Needing To Apply What I Learned As A College Freshman

I admit it. I didn’t learn how to study in school. At least not until I got to college. I was a good student though. Mostly because I could pay attention and take great notes. Falling behind in reading was a common problem. Procras-
tination was also a curse that skulked me everywhere I went.

Incoming freshmen were offered free courses in study habits. I enrolled and went through it - twice. I failed out the first time. No grades were given and the course was completely voluntary - making my failure all the more lamentable. And embarrassing. It was, ironically enough, the one class that challenged my attention span and note-taking abilities. So I went through it again, blaming the first instructor for my failure. Turns out I was right. It went much better the second go round. The second instructor was clearly superior.

Budget your time. Right! Like I’m going to fill in those little blocks and pre-think everything I do each day. Not going to happen. Good idea, I had to admit, but impractical. Then I began to see kids all over campus refer to these little lists and schedules. Idiots. I kept mine in my head. Until I forgot all about an exam and showed up with not a shred of preparation. Wait a minute! This can’t happen. I pay close attention. I take good notes. I also skip classes every now and then. Turns out I had missed the prior class when the professor informed us a test would be forthcoming. For me, vomit was the only thing forthcoming.

I was an engineering student until I ran into a roadblock named Calculus. I fancied myself able to defeat any opponent. Not Calculus. Calculus was my Kryptonite. It slew me. Twice. But then the clouds parted. The sun began to shine. I left the School of Engineering, after a faculty advisor told me not to make such a foolish choice. “There’s no money in journalism,” he told me. I thanked him and skipped joyfully toward the School of Journalism, which readily accepted people with minimal math skills. Maybe journalism needs mathematically challenged people since there’s no money in it anyway. No matter, my academic career took off. I was back in my familiar place. I was again, a good student earning top grades.

Somewhere along the way I did learn how to study things that were of limited interest. It’s easy to study things you’re into. It’s all that other crap that drives us batty looking for the nearest cliff. “Why do I need to know this?” is the lamentation of all students. I’m old now and I know the real answer. Because the rest of us had to endure it. Now you need to suck it up and endure it like we did.

Really, the lesson is learning how to learn. At least I think that’s the point. It sounds much better than anything else.

As a college freshman I learned that setting priorities, taking care of business and preparation are the keys to successful study habits. Study skills involve scheduling time to handle the various chores of each class in a timely way so you don’t fall behind. And so you’re always prepared. I know it works, even if I failed to work it very much until I had about 45 hours of credit. It’s been useful to me in many other endeavors, too.

Life happened. I began to forget many things I had learned. Algebra, geometry, rules of English, Latin - they’re all a distant memory now. A wasted education perhaps. But those things that comprise good study skills are still vividly in my mind. I suspect having to go through it twice helped.

Today - this week, this month, this year - I find myself needing the skills I was taught in those study skills classes. I need a schedule. I need to stick to that schedule. Time is now my enemy. I’m certain that I have more days in my past than in my future. It’s a haunting thought, but realistic. Making better use of my time has got to be a bigger priority for me than ever before.

That’s the rub when it comes to study skills. Budget your time wisely and use your time wisely. Let nothing distract you from what needs to be done. Prepare yourself.

Today, I don’t need those skills for college courses. I need them for just about every other facet of my life though.