The "R cubed" method by Sarah

The "R cubed" method by Sarah - January 2014 Scholarship Essay

One thing most people would agree on doing would be procrastination. Procrastination is like the “cold-flu,” everyone gets affected, especially students. Most times we are given the due dates on things such as tests, quizzes, home works, and sometimes, major projects that could make a big difference in our grades for the whole year, but we choose to let it sit on the back burner and wait till the last day. I am guilty myself. If there is one huge procrastinator in this world, I would have to say it is me. I do not do my work until it is due the next day. Another bad habit of mine will be studying, I do not study for quizzes and tests till the day before the test or quiz. These bad habits and techniques of mine have led me to failing some important tests and quizzes, thus leading me to receive low grades in some classes in the past.

At the beginning of my 11th grade year, I decided to try something different than I usually do; I decided to study using a three days method that I call the “R cubed,” Read, Recite, Re-enforce. I start using this method 3 days prior to my tests and quizzes. In the first day, I would read to myself, and try to grasp the concepts that are in the content, and recite it all to myself. On day 2, I would read the content to myself again, recite it, and re-enforce the content by write it all down on paper and trying to see if I can remember what I learned. Sometimes, with hard materials, I am not able to scribe everything on paper, so I go back, read, and recite it to myself a few more times, and call it a day. The third day is about re-enforcement, so I refresh my memory once more by reading over the concept, reciting, and then I re-enforce it by practicing some problems along with it. I would do this for my math and science classes most times. For other classes like English, Psychology, and other similar subjects, I read the information, recite it and re-enforce the information by creating acronyms, and trying to make songs with the words, because as a singer, I am more likely to remember the lyrics of a song than words in a book or an article. I also re-enforce things by relating the subject to something realistic and making it my own, so that when I sit down in the test room, I will be able to remember everything, and best of all, so that what I learned won’t ever flee from my mind.

With a method like this, I have been able to make A’s and B’s in my college classes and my high school classes, even in a hard class like general chemistry. I found out that, when information is repeated to me three times using a method like the “R cubed”, it stays in my mind, and when I relate it to something realistic, they stay with me forever, thus why I am still able to remember things like “OILRIG” and “REDOX” from my 11th grade year, 2012, when I took chemistry