Joy in Repetition by Kai

Joy in Repetition by Kai - May 2016 Scholarship Essay

Kai Gaitley
Varsity Tutors
Monthly Essay Contest, May 2016.
13 May 2016.
Joy in Repetition.
There are two complementary elements to my finals study method. Together they have the power to overcome almost any academic hurdle, and even on their own they present powerful tools to get the job done. With neither tool in the bag though, it would be hard to lay a claim to adequate preparation of any description.
Time and repetition are the fundamental ingredients of all revision. Whether the discipline is literary, scientific, artistic or technical, the process of repetition may be the only one that gets close to guaranteeing results. Bruce Lee once encapsulated this idea quite succinctly: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”. Some may be lucky enough to read a page and have instant recall, but the rest of us reside in the all-too-mortal 1-99% recall category. The mind is pre-conditioned to identify and store patterns, and a fortunate side effect is that the process can be hijacked to force information into a part of the brain it otherwise would not want to go; the memory. Do anything often enough and it will find a place on a prominent shelf of your mind palace. It’s even possible to do something so many times that it acquires the sitting monarch like benefit of a life term in said palace, whether you want it there or not. It may now be a well-worn cliché that in order to master something, one must practice the activity for at least 10,000 hours, but taking advantage of this evolutionary trait of self-preservation is a well-documented, commonly agreed upon strategy for success. Masters of their art in most fields, from all-time sports stars to spiritualist scam artists, thrive on the joy in repetition.
The added bonus for you, the lowly student, is that you don’t even have to master your discipline; you’re only required to become adequately proficient to deliver a professional performance one time. If the scale of novice to master runs from 0 to 10,000, then your target, the scale of novice to one hit wonder, is eminently achievable. No matter how terribly you have been doing, you can almost certainly improve your grade by the sheer force of repetition.
And this is where the peanut butter to repetition’s jelly takes the spotlight. A relevant metaphor at this time of high energy requirements, yet in truth the second necessity is more like the bread of the sandwich than it is the filling, as it provides the foundation and opportunity for the benefits of repetition to manifest. Without time, there can be no repetition.
Time itself provides two benefits, the primary one being that, as stated, it enables repetition. Don’t give yourself enough of it and your repeated practices become a singular entity. Instead of a pleasant stroll through the meadow it becomes a nightmarish, ‘Temple Run’ like sprint to the finish before the timer ticks down. It is almost impossible to conceive of someone or something that performs better under hostage like conditions, yet many will subject themselves to such a perverse circumstance on a bi-annual basis. If a singular attempt is sufficient, then no attempt is infinitesimally as close in terms of influencing the outcome; yes, you may as well not do anything. Instead of making this token and futile gesture, at the earliest opportunity have a stress free practice. No clock, no shadow of doom lurking in the background, just a risk free trial, with house money. If you bomb completely it is of little consequence; the stress hormones should remain minimal as the opportunity to rectify and improve is still ample. Then have another go. And another. When the outcome almost inevitably improves, the positive feedback loop will provide those other hormones, the pleasurable ones, and that in turn will make the next attempt even more likely to continue the improvement. Suddenly, the mountain you face has a ski lift to carry you up and through the dark cloud line, to the rays of sunshine above.
The other benefit of time is sleep. Get your revision done; get the panic, stress and worry out of the way in enough time to unwind and relax. Give yourself the best chance of success by arriving for the test fresh and refreshed. Provide the foundation and platform to achieve by getting a great sleep, by making time for a good breakfast and by gifting yourself the mental boost of reassuring your mind that you’ve done everything you can.
And if preparing for your finals in this manner does not improve your academic outlook, it’s time to join the employment market, where you will quickly become familiar with the Kantian like torment of the antipodal happenstance; one of never ending repetition coupled with a constantly elapsing timer. Be warned.
 
Works Cited:
"Bruce Lee." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2016. 13 May 2016. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/brucelee413509.html