The Art of Studying...Gradually

I feel so unprepared. Back at my high school, I don't think every teacher was on the same page. You had those that saw the need to TRULY prepare students for the college experience and those that couldn't care less or had difficulty controlling their classrooms. But, I'm beyond harping on my high school and I've moved on.

Plenty of people have trouble their freshman year. Some advising would've helped though, and I probably wouldn't have enrolled myself in classes packed with juniors. From my mistakes, though, I have discovered the wonderful art of studying...gradually.

I have five classes. One of those classes requires little to no attention at all. So, technically, I have only four classes. From most difficult to easiest:

1. Anthropology
2. Intro to Communication
3. English Rhetoric and Composition
4. Film History
5. ARSC: Community (we learn about how you HAVE to like Black people, or you're racist).

Film history has been determined my easiest class for this reason only: I was able to ace the exam without studying for even a single moment. Yep. I came into class not expecting a test, I took it, and I passed. Even though I do look over my notes here and there, this doesn't need too much of my time.

English has been my favorite subject since birth. I think my first words were actually a criticism of my mom's use of a hanging preposition. Kidding. My first word was actually "Jesus." Anyway, I got a "B" on my first paper. I did it about an hour before class. However, I need to get better with these "short writes." Short writes are little assignments that are given to help us understand the theme or concept of the unit. They're insanely easy, but I've always been horrible with following directions. They don't hurt my grade too much, and I've been getting more A's with these, even with ones I completed an hour before class. My most recent one was completed without reading the text. I'll let you know how that goes. But basically, English is alright with me. I just hate writing papers, but I can't help but be really good at them.

Intro to Communication shocked me because I thought I had this class in the bag. My exams aren't looking too pretty, and I have this weird habit of, um, not showing up for class. Not to worry, I'm not doing that anymore. I was sick, but even if I'm sick, I'm still coming to class. I'll have to be on my dying breath to skip again. We have a paper coming up soon, and my topic is going to be the application of "insert communication model here" to the career of filmmaking. When I'm interested in the paper topic, I usually do better, strangely. As far as the exams are concerned, I have discovered that last-minute all-nighters are not the answer. I'm block-studying a half-hour to an hour per night over my lecture notes and the text. I read the chapter assignment before class. That way, I already have a road-map in my head. Our professor uses application examples instead of talking straight from the text, and learning the application is key to passing the exam, not memorizing names and dates. Good going.

Anthropology did not shock me because I knew from the very beginning that I did not have this class in the bag. I just wanted to take this instead of Biology or Chemistry. Frighteningly, I'm actually better-off. Bio and Chem are raining F's apparently. Anthro is a wild card. You can't select what and what not to study. You must study EVERYTHING. I would need to put an hour, minimum, per night to even think of passing this class. Oh, and one more thing. I have this little, I don't know, fact that I'm passing down to my children:

IF YOUR TEACHER IS OFFERING OVER TEN POINTS WORTH OF EXTRA CREDIT, THAT CLASS IS UNPASSABLE. DANGER. DANGER WILL ROBERTSON!!@%

The extra credit is just a lure. They're trying to make you believe that, "oh, the class may be hard, but I'll have that jolly ol' extra credit waiting for me." IT'S A SICK FANTASY, THAT'S WHAT IT IS!

But this class doesn't have cute little short writes or discussion assignments. It's just the exams. So, that extra credit is to Anthro what those "in-between" assignments are to my English and Communication classes. Our professor is offering THIRTY POINTS OF EXTRA CREDIT. She's probably having nightmares about those D's and F's. Even with studying, I don't think there was much hope with the first unit. It was just so gosh-darn boring. Now we're moving into a more interesting unit dealing with present cultures. I'm still putting in an hour per night, but this time, I'm not going to bomb my exam. I hope to walk out of that class with a "B." If I don't, I won't be able to transfer it to USC.

Alright. Here are some things that I am giving up in order to support my initiative:

1. Facebook
2. Yahoo Messenger
3. Television...on Mondays. If I get really serious, possibly Fridays
4. Hanging out with Lyds and the crew on weekdays
5. Sleeping

I'm not only sacrificing those things for school, I'm also doing it for God. Alright, okay, alright, seriously, STOP LAUGHING. I feel I've been ignoring Him a lot, and because of that, a lot of crappy things have been happening. I feel making these sacrifices (and fasting as well) will at least show I acknowledge my errors. I haven't been praying or even going to church. Since coming here, I haven't been able to find any Baptist churches. I was thinking of attending a Catholic church just for prayer or perhaps Mass, but I just can't. I'll touch more on this in another post. I've finally found one, and I was introduced by one of the cafeteria workers. He's really weird, but he's alright.





Do I look like a "Georgia Mae" to you?!