Beyond Conventional Studying by Julia

Beyond Conventional Studying by Julia - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

For as long as I can remember, the most popular method of studying has been to take dull notes in class, and try to memorize all of the information from those notes the night before the test. Most students choose this path when preparing for an exam, and I was no exception until my junior year of high school. After disappointing test results and a GPA that was rapidly dropping, I resolved to find a new studying method that would benefit me by helping me retain the information presented in class.

I started with looking at the notes I had taken in the past year. Whether they were from math, English, science, or social studies, they all had the same characteristics: exclusively written in black ink, taken straight from the PowerPoint, and written as if my teacher had assigned me an essay. It occurred to me that if I wanted higher scores on my tests, then I would first need to start with changing my note-taking process. I used a set of different colored pens to organize my details by color, which made it easier to memorize different sets of information.I then addressed my habit of only writing down exactly what was written on the PowerPoint and nothing more. In science class, which I struggled with the most, I tried putting information down in my own words; this made the notes feel more personal when I looked over them later. I also paid more attention to what the teacher was saying during the presentation rather than staring at the slide the entire time. Because of this, I noticed that I got very useful hints and tips for future tests that I would not have gotten by simply copying down the words on the screen. The most beneficial way I altered my notes, however, was by changing the format of them. Rather than writing things down side to side like an essay, I boxed categories of information and gave them each a title so that it would be easier to locate different topics while studying. This proved to be much easier than skimming lines and lines of writing to find what I needed to study. Within two weeks of using these new and improved notes, my test scores rose from barely passing to high B’s and A’s.

The notes were not the only problem hindering me from higher grades. “Cramming” the night before a test was something I had done ever since middle school, and for the longest time, I saw no problem with it. After all, wouldn't I remember things better if I studied the night before rather a few days earlier? However, I came to realize that my brain can only memorize a certain amount of details in one night, and after exceeding that amount, the information would become cloudy and hard to recall while taking the test. Determined to try something different, I started to study as soon as the teacher announced the test date. Each school night, I would only look over the notes I had taken that day and created flashcards to memorize what I had written. I studied for about an hour a night, depending on how many classes I had an upcoming test in. Then, the night before a test, I collected all of my flashcards that I had created and quizzed myself until I was confident I knew the information. This ended up taking about an hour as well. By 8:00, I was finished with studying and was able to get plenty of sleep for the next day instead of staying up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning cramming. The first time I put this new method of studying to the test, literally, I was surprised at how easily the things I had studied came to me and how quickly I completed the exam. I realized that waiting until the night before to prepare for a test was counter-productive and breaking it down into several days was much more effective and manageable. My test scores were evidence of it.

I used to believe that people who achieved high test scores were simply smarter than those who did not. I saw no way of changing my results until I broke the conventional ways of studying and explored alternatives to learning information. This has helped me become a more confident and successful student, and I am looking forward to using my new methods of studying in college.