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My Own Approach To School WorkNov 16 '04 (Updated Nov 06 '06) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Succeeding is easy, but depends on how seriously you take the work. You have to be responsible with school work, so use it with your own discretion. Okay, I'm perhaps the last person who should advise you about succeeding in college academics. But if I got through college with a degree, you can get through college with a degree. You just have to execute a certain level of responsibility. Let's face it, you come to college to party your brains out but you also come here to become an adult. Forget about that crap about how it's the tools to becoming an adult. You're there to get a degree, but in the process to mature into an adult. Now, a little about me... In high school, I was a horrendous student. There were the honor students who got A's and B's. I got C's and D's. I was surprised to even end up with a grade of a C . I even spent one summer in summer school for biology. Now, speaking to any snobs who may look down upon summer school. You have to do what you need to do to get ahead. Who wants to spend another lousy year of their life studying the same damn thing? I certainly didn't, and summer school most definitely worked to my advantage. But getting back to the point, I wasn't a good student. Dirty looks from teachers were common from me. Maybe because I was a bit of a slacker, maybe because of my learning disability. There are lots of reasons but either way, I wasn't a strong student. I wasn't a bad one but compared to others, I could've tried harder. Seriously, I was surprised that the school I graduated from, had even accepted me, but I went. By now, it would've been impossible to even get into this school, had I been in high school with the grades I had back then. My freshman year, I could've tried much harder. But I ended up with a 1.85, just barely sliding by the school rule of getting kicked out. But I began working my way up to a much more respectable average than when I finally graduated, it was with honors. Yes, it was with hard work and perseverance, but on the other hand, college academics are a very different field from high school academics. Here are a few things I can say about how you need to succeed in college academics... 1. FRIENDS For me, one of the biggest distractions about college were my friends. Sure, it's great to have friends but not ones that will pull you away from work you need to do. I can recall one of my friends berating another for not wanting to hang out. But the one being berated, had an important assignment he couldn't pass up despite his friend's constant pleas. Who would've thought two years later, I'd be with the same crew taking heat for not wanting to do something with them. We were at a wedding when they were nagging me about going out to a bar after the reception by saying "We don't do these things that often. You gotta go." But continually, I refused saying that I had a test to study for. Friends are a great thing, but they can be a bad influence. It's bad when you friends can be a distraction so you have to use some discretion. If you have a big assignment due the day after your friends getting down your throat. You have to prioritize what's more important. Hanging with your buddies or doing your school work. Anyway, after having left the reception, I found out from a friend that all they did was go to a bar and watch basketball. I'm glad I refused the invite because I'm not into sports and I don't want to waste the time. There are going to be other opportunities with your friends, but you can't let them get in the way of your school work. A project had more priority than doing stuff with them, because I don't want to fail the class. 2. STUDYING Studying is usually a priority when it comes to school work. You can study during the day, you can study during the night. Hell, you can study when you're sitting on the toilet. Now, I had no particular schedule when I was doing school work, but I didn't want to lag behind. Every night, I went to the library four nights a week to get schoolwork done. Whether studying for a test or working on a term paper, I was serious about getting the work done. If you study for even a half hour a day, it will be beneficial. I don't want to lecture, but college work is harder than high school was. I made time to go over notes in class or try to get what work I could, done. Another thing about studying is working in group projects. Depending on the group you work in, make sure you're doing your part and work with your group regularly. Always look out for the students who are trying to coast by on your work and taking it as their credit as well. I dealt with a couple people like that and they were cast out in the cold. There was one schmuck who was supposed to edit a video with me and another compadre. This guy avoided it all together and during one editing session, I saw him outside reading a magazine. Of course, he completely skipped the session and didn't as much even leave a message with either of us. His excuse was that he was going to class. On the day we handed our project in, he asked if we put his name on the project, which we informed him we didn't. He drew a blank facial expression but we told him that he didn't do anything. He knew we were right. Another incident revolved around a group of girls I was working with in a history class. There was a girl who never made it a point to come to any of our study sessions or be proactive about what was going on. But it was just so convenient that she came to the day of the presentation to provide her two cents. Shortly after, a couple of the girls approached the professor and told her the real story. Don't let people ride on your coat tails if they're not willing to put the work in either. You've worked too hard on something that you should get the credit for, and make sure the people you work with are aiming for the same thing. In college, you'll deal with at least a few people who are too lazy to take initiative and do their share of the work. But they'll have no problem taking the undeserved credit. 3. REGISTRATION One of the biggest setbacks in failing in college academics, is registration. You have to keep an eye on class registration like a hawk. Because either the administration can screw up big time, or you registered at the wrong time. Either way, it has to be a thoughtful process that you have to go over. You should always go over what classes you need to take and when they're convenient. As a result, many students don't graduate because they didn't pay attention to what classes they were registered for. In other words, you have to be a pain in the a*s to your professors and the administration sometimes. Because seriously, are they going to make sure you graduate or should you? In college, people spend as much as seven years in school because they can be irresponsible. You've got to get on the ball about what classes you're taking, because you don't want to end up in school for another semester. 4. ATTENDANCE Another drawback is class attendance. In college, you're an adult which means you go to class. It's like work, you show up like you're supposed to. If you don't, it will penalize you. There are countless people I've known in college, who skipped class from partying too much and being too irresponsible. Sure, you can skip a class once or twice but don't set yourself into a pattern because it will bite you. I knew a few people who got kicked out of school or dropped out because of skipping too many classes, but yet it's not their fault, it's the school's. In college, friendships are formed and it's great to know someone in class. Those people may be in class the day you weren't, and can give you the skinny on what you missed, or what you need to know. I strongly encourage people to know someone in their class. Depending on the professor, some can be gratuitous and help their students out by letting them know about the assignments. But more often than not, they won't help a student. It's also good to study with people in class, so you know where you stand and what kind of work you're doing. This might be an advantage to you. 5. ALL NIGHTERS This has a special section, but the all nighter is quite an interesting thing. I didn't gorge myself on studying all night, but I'd say at least one night a semester, I was up all night doing school work. Whenever finals rolled around, the library was open 24/7 and guess who was studying for the night. Getting back to the friends at the reception, I got back to my campus apartment around 3pm and studied all the way through till about 9:30am the next day which was the day of the test. Nuts, huh? Of course, I took a two hour nap but I studied an entire semester's worth of work by drilling it into my brain. That work consisted of notes and some stage plays. A couple days later, I got the final grade which was 93 percent. Now, I wouldn't advise anyone to study for that long, and rest is encouraged. It's important to study periodically throughout the semester. So I guess that's all I really have to say about succeeding in college academics. It depends on you the student, and how much responsibility you can handle and how much discretion you should use. There's no use in skipping around classes and forgetting what you need to do. College can be fun, but at the same time it's about work that needs to be done. Don't slack off on the work by avoiding it.  |
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