Successful Students
9
9. . . . don’t cram for exams. Successful students know that divided
periods are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.
f there
is one thing that study skills specialists agree on, is that distributed study
is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You’ll
learn more, and remember more, and earn a higher grade, by studying in four,
one hour-a-night sessions for Friday’s exam than studying for four hours
straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more
efficient and rewarding than wasteful inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet,
so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and
over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever, huh?
When
you cram, you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never produce any real
worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten
knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You
can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. Plus
cramming for a test or project doesn’t help you academically, so why even do
it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to
prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!