Study Skills Workshop
Came across this link that my senior shared in Facebook, and I find it very true, something worth sharing. ( Link: 10 worst study habits to avoid )
Also, it reminds me of a workshop that I attended about a month ago, held in my university by my Management Principles lecturer, also the person that motivated me to continue writing even though I'm in the IT field.
I recalled how terrible it felt when I see my GPA of 2.9975 in
my first semester, that it was so close to 3.0. That 0.0025 of difference
frustrates me so much that it drives me insane! Then, the worse thing on the
following semester is that I took a subject on Interpersonal Communication when
I was expecting it to be more practical but it ends up with tons of test and
stuff and I gotten myself a C+! If I dropped that subject earlier and took
only Basic Professional Writing with Sunzi’s Art of War and Moral Studies, my
GPA for my short semester would be 4.0.
Come to think again, perhaps it was my own fault for having
a poor studying skills where I only put my passion into whatever that I like. I finally made my move, after two freaking semesters! Finally something that I might be able to do to improve my grades!
So, after my Database class at
1200, I dashed to the next class for the talk in SE109. How convenient, it was
just next door! And since it is a Friday where I have no classes after 1200,
I stayed for the whole duration of the talk until 1400. I would be napping happily in the bus or at home if I return home early anyway.
There were about 35 participants from various courses that
I was the only person from SE. It started with Puan June starts to
give out papers for us to evaluate ourselves by rating how we perform in the
university. Since I am having a rather low self-esteem that I rated everything with
lousy marks and ended up scoring only 7. She then gave us about the results
that says that I’m doing OK but could be doing better, and suggests me to ask
my lecturers or counsellors about ways I could improve my study habits and
grades.
Throughout the workshop, she told
us on seven common mistakes that university students make, tips before, during
and after lectures, and seven fast learn studying skills. It was so shocking
when the words “Studying at home and listening to music” slipped from her lips
in the list of common mistakes because that was exactly what I did! She then
says that procrastination, which is something that I have a PhD in for dealing
with assignments at the very last minute that I get a Permanent Head Damage for
it, not making notes, highlighting textbooks, cramming or exams, also a part of what
I did thanks to my PhD in Procrastination, and skipping classes. (More like
sleeping in classes for me, thanks to my PhD that gave me sleepless nights!)
She also mentioned about
reviewing lecture notes before classes and make sure to get enough of rest so
that we could focus on what is being taught during lectures while taking notes,
then review the notes within a week after lecture.
Then, she made us to pair with
another person so that
we could ‘reprogram’ our brain by telling us to sort of hypnotize our brains
(where she calls it affirmation) by saying ‘I’m a smart learner!’ loudly to our
partners, then sharing about what we plan to do to improve our grades and yeah
we blurt out random thoughts.
Afterwards, she explained on the learning skills where she suggests
for us to increase the strength of our minds by doing online quizzes, stop
cramming and do distributed practices, using all senses to study with breaks,
attending classes, taking good notes and having good retention skills. Developing
a deep interest towards the subjects that we are learning would help a lot,
too! We then took a photo with Puan June and the workshop is dismissed.
To think that the workshop ended, I somehow find improving
my grades important for me to obtain a scholarship for my master studies, since
I have a strong desire to study in Japan after my graduation, a scholarship is
needed so that I could reduce my parents’ burden, and also my own burden. If I
could get myself a first class degree, my life afterwards might be easier.
So, from now on, I would put my effort in to develop my
interest in studies, so that I will be driving myself to study and learn the
skills that I would need to achieve grades that would satisfy me and get myself
a Japanese scholarship for my Masters, and even for my career.
Hope things will go well from now on.
Hope things will go well from now on.
