The Power of Active Note Taking by Ivy

The Power of Active Note Taking by Ivy - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

My heart was pounding as I opened the large white envelope that had arrived earlier that day. My AP Exam scores had finally arrived. It was impossible to forget the late nights I had spent reviewing old AP U.S. History quizzes and Psychology terms, hoping I to score well. The time I spent pouring over my notes and writing extra essays for practice paid off. I got a five on the Psychology Exam and a four on the U.S. History Exam.

The commonality that had led to my success on both exams was active note taking. My freshmen year of high school, whenever I took notes, I would end up having spent hours writing pages of notes that I would either end up not using or not containing the information I needed. This form of note taking was not one in which my mind was active. I thought I simply needed notes in order to study. Then studying these notes would lead to academic success. Over time, I learned to be more meticulous, so that at the end my note taking would reveal that my mind was at work. I learned to interact with the text. By my junior year, I had learned to focus on vocabulary, and align class discussions and lectures with the notes I took on my own. While my AP Exam test scores were the biggest reminder of the progress I had achieved, there were many small victories along the way. Halfway through the school year, I switched U.S. History teachers. My new teacher’s quizzes were very specific. If I failed to memorize a single detail from the reading, I could easily score a letter grade lower or fail the quiz all together. I would read the chapter three times in a week and take detailed notes. By writing down the details such as the origins of Shay’s Rebellion or the role Hull House played in the Progressive movement, they were permanently etched in my memory.

Psychology was a test in my ability to commit vocabulary to memory. Each chapter would have around a dozen theories, people, and studies that had to memorize. The notes I took were a bit different than the details committed to memory for U.S. History. I decided to use Cornell Notes in order to be achieving my goal of being an active note taker. Cornell Notes is a format that requires an outline of facts on the left side of a piece of paper. The right side either has questions about the facts or pictures that remind the note taker of the facts. At the bottom of the page, there I would write summary. Every time I followed this format, I would ace the quiz or the test. Succeeding on my AP Exams gave me confidence. The confidence I gained is reflected in my decision to take four AP courses this school year.

My skills as an active listener will undoubtedly help me succeed in college. I plan to become an Occupational Therapist; will require high grades in the prerequisite courses. Once I become an Occupational Therapist, I want to travel around the world and improve the options available to individuals with special needs. Taking active notes will help me achieve my dream of helping others.