Not Smarter, Not Harder by Alissa

Not Smarter, Not Harder by Alissa - August 2022 Scholarship Essay

An academic goal I have for the upcoming year is to not unnecessarily overwork myself, but instead work hard with intention and with knowing I will benefit from the work I am putting into schooling. Many times in the past, I have spent an immense amount of time and effort furthering my studies only to find I did not get much out of it for the work I put in. And so, I want to be more strategic in making sure I fulfill the old time saying of “work smarter, not harder”.
One example specific to my past experiences is the composition and creation of textbook notes. When I’ve been assigned multiple pages to read and take notes on from many different classes, I’ve found the completion of that task takes too long and I’m unnecessarily throwing away my afternoons, especially when the amount of information I actually retain is incomparable to the time I put into it. I spent a long time trying to figure out why I might be struggling with notes specific to these, and with the knowledge of knowing these types of notes will not be going away anytime soon as I progress in my education, I wanted to better myself in preparation for the future.
I began to dissect the factors that take just one page of notes minutes and minutes to complete, and I’ve identified a few contributors. Firstly, I never seem to have an idea as to what layout I’d like to approach with my notes until I’m going through the textbook and make alterations as I go. These times of nitpicking my notes turn into me going back to previous sections’ notes and changing those as well to reflect the alterations I’m making. In addition, I’m also fearful of leaving information out of my notes in case that one fact or one date might be crucial to the entirety of my learning. I have a hard time deciphering important information and would feel more comfortable including more than not enough. Finally, I like to use colors and visual distinctions in my notes, but I don’t always know when it’s helpful or not. There are times when colors may not always be necessary because the layout of the information is straightforward as it is, but I still attempt to include visual eye-catchers in my notes. And so, as I’ve identified the faults I have in note-taking, I’ve worked to improve my methods.
Now, as I take notes, I begin by quickly skimming through the pages of the textbook to try to visualize a note layout in my head that would best fit the information I’m being given. The base idea I want to follow allows me to complete my notes with continuity, and without having to revisit old ideas and change the way I’ve presented them. Also, I try to read a section of the book, but then take my notes without any reference to what I just read. Because of this, I am forced to pick the most important parts of what I just read and highlight my notes around that. All of the extra, unnecessary information is usually left out, and even if I need to go in and add a couple specific, crucial dates or people, I’ve still avoided including too much. And finally, I try to have an idea of what sections of the reading may benefit from being visually divided with colors before I begin my notes as well. Sometimes this initial identification allows me to not waste time debating with myself later on what needs color and what doesn’t.
This dissection of my methods of note-taking as a whole has helped me to not spend too much unnecessarily completing irrelevant work. I would like to be able to use this thought process for the upcoming year on many different aspects of my student life because note-taking is not the only area in which I waste time completing my work. If I can better myself in my process of education, I can hopefully learn more and learn more practically without finding myself completely absorbed in schoolwork and drained from the strenuous tasks at hand.