A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:Ok. So i know this is one of those standardised question but I have to ask. I have lost all confidence in myself at college. Nothing seems to be going my way. I spend ages working and studying at what I am doing in college but it never works out well for me. I just about pass exams. I have friends who dont study and manage to do better than me. The last two days I have been working hard for an exam while my friends spent 2 days at the beach drinkibng I might add and they still did better than me. I go to all my lectures and classes when they dont but it never works out. My friends all think I am dry and that all I want to do is work but I do have fun just that I dont always do it. I know the limit. I am freaking out now because it’s the alst few days and I have 2 exams left and I need great grades to show that living away from home this year was worth it. I loved every minute of being away from home and I worked but I wonder would I have done better if I stayed home. What should I do bout college now??? Can anyone help????? Any advice woukld be greatful!!! :D
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female
reader, maverick494  +, writes (29 March 2012):
I suffered from the same issue you have, being that my grades didn't reflect the amount of time and effort put into it. Here's what I did:
#1. Let go of your peers superior grades. It doesn't help YOU. It only makes you miserable. Consider that they may have the right studying approach for them and you haven't find yours.
#2. Find out what studying approach works for you.
For example, after trial and error I found I pick up more through listening than reading. So I have adjusted my studying method accordingly:
What I do when I have an exam is to collect all the important info and read it to myself out loud and record it. I then divide it into segments of chapters and load them into my ipod so I can listen and go back to the segment I feel I don't know well enough yet.
If you're a very visual person, try to associate things with images or put key words and passages in different colours.
Others may find that writing things down helps them. Etc. Try and pinpoint your own preferred way of picking up info.
#3. Start studying far ahead. Start at least a week prior. Or even better, start studying right along in class when the final test is just a speck on the horizon.
#4. Don't do intensive reading and drilling or important passages for hours at a time. Listen to your head. When you start to sense you're getting tired, take at least a 15 minute break doing something completely different (take a stroll, get something to drink, etc.) and then get back at it. Don't study too many hours during the day so you still have time for other activities.
#5. If you've been studying a few days for one exam, take the liberty of having an afternoon off with friends or participating in a sport or hobby. It's a nice way to calm your mind and refresh yourself. You'll be better at picking things up when you continue.
#6. Don't drink caffeine. Seriously, it won't help you. Instead, opt for water, tea or something else that's healthy. Don't eat till you're full during lunch or dinner because you'll be drowsy afterwards. Eat more protein, cut back on excessive carbs on the days you're studying. I've found that what I eat really has an impact on my performance.
Hope this helps!
A
male
reader, anonymous, writes (29 March 2012): "I loved every minute of being away from home and I worked but I wonder would I have done better if I stayed home."
You may not be getting the grades you wanted, but you've still learned and grown from the experience. You're facing a major unexpected challenge, the first in an unending lifetime series of similar events, and those who rise to meet such challenges are those who succeed in life.
"What should I do bout college now??? Can anyone help????? Any advice woukld be greatful!!! :D"
You are asking a standardized question to which there are an infinite number of answers, each unique to the individual asking. You need to realize there is no single standard way of learning, everyone is wired differently with different strengths and weaknesses. For me as a freshman in college in the Stone Age (mid-1970's), sitting in an auditorium with one hundred students for a two-hour lecture was absolute death. Didn't have the attention span to pay attention or the fine motor skills to take legible notes. What little I absorbed was by osmosis. No wonder I flunked out.
Like you I spent hours agonizing over books to no avail. Finally (in my mid-30s) realized I was a "bits and pieces" learner; I could pick up any text, read a few random pages, put it down, come back minutes or hours later and read a few more random pages, rinse and repeat, and eventually the bits and pieces began to mesh together and I mastered the overall concept a lot sooner than expected. Not a traditional way of learning, complete antithesis of what had always been drilled into me (and in retrospect the obvious reason why from seventh grade on I wore the label "very intelligent but doesn't apply himself"), but it's what works for me and that's all that matters.
What you need to do is learn how to cherrypick; don't try to exactly duplicate successful classmates' strategies, instead borrow those elements that work for you while discarding the rest. Also understand what doesn't come naturally or easily so you can carefully select your program of study and class loads to minimize potential traps (can't avoid them entirely, just find a manageable balance).
My late father always said the main objective for attending college is to learn how to think; if you know how to think, you can be successful in any career in any field because you have the capacity to master any career in any field, and you'll know which are most compatible with your unique skills and abilities.
Hang in there, and good luck.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (29 March 2012): The same happens with me, 1. some of my friends are really more intelligent than I, 2. they study more 3. I did not study enough 3. The exam was really really difficult Best thing to do is stop comparing yourself to other people, there will always be prettier, smarter, people than you, focus on how you can improve yourself, try studying a little bit everyday the subjects you find more difficult 1 hour or so is enough . Some people study the day before the exam and I found out during college that it doesn't work for me, I have to start studying 1 week or at least 4 to 5 days prior to an exam and even then sometimes it doesn't go that well, because well that happens. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, it's great you like living on your own, but I found it a lot more practical not moving out, because being at home I didn't have to do a lot of chores like shopping, ironing, cleaning and it does take some of your time.
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