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Secrets of a Successful Student

  1. Never go anywhere without a textbook or a workbook. Time spent waiting in line or in the car while someone is shopping or playing soccer or whatever can be study time.
  2. Keep a recorder in the car. After reading a chapter or a book sometimes the ideas flow when you can't write things down. I have dictated entire papers this way.
  3. Find a quiet place to study and be a little selfish with your time. A quiet place to study is a must so you can focus on your work. You may have been the person who used to do everything but you have to learn to say no. You no longer have the time to do everything and go to school.
  4. Use post-it notes as bookmarks. Simply put a word or two at the top to create your own reference index. When writing a paper this saves you from having to reread whole chapters.
  5. Kill your TV! If you must, discipline yourself to record a selected show that you can watch later and zip through the commercials. No need to waste any time!
  6. Be an active reader. Take notes as you read. In your own books write in the margins. Highlight the most important parts with codes you will understand. Do not waste time rereading irrelevant material.
  7. Find time to rest. If you allow yourself to get run down, not only will you be unable to learn, but you could get sick, putting you further behind. If you keep falling asleep while reading, don't blame the text; don't tell your teacher the course is "boring," get some sleep!
  8. Exercise a bit. It stimulates blood flow to the brain and relieves tension. Colleges often have physical education classes you can take to help you with this, as well as fitness centers at a greatly reduced cost for students.
  9. Read all your work aloud to someone else. It'll save valuable time proofreading and improve your writing. If it sounds bad, it probably is.
  10. Take a reading course if it is recommended to you. Many of your courses in college are going to require a lot of outside reading. A reading course can help you fine-tune those skills needed to read an out-of-class reading assignment and retain the details of it.
  11. Do not hesitate to use inter-library loan. You will find that the college library gives you access to great material from other libraries-for free.