Mastering Mnemonics, Mastering Memory by Benjamin

Mastering Mnemonics, Mastering Memory by Benjamin - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

As I truly began delving into my biology major with hopes of entering medical school, I learned very quickly that I would need to tap into more of my mental storage space than ever before. Even in entry-level anatomy classes, hundreds of terms, definitions, and presentations must be mastered within a matter of weeks. With just a little bit of creativity and imagination, I mastered a study technique that not only helped me to pass my human anatomy class, it helped me to get such a good grade that the university offered me a job as a tutor. What is this magical method, you ask? Let me share it with you:

Most all science students are familiar with mnemonics. When given a long list of items to memorize in a certain order, it is helpful to come up with a catchy phrase using the first letter of each word on your list. Doing so creates a visual image in your mind that is much easier to recall than a bunch of unfamiliar terms. However, what happens when there are multiple words that start with the same letter on such a list? The answer is to use more letters to your advantage. Why stop with the first letter of each word when creating your mnemonic? For example, the five main areas of the developing human brain from the most superior and anterior to the most inferior and posterior are the telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, metencephalon, and myelencephalon. One of many possible mnemonics is “Tiny Dancers Make Marvelous Mothers,” but if you use this phrase, you may end up sitting in front of your exam trying to sort out which “M” is which. Does “Marvelous” stand for mesencephalon, metencephalon, or myelencephalon? A much more effective mnemonic is “do Telepathic Dinosaurs Measure in Meters or Miles?” This way, not only do you have more letters on your side, but the phonetics of each word match up, too; saying your phrase out loud practically gives you all of the terms.

I owe an “A” grade and a new job to this study method. It really works. It may take a couple of minutes to make up the right mnemonic, but once you write it down and say it a couple of times, you can walk away from that chunk of the course worry-free and move on to something else. When it matters most, you will remember everything you need to know.