What Works Best for Me: A Brief Summary of Successful Studying Processes by Joshua

What Works Best for Me: A Brief Summary of Successful Studying Processes by Joshua - May 2016 Scholarship Essay

The variety of exams one student undertakes stands to be impressive on its own. Some might be ten questions long whilst others are fifty and over. Multiple choice, essays, and the entire gamut are applied by the proctor as to truly test a student’s complete grasp on the course material. Of course, any serious student will study the material prior as to ensure test day goes smoothly. For every hour spent in the classroom it is said two hours is spent outside studying, completing assignments, and so forth. To say the least, the methods for studying are ceaseless, and not all of those work nor apply to everyone. Nevertheless, the studying habits yet explained have worked the best for me.
Firstly, numerous factors play a role in one’s studying habits, if not dictate them entirely. Every student learns better in a certain way, be it visually, auditory, kinetically, and so on. A visual learner will retain their knowledge best when given an image displaying the subject matter; auditory learners tend to stray on the side of lectures; and kinetic learn through songs, dances, or any form that involves movement. For me, I fancy the visual and auditory sides of learning. Therefore, my studying habits involve seeing things and hearing things readily.
A predominant studying method of mine uses flashcards, small index-sized cards that can be written on. When course material can be little more than memorized these cards come in handy. For instance, subjects such as math, literature, and foreign languages consist of heavy memorization. When I was younger my father created flash cards of the times-tables for multiplication, a concept I still remember nowadays. When I began taking Japanese in my sophomore year of high school I used flash cards as well to aid in my memory of vocabulary. The process for creating these cards is quite simple. For example, if you wanted to remember the definition of a vocabulary term you would write the word on one side of the card and the meaning of it on the other. This way, if you cannot remember the definition by looking at the word itself, you can use the back to help you remember.
Additionally, the flash card method lends itself to cooperative efforts. By writing down the concepts others can quiz you, be it they read off the definition or the word and you give the missing information. However, I enjoy using the flashcard system by myself. Studying with others can be fun but more often than not I become distracted, especially if I am with friends. Either way, I forget the material and for the most part it ends up being a waste of time. By quizzing myself with the flashcards I made, remembering concepts becomes easier and stick to my memory better.
I find that, aside from flashcards, simply listening to lectures and taking down notes goes a long way as well. Prior to middle school, my parents and teachers read to me stories. I always became ecstatic to hear them read aloud. I believe from this young age my brain became accustomed to listening and in turn I rather enjoyed lectures. Depending on the teacher, the information they provide during class might cover all you need to know or only a portion. Throughout my middle and high school career, listening to a teacher explain material helped my memorization and even more so in conjunction with taking notes.
To further explain, when I listen to a lecture I am listening to a professional express their knowledge to me. They understand the proper pronunciations of terms, definitions, and concepts. I know that they are one of the best possible sources available to me. All the while I listen I am taking notes of the concepts that I feel are most important in helping my understanding. With these notes I can memorize and further research the topics at hand. This method is the most viable for college learning, as many professors tend to lecture and in-class assignments are scarce.
At the moment, I am taking an anatomy and physiology course at Green River College. The professor will lecture and expects us to write notes. The class is brimming of terminology, so much so that I am honestly confused at times as to what is what in the human body. However, by taking notes that I understand I can look back at something I failed to get the first time (or simply forgot) and gain some form of clarification. Furthermore, notes help me memorize concepts and terms in a similar way to flashcards.
Most importantly, the aforementioned studying habits are methods that cannot bear any positive effects if performed in a single night. Flashcards, note taking, listening to lectures, and memorization are things that must be done every day to ensure understanding. Merely jamming everything in the night prior to a test has hurt me more times than not. I know that for me, learning and studying over a long coarse of time rather than a short one is far more beneficial; and as long as I am focused, curious, and self-motivated I will carry on these habits for years to come.