In my last post before I left on vacation I mentioned that one of my goals for the upcoming months was to make straight A's in my classes. Since I've returned home I've signed up for two more classes to bring my total up to the maximum six allowed and also learned that school actually starts in almost two weeks not this upcoming week like I thought. While it's nice to declare intentions, having goals is pretty useless without an actionable plan attached to them. So how will I go about accomplishing this feat of academic success?
1. Starting Now
Thanks to the internet, I already have access to course schedules for most classes and book lists for all of my classes. I have twelve days until my first class and it's time to put my goals into action. One of the classes I just signed up for is History of the Roman Republic which I don't technically need to graduate but it is a topic I find interesting. Two of the required texts are ancient accounts so I have found them for free online and I checked out the actual book for one of them so I didn't have to stare at the screen for hours.
Using Librivox.org I found the audio readings for The Catiline Conspiracy and the Jugurthine War by Sallust and listened to the first two sections twice during my cardio this afternoon. Since I will be working out during this semester five times a week for about two hours per day I could easily listen to this book four times in the next month, although I will probably move on to another work instead. Beyond just reading the books that I have to read I am going to (after writing this)start exploring online the topics presented in the syllabus. With this twelve day cushion I should have an effective knowledge base to get ahead in all of my classes and in essence already be in review mode for my first exams.
2.Scheduling time
Having class everyday starting at 11 am will allow me to fall into a routine where I can still stay up til 1 or 2 am like I enjoy and still have plenty of time before class to eat and get some extra work done. Now beyond just a sleeping schedule I will further map out my day with the assistance of my planner to include short reviews of the material that I have learned that day and readings that still need to be taken care of. There is time everyday to go over each class and lock into memory what I need to know but I also have already scheduled that Wednesday and Thursday afternoons will serve as library time. On these two days I will devote more time to study and demonstrating to myself that I know how to apply what I have learned for instance explaining of solving economics principles and problems.
3. Going to class
I've never been great about going to class but I will attend more this semester to help reinforce concepts and spark my interest again in the topic. I've noticed that early morning classes are the ones I skip the most because I like being up late night so I've scheduled classes around lunch time giving me ample time to be awake, go to the gym in the early afternoon when it's not packed and be able to come home and write new posts and study.
Last year not going to class really brought down my grades. For example in Biology II, while I had an A average on exams because I rarely went to class I missed out on tons of participation points and had to always force myself to be interested in biology just to save my grade. I never knew exactly what to study so I ended up reading whole chapters that weren't even covered because she had changed the syllabus a month into the semester. If I want to get straight A's I must know what's going on in all my classes and let myself hear someone teach the class a few hours per week to peak my curiosity.
4. Embracing new learning techniques
I've always been a read the book over and over kind of student(maybe take some notes)and it has worked well in some classes but it gets very boring doing it for all of the classes. Not to say that rereading is a bad thing like I said earlier I'm going to listen to that audio book more than once during my workouts but it shouldn't be the only method I embrace. I haven't explored to deeply into other methods that are more efficient but I have bookmarked various sites I have found to help me start using other learning techniques. I hate the flash card method of learning so I know that I won't be using it but I'm open to using other ways of improving my comprehension. Also, I plan on making more friends in my classes and will perhaps start going to group study sessions for further help or evidence that I can teach others meaning that I've actually learned something.
This like just about every other goal is going to come down to planning and efficient time management. I am definitely not going to spend all of my life for the next few months obsessing over a letter grade because there is so much that I want to accomplish during the same time frame socially, physically, and financially that it would be stupid for me to become one dimensional. However, it is a goal that I want to stick with because it serves as notice that I worked, learned, and reached my full potential as a student. I won't get to my 10,000 hour expertise threshold on any of these topics during this semester but hopefully it will help grow my interest in learning about all of them. Here's to getting straight A's.
