As I conclude my freshman year in college I can happily say that I have experienced every feeling I expected out of it. Two semesters have molded me into a very different girl from the high school senior I entered as, in August. One of the biggest changes in my life has been my study habits, or really, just implementation of me doing work outside of class time.
Coming from a high school environment where classes were nearly an hour and a half long, the need for outside work never prevailed because we had so much time in class to complete it all. Couple that with simple core classes, and I had morphed into an easy going "A" student who never really needed to exert any extra effort.
Fast forward to September, after my first full week of college classes had finished, I found myself sitting in my dorm lounge at 2:30 a.m. wondering how I had acquired such a to do list. I had enormous assignments to accomplish before the next time my classes met, and was not spending my days doing anything productive towards accomplishing them. I needed to seriously invent some study habits for myself, or else I risked drowning in work and failing classes.
As the first semester ensued and the sequential finals period approached, I planned to exercise the new library going, note taking, color coded highlighting techniques I had perfected from September through December. Almost arrogantly, I approached my finals lightly as the simple tests standing between me and my Christmas tree at home. Unfortunately, this momentary confidence allowed me slip back into my lazier habits, and bypass the crowded library, promising myself I would get to studying tomorrow, and “skim" the chapters instead of close-read them. I approached my finals the wrong way. I was too comfortable, and ultimately it came back to bite me. I ended up failing two entire finals. Fortunately, the diligent work I did throughout the beginning months of the semester carried my final grades to safety despite bombing the exams.
All this being said, I was deeply ashamed with myself and retraced my steps to figure out how it happened, and how I could prevent it from recurring. I discovered that my error was the fact that I had reverted to my high school mentality of assuming I was prepared. I suddenly realized there was a REASON the library was packed, a REASON my friends were staying up all night, and a REASON why the mental stamina of the campus was in a frenzy. These tests are no joke. Finals are all encompassing obstacles that deserve respect.
As a little girl at the beach, my mother always instructed me to “Never turn your back on the ocean, it’s stronger than you, and you never know it until you’re already under”. Now, as a grown up little girl on the shore of college, with finals looming over me, I can apply the same advice. I am an entire semester wiser, and I now know I need to budget study time and energy to the next two weeks. This finals season, I am getting a head start on all of my assignments and papers, and making myself get to the library at least five days out of the week. I am writing study guides for all of my classes and going to office hours with professors when I need clarification. I am making sure to schedule in time to get a good night sleep and visit the gym because the mounting stress is not good for my physical being either. Although this finals season is only four and a half months removed from the last, I’m not worried. This time around, I know what to expect, and how to conquer them. My goal for this semester and my next six, is to never receive a failing grade on another final, with my improved mindset I know I will accomplish it.
