Study Tips

Like most people, I have opinions and I like to share them. Its not that I think I’m smarter or better than anyone else, but I like people to hear my point of view. I like it even better when they share it. For that reason, one of the best skills I learned in college was how to go about writing a persuasive essay. Essays are a huge part of getting a college degree. Some colleges make you write an essay just to get in to the school. Talk about the need to be persuasive! Almost every college starts you out with Freshman English where you learn the finer points of persuasive essay writing. It’s not just a degree requirement, it’s a life requirement.

The first step in writing a persuasive essay is to know what you are trying to get people to think or do. You are going to make a change in their thinking in some way. That’s a good thing because going to college is all about changing the way you think. Once you know what change you are trying to make, come up with a list of reasons why your idea is better or reasonable. I like to find reasons that aren’t just important to me, but are helpful to anyone. For example, if I want to write a persuasive essay on recycling, I don’t just talk about how I think it’s important. One of the first things I learned in college was that no one cares what I think is important. They care about what they think is important. Instead I would write about why it’s important to them not to waste the planet’s resources. Persuasion is always focused on the person you want to persuade.

The next step is to have support or back-up material for your view. Getting a college degree means you are working with high level thinking skills. It’s not enough to say, “Because I think so”. So do some research and find evidence, data, statistics or an expert to show your idea is valid and meaningful. You don’t have to be a specialist, but it’s good to have one on your side.

Finally, write your persuasive essay clearly and directly. State your position, give the reasons and back-up evidence you researched, and end with a conclusion that helps people wrap up the thought in a clear way. Remember, you start persuading the minute you get ready to go to college for a degree. You’ll still be persuading when you graduate.

“Why do I have to study this stuff?” I would whine all the way through high school grammar. “I am never going to use it. When am I ever going to be referencing essays?” My teacher would just laugh and assign us five more questions. I never knew why she found that so funny until I started working on my college degree. Then it hit me. Not only did she know I was going to need this “stuff”, she also knew I was going to use it almost every day. Referencing, the art of showing where a quote or source material actually come from, is a part of almost every paper you will write pursuing your degree. Because so much of research and content are from online or printed essays, referencing them is an important thing to know.

What you have to remember about referencing essays is that an essay is a smaller work of non-fiction usually published as part of a whole work. When you are referencing essays you need to know the title and author of the essay, but also the title and author of the larger work that it come from. For example if I am quoting from an essay entitled, “Why Green Tomatoes Are Better for Frying”, I would cite the author of the essay, Joyce Lane, and then site the book, Southern Cooking for Beginners edited by Carole Klingman.

In the MLA (Modern Language Association) style of referencing which is used for degree essays involving humanities and liberal arts, essays are always given quotations and the book or resource is given italics or handled the way the larger resource should be handled. Working at the college level, you are actually citing a source within a source and the grammar rules for both types of sources must be applied.

Grammar can seem like a lot of rules all at the same time, however once you realize how important they will be to your daily life as you are earning your college degree you’ll discover the time you spend on the “stuff” will save you from whining far into your future.

Talent is a real thing, and there are many talented people around. I discovered while getting my degree in college that it’s easy to fall into the myth of talent. The myth is that some people are born with it and some people who aren’t. Somehow I got the idea talented writers came out of the womb with pens in their hands and words in their heads. They never had to struggle with grammar or awkward sentences and writing flowed out of them as effortlessly as their breath. I could not have been more wrong. Writing isn’t about some magical ability dropped on just a few lucky souls. Good writing is about researching, re-organizing, and re-writing. I learned that when I had to study the skill of academic report writing.

Writing of the academic nature involves creating an organized pathway of information that gives the reader knowledge through a series of arguments and proofs. An academic report is to a college degree what the meat is to a sandwich. The ability to take information, research facts and opinions about it, and write it in an organized fashion with an introduction, research, discussion and conclusion is the ability which shows the value of your college education to the world. Every job requires some kind of reporting, and every boss is looking for people who write factual information clearly.

An important element of academic report writing other than the organization flow of thought is re-writing. Proofread your report carefully and make sure it is free of grammar and spelling errors. Check the statistics and facts to be sure you didn’t transpose numbers or leave out a source citation. Put your report on a shelf overnight and read it the next day. Does it say what you meant for it to say? Factual writing has a collegiate standard to live up to and meeting that standard isn’t about some illusive magical talent. It’s about careful attention to detail, organization and the discipline to do the work.

When it comes to my shopping and tendencies to bargain hunt, I always have to tell my friends I am not “cheap”.  I am “value seeking”.  Value is more than a word we throw around during holiday sales and on used car lots.  Value is a formula that measures what up put in, versus what you get out. If you get out more than you put in, you have something with value. When thinking of the money, time, energy and effort you are putting into college the natural questions becomes, “What is the value of a college degree?”

Your college degree will be filled with many types of value. Financially, we know that people with college degrees make, on average, two to three times more money than people without them. College degrees also open the door to advanced degrees which add more capability for you to earn a higher wager and advance in your workplace.  A college degree opens the doors to employment wider and faster than trying to earn all the experience you can working but having no education to show for your time. A college degree also removes the barrier that keeps you from advancing farther in your work. Some jobs in your company require a degree. Even if you know the job backwards and forwards, without the degree, it will go to someone else.

There is more value than just financial and vocational.  Having a college degree changes you. It shapes the way you think and gives you skills for critical analysis, thoughtful response and insightful decisions. A college degree will also broaden the scope of your human experience by exposing you to new cultures, thoughts, arts and sciences. You become a well rounded person and are affirmed in the knowledge that you have the discipline it takes to get any job done.

When you look at the diploma framed on the wall with your name on it, you will always be proud and know that your college degree has brought you a lifetime of pride, accomplishment and opportunity. That is value.

I have a reasonably good memory. At least, I think I do until I want to remember something specific or need to remember something under pressure, and then my crystal clear recall fades into a blurry sorta-half-right-kinda remembrance that does no good for anyone else and makes me look like I’ve had too much sugar for one day. The only way for me to survive college and get good grades was to develop a keen system of note taking. No matter how carefully you listen in class or review a text, note taking will help you get the most of your lessons and achieve good grades in your college degree program.

When note taking for a degree course, write the class, date, and topic of the lecture on the top of the page. If the lecture corresponds with a chapter in the book, then write that in the top corner also. When its time to study and you want to look up information the top of your pages will become a handy index to locate the quote or fact you are looking to find. After the header, write down anything your professor writes down, particularly if it’s a date, chart or statistics. Professors don’t usually write something out unless they want you to know it. Write down any specific phrase or idea that is a main point of the lecture. Finally, if the professor mentions a page or paragraph in the textbook make a note of it as well to review of any exams that may contain it. The best rule of note taking for a college degree class is: if it’s important to the professor, it’s important to you.

Note taking from a text is a different kind of system. Many people simply highlight their book or write notes in the margins. The problem with that is when you need quick access to the information; you end up thumbing through the book to find it. A better way is to get a small notebook that goes with your textbook. When you highlight, write down the page number and topic or item you pointed out. That will help you locate the information in a timely manner.

We know that writing reinforces memory, and while you’re pursuing your college degree a good memory and a great set of notes can be your best friends.

Realizing that being in dorm rooms with 3 other girls was not always conducive to good study habits or quiet time; my college had placed study areas all over the university grounds. There where study carols in the library, tables in the commons, a study hall in the union and private rooms in the dorms. I could always tell where a study area was, because it was always empty. People simply don’t know how to study. However, for success in pursuing your college degree finding the best method of study is going to be a life-saver.

If you really do live in a dorm with other loud people, you may want to take advantage of your college’s study areas. If not, the best way to study is devising your own study area. Get a desk with space to write (your computer desk will be fine as long as it has space for books too) and keep a jar of pens, highlighters and other necessities. Once your mind connects that place as a study place it will help you get in the mindset to study. Concentration is the key to effective study time. Efficiency experts have said that every time your concentration is broken it can take up to 8 minutes of time to get refocused. So turn off the TV, and don’t study in an area where people will talk to you intermittently.

Many people cannot study in silence because our culture simply isn’t used to quiet anymore. The best thing to do is play music, particularly classical music, in the background. It becomes a kind of “white noise” which blocks out distractions and gives you the ability to think more clearly. Have a goal in mind for what you want to accomplish in the session and set a milestone. If your goal is to read two chapters, don’t get until you have done so. If you are working on a paper, don’t leave until you have 3 pages written. Decide for yourself a reasonable goal and stick to it.

Every person is unique and has unique study habits. Find the method that works best for you, and stick with it and your college degree will be done before you know it.

My childhood was full of critical thinking.  “Look at the way you made your bed! It looks like 3 chickens are hiding from Colonel Sanders under that bedspread!  When was the last time you cleaned your room? If the lion, the witch and the wardrobe were all in this room, you’d never know because you couldn’t find them.  When you got dressed this morning, did you stop by a mirror and even think about matching your clothes?” It was only when I got into college that I realized that wasn’t critical thinking. That was criticism.  Critical thinking has nothing do with tearing something down. It’s all about analysis and building arguments up.

Critical thinking skills are higher level thought processes that are very important to develop as you pursue your college degree. They involve things like the ability to think independently of other people, suspend judgment and listen to things fairly whether they match your belief system or not, evaluation the credibility of sources of information, establishing a set of standards for a thought to meet before it’s validated (Is it true? Is it reliable? Is it proven?), and analyzing the consequences of actions.  As a college student you will be required to develop your critical thinking skills to get along in the academic setting.

College teaches you a lot more than facts or numbers. You will have professors that challenge your thinking and world views. That mark of someone with a college degree is the ability to hear something you disagree with and listen politely, then display your own opinion with grace and courtesy.  You will be required to analyze sources of information and decide what is valid. A person with a college degree knows better than to use Wikipedia as their only source of information.  You will have to learn to think independently and make up your own mind about facts in evidence. Meaning, if all your friends jumped off a cliff, you wouldn’t. 

Develop a sense of high mindedness so you can embrace the academic environment and all the challenges it represents.

For most young nerds like me, high school was a magical time. I watched a lot of Star Wars and Star Trek re-runs, played on the chess team and spent my time hanging out with friends and hastily turning in assignments that got me good enough grades to stay out of trouble and earn me more movie privileges.  I didn’t have to study, and I didn’t have to worry.  Then I went to college and boy was I in for a shock.  My professor didn’t care if I had a chess tournament or I was watching a Twilight Zone marathon. He didn’t even care that I had 4 other classes.  My nerdish glasses and reputation were not earning me any points and I discovered my only hope of surviving long enough to get a college degree was improving my study skills.

Study skills are conscious decisions you make about your time, your homework and your attitude. Improving them means first taking stock of where you lack discipline or ability. Look at the subjects you are taking in the term. Is there one that is harder or requires more work? Put it at the top of the list of things to do so you can devote as much time to it as possible. If you are bad in math but good with language, do your math homework first and double check it. Language will wait for you.  Set aside a schedule of work and play. If you know you have a paper do on Friday, spend one to two hours a day on it Monday through Friday so nothing overwhelms you. That also helps if you get deep into a topic and discover it will require more time than you had planned.  There’s nothing worse for your grades than to discover at 3:00 AM the night before it’s due that you need a lot more research. 

Part of the habit change that comes with getting a college degree is learning to discern what is most important. A chapter must be read before a report can be written. You have to put the information in your head before you can refresh it before the test. In other words, cramming words and phrases in your short-term memory thirty minutes before the test is not good enough and really doesn’t work.  Improving your study skills is a matter of setting your priorities and following through with them. Remember, study hard for your test on Thursday morning, and you can then watch Star Wars without worry all Friday night.

Anyone getting a college degree will come across a professor or two that will change their life. I certainly had a few and one of them that I remember most was a Speech and English teacher pulling out her hair trying to get a bunch of students to learn how to write an academic report. One day, when all of her other sayings and hints had seemed to fail and the reports were still unfocused piles of words poured out on pages she said the following memorable analogy. “In writing, organization is like your underwear. No one wants to see it, but everyone wants to know you have some on.” Finally we got the point. We needed a definable organized pattern to follow.

Writing an academic report for a college degree is the essence of organized thought. Once you have a topic and researched it taking notes and creating a bibliography, an outline will help you lay out a pattern for the report. An academic report should have a title page, small introductory section that contains your thesis statement or the main point of your report, a section for background and information, and a section for discussing the thesis, and a conclusion that clearly reiterates what point is contained in the paper. Finally, endnotes (if applicable) and a bibliography are placed at the end of the report.

Academic reports are considered technical writing, not creative writing. The purpose is to impart information in a cogent and clear manner. You are getting a college degree, not writing the novel of the ages. Language should reflect the vocabulary of the topic of the report and concise sentences are a must. All thoughts should focus on be centered on the main thesis and reflect a general knowledge and direction for the ideas to flow. The conclusion should replay the information in one two sentences designed for closure and understanding.

Academic reports that you write while getting your college education are truly a time for your logical thinking to shine. Follow the model of organization and not only will your degree will progress smoothly, but people will always think you are wearing underwear.

It’s always the little things that get you. After waking up late I ran to school in the rain, raced up the stairs past friends and professors and dived in the classroom landing my wet-haired, panting self in my chair right as the bell rang for class to start. I thought I made the save of the day by not being late, until I realized my homework was still nice and dry, sitting on my desk at home. Little things. They can drive you crazy, but they matter. Even though the essays you write while earning your college degree may not seem like big works of literature, doing them correctly will make all the difference when the time comes to receive your grade. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to reference an essay.

Essays, though small, require the same amount of care and detail as a thesis or larger work. Your college professor will let you know whether your essay should be written in MLA (Modern Language Association), the way for humanities or APA (American Psychological Association), the method for sciences or by “Chicago Style” from the Chicago Manual of Style used mostly for larger scientific documents like books or dissertations. You will probably use all three styles while getting your college degree.

In MLA the books and resources you use will be listed on a back page called the “works cited” page. In your text you will list in parenthesis the author’s last name and the page number of the quote or material you used to support your documentation. In APA you may use footnotes or endnotes. You can also use a References page at the end where you list all the sources you cited in-text in alphabetical order by author. The standard for APA is usually footnotes unless the references are many. Chicago Style uses endnotes or parenthetical notation to show its sources.

It’s easy to think a little essay doesn’t require a lot of detail. But make sure you know how to reference an essay properly. Trust me; it’s the little things that always get you.