’t know why there’s advice floating around on tumblr telling people that it’s okay to skip a ton of homework assignments, because I definitely wouldn’t recommend it at all. Of course some assignments might be stupid or seem too small to matter, but if you’re being graded on them, you need all the points you can get. Trust me, just because homework assignments only account for 10-15% of your final grade, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be the difference between a B+ and an A-. Think about it: if your homework is 10% of your grade and you didn’t do it, you would literally have to get NOTHING wrong on your exams just to get the lowest A- possible.
Don’t skip if you can help it. If there is a serious emergency and you really can’t make it, try your hardest to get the best notes you can from someone who was in class. There’s nothing worse than sitting down for a test and realizing that a ton of the questions are about content you missed when you were absent.
If you’re in the shower or waiting in line at the cafe, go over class material in your head. Think about what you learned that day. If you do this often, this will help significantly with retention.
Don’t be one of those students who has to relearn an entire textbook the week before finals. If you’re studying right, studying for finals should be relatively painless. Throughout the semester, make flashcards of class content and regularly go over them. The easiest way to do this is to use quizlet.com and fill in definitions and other things you need to know, and use their helpful games and quizzes to memorize the info. It even keeps track of the definitions you rarely get wrong, so you know what you don’t need to study as much.
When I study, I need to have a very specific to-do list detailing exactly what I want to get done. This will motivate you to keep going because you’re able to check off what you’ve already done.
This is much easier said than done, but I had to do this in my western civilization class when I very nearly failed the first set of exams. If this happens to you, you should definitely take time to be upset about the grade, but don’t let yourself think it’s the end of the world. If you do badly, at least you know what to expect on the next assignment/exam so you know how to alter your studying to prepare for the next one. You can do it! I started western civ with a high D+ after my first exams, but I pulled out with an A- at the end of the semester!
quote of the day / song of the day / thought of the day
what you’re looking forward to this month / year
goals for this month
spreads or lists for favourite films / shows / music albums / books
favourite film / show / music album of the week or month
ongoing projects and work to keep track of
to watch / to read / to listen to list
wishlist
places to visit
letter to your future self / letter to your past self
movie tickets / concert tickets / polaroids / receipts / stickers / stamps
self affirmations
playlists
five years from now
tattoo ideas
things to study / learn more about
favourite quotes / lyrics / poems
achievements / accomplishments / places you’ve been and things you’ve done and when
calming / grounding senses ( favourite sounds, smells, textures, and more )
support websites / phone numbers for reference