Writing is Key to Success by Aaron

Writing is Key to Success by Aaron - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

Since beginning my education at the University of Arizona, I found out I did not know how to study for my science courses to do well on the exams. I used to just keep looking at the PowerPoint lectures, scrolling through each slide without staying on a single slide for a good amount of time to commit the material into memory. This was due to finding the lack of time to sit down and study due to being too involved in extracurricular activities. After a while, this past fall, I started to find out what the best way for me to study was which was writing down the lecture material by hand onto paper. With this study habit, I inquired I am a mechanical learner where I have to write down the material to be able to absorb the information. With this technique, my test scores increased dramatically. I wish I had known this earlier because I would have been able to do well on exams before. After writing down the material, I reread my handmade notes repeatedly to ingrain the details of each lecture.

Sometimes, I would also create my own PowerPoint from those provided the classes I am taking when time is short to not be able to write down all the material. This also helped me study because I was actively taking in the lecture instead of just looking at each slide. With this study method and giving an adequate amount of time to study, I should be able to do well this spring semester.