Muscle Memory by Ashlea

Muscle Memory by Ashlea - May 2016 Scholarship Essay

Finals can be stressful, and up until my senior year I was the person who crammed weeks of studying into the night before the test. Now don't get me wrong, I usually did fairly well on my test. My mental health however, fell flat. I realized that knowing the answers to a test in the moment isn't knowing the actual information.

Summer before my last year of high school, I researched better study habits and the best thing that works for me is repetition. Every day after school I re-wrote all the notes I had for that day. Even though it was very time consuming it actually helped me absorb the information better. I remember things better when I write them down. Aside from that, I started keeping old test and using them as reference for my final study guide.

Repetition works best for me because it appears so often in different aspects of my life. I'm a musician and when I play the violin I can be practicing the same piece over and over again. I develop muscle memory in my fingers. The same applies with academics. For example, in calculus the best way to prepare for tests is doing multiple practice problems. All that is is muscle memory of the brain.

Throughout my high school career I've learned that if you're going to do something you might as well put substance and a real effort into your work. If you don't all that "fake" work you put it in cramming isn't worth anything but a letter.