After graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 for my undergrad degrees, it took me a few months to pull a Taylor Swift and shake off the constant nagging feeling that I needed to be studying.
I was one of those students, a student who needed to be studying to not feel guilty that I was not giving enough attention to every class I took. Summer breaks did not exist for me. I was either studying abroad or taking at least six hours of course work. I was studying something or feeling guilty for not studying something.
Maybe this behavior/philosophy was a consequence from being a student at the University of Oklahoma. Many professors take their subjects seriously because their primary concern is their research in that subject. Because of this, many professors asked "stump" questions on exams. It was never enough to know the hierarchy or the "big picture." I needed to know the nitty-gritty details like my professors did. Ten-page research papers are the norm, and to not feel comfortable writing one is almost abnormal for students at my University.
Needless to say, I think every student at the University of Oklahoma learns how to handle the stress of constantly having something due and never having a real "break" until the semester is over.
However, OU prepared me for the "real" world. Now I work in the insurance industry, which required me to study for intensive exams about insurance to get my adjusters' license. Not everyone passed these exams the first time, and the reason I did was because I knew how to study. I knew how to study because of the experience I gained from earning my degrees.
The reason why we need to write papers is because we need to know how to organize and collect our thoughts in order to better communicate with people around us. Personally, it is extremely easy for me to read an insurance policy. In contrast, there have been people (customers) who tell me they do not know how to read their policies because it is written in "legalese."
I cannot be sassy and tell them to use an app like thesaurus.com or anything like that, I have to effectively explain what a limit is on an insurance policy and what is the difference between comprehensive and collision for auto insurance.
Insurance policies are not difficult to understand, but it does require studying in order to understand the industry better as well as how a policy should be applied in everyday life.
Even without a job in insurance, law, medicine, or any other graduate-level career, people should know how to study. They should know that a psychologist named Spearman stated that the average amount of items that a person can memorize in a given list is nine.
This is important because it implies that people should map out different concepts and how they connect together, and then they can memorize nine items within each category/concept listed in the map. People should know that the easiest way to memorize information can be by providing an emotional memory to it because emotions increase memory. Music specifically encodes different types of emotions and feelings, so music can also enhance memory of certain concepts. I accidentally memorized the quadratic equation because my algebra teacher in high school made us sing it to the "pop goes the weasel" tune. I have not used the equation in six years, but when someone brought it up during job training, I was able to sing it for them.
The truth is that there is always something that we could be studying. If I am not studying for insurance exams, I could be studying nutrition or how to cook. If I want to learn a new skill, I need to study for it. Someone once incorrectly stated that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results," but that is the EXACT definition of practicing, and practice makes perfect.
We could live in society where we constantly pay for people to perform different services, or we can empower ourselves by learning them by studying. School may end, but studying is a lifestyle, and it's how to be successful in our environment.
