Ava Brown
Why do we study? Is it because we want to do well, to make ourselves proud or even just to make our parents proud? We go to a lot of effort in studying for exams and for what outcome? Pride? Well, I suppose the long term outcome is employment but passing a first year maths check up doesn’t always look like it will determine my future. It will give me confidence in myself, however, and then maybe my skills will progress. But I don’t tend to think that if I pass my Geography tests that I am on the road to becoming a Geographer.
Many of us already know what we want to be when we are older and know how hard we have to work for it, but is it really necessary to be working through the dark hours of the night just to become what we wish? And even then, that is not guaranteed. We may be putting our health and wellbeing at risk if this becomes a part of our routine. Cramming is one thing that I am not unfamiliar with and I am sure that everyone who has ever been a student would agree that sometimes it just seems fairly unattainable for us to manage this excessive work schedule.
What I would not recommend is overloading yourself with tasks. It will tire you out. You should plan. One night you could study English for an hour, then the next night-Science for an hour and so on. And be sure to take regular breaks! Your brain can’t focus for long periods of time and if you spend five hours straight studying without breaks, your mind will more-or-less switch itself off and you will not take in as much as you would if you gave yourself regular breaks.
Organisation is also a very effective way of keeping on top of your school work and studying. In my opinion, it is best to study over a few nights rather than leaving things to the last minute. Planning out a schedule would be a great idea, even ensuring that we use our homework diaries- they are great tools when you actually think about it. For me, repetition is key- it makes things easier to remember. Also, keeping your workspace and bedroom as tidy as possible will mean that you can concentrate more because there is no great distractions to put you off your work. This also applies to your schoolwork. Keeping your jotters and your handwriting neat is essential, because if you’re looking back on previous notes and trying to learn them you have to be able to actually read them. As well as this, teachers and exam markers must be able to read your writing or else you could potentially lose marks if your writing is not clear enough. I would advise that you train yourself to write quickly and neatly. You can do this by using a piece of paper and just writing out a sentence repeatedly as neatly and as quickly as possible- eventually your handwriting will improve.
