Preparing for a New School Year – Part One

I love the first week or two of a new fall semester. Binder rings aren’t broken yet, everyone has an A, and furtive glances are replaced with jovial grins. But a few weeks go by, and you feel like an early 20th century assembly line worker – except that you are paying to go to work.

What the hell happens? Where do all the cookies go? Who shuns Chanticlier?!?!?

Every single school year, I tried to find the answer to this. I assumed that there had to be a way to maintain the same level of exuberance I had on the first day of school throughout the entire semester. Time and again, I failed miserably. I kept beating myself up because I could never harness that novel feeling and anticipation longer than 2 or 3 weeks.

After careful consideration, it dawned upon me that human beings aren’t supposed to maintain the same level of thrill and excitement over an extended period of time. (If you won the lottery every day you’d probably jump a little less higher after a couple months, right?)

I realized that the answer to my quandary would require a different approach. Instead of spending the summer focusing on the tangible aspects of my excitement such as fresh supplies and textbooks, it was more likely that my solution would be found within my own head.

To do this yourself, you must first identify what kind of student you are. Take this quiz to find out:

1. If you have the highest grade in a class, but are learning very little, how do you feel?

A. Just fine. An A is an A.
B. I worry about the next class that will require the material I am supposed to be learning, so I study more at home.
C. It makes me want to change classes. A good grade is meaningless if I don’t learn anything.
D. Me, highest grade? I’d probably make sure there wasn’t a computer error!

2. How negatively do extracurricular activities or your job affect your academic performance?

A. If I have to work or do anything besides school, I fail.
B. I probably lose 5-10 points per class.
C. One class might suffer, but otherwise it is no big deal.
D. It doesn’t affect me at all. As they say, “If you want something done, give it to somebody busy.”

3. How beneficial do you find group study sessions?

A. I’d be lost without them!
B. I only like them for the really difficult subjects like organic chemistry or differential equations.
C. They don’t help me, but if I know the material I love them because I can explain and help others.
D. I’d rather FAIL than forsake my private study sessions!

4. How important is punctual, regular attendance of class to you?

A. I’m paying for college. If I don’t want to go or I show up a few minutes late, who cares?
B. A few absences and tardies here and there is acceptable.
C. You should never be late, but if you have to be absent the professor should know a week or two in advance.
D. It is extremely important to me! I wear a mask to class when I have the flu.

5. Do you prefer lecture classes where you can take copious notes or classes with a more hands-on approach?

A. Play-dough is FUN! I remember things SO MUCH MORE when I get to touch something.
B. I like both; hands-on science labs help me.
C. Doing something once or twice a semester is quite enough; I don’t want to miss something that might be on the exam because of multiple Chinese tea sessions we had as ‘cultural experiences’.
D. My digital nerves may as well be nonexistent. The written word is good enough for me.

6. Are classes which deal in abstracts such as philosophy and art more interesting to you than classes with concrete material such as geography and biology?

A. Absolutely. I hate being tied down by rules!
B. They are more interesting, but I prefer a blend of the two.
C. No. I prefer covering concrete material with just a brief overview of its theoretical concepts.
D. Of course not. I can’t stand soapbox panderers who keep their heads in the clouds all day and never get anything accomplished.

7. In the past, how easily have you fallen behind on long-term projects that require a fair amount of planning and forethought?

A. Never. I start projects the instant I become aware of them.
B. I’ve made a couple mistakes, but there were mitigating circumstances. (i.e. got called in to work, unexpected practice, etc.)
C. I am behind the majority of the time. I surprise even myself when I finish in advance.
D. I am always behind. I put things off until the last minute, but somehow get them done.

8. Is one bad grade enough to make you give up for the rest of the semester because you know you won’t be able to be the best?

A. No. I am my own competition; everyone learns at his or her own pace.
B. Only rarely, but I wouldn’t say I completely give up. It also has to be in class I really enjoy.
C. Most of the time, this is true. I hate feeling less intelligent, so I won’t try as hard. This gives me an excuse when we get the next set of grades.
D. I will drop a class if there is any danger whatsoever of making a bad grade. Period.

9. If you never had a class before noon, how much better would you do?

A. I’d do much worse. I am a morning person, and by the afternoon I need a big lunch and a nap.
B. There wouldn’t be much difference. I’d adjust accordingly and perform about the same in class.
C. I’d do slightly better. I tend to stay up a bit too late occasionally, and it would be a big help to get those few extra hours.
D. If I have to get up before 10 or 11 AM, I am a zombie, so the improvement would be incredible.

10. How organized are you throughout the semester?

A. I’m Donald Trump’s secretary! A place for everything and everything in its place.
B. I might misplace a few papers, but I eventually find them.
C. I look disorganized, but I know where everything is, I promise!…I think…
D. I’d lose my own head were it not attached to my neck.

11. How much do you enjoy reading?

A. I enjoy reading so much that if my glasses broke like that guy in the Twilight Zone, I would have simply smirked. The knowledge gleaned from my extensive readings in spectacle repair would allow me to immediately mend them with my eyes closed.
B. I like it well enough. I read one or two books a month.
C. I like reading, but I’m picky. My attention is hard to hold, so it has to be an amazing book.
D. I hate reading so much that, even though my vision is fine and I can’t understand it, I would derive more pleasure from pretending to be a disk jockey with a Braille version of the Book of Mormon.

12. How much are your study habits affected by peer pressure?

A. Peer pressure…you’re joking, right? I STILL think George W. Bush is the MAN! (Change this to ‘I wear white shoes after Labor Day. Every day.’ if you would otherwise choose this answer.)
B. I’ll skip a night or two to go out, but my studies always come first.
C. It’s a bit of a problem. I have a lot of friends, so I have a hard time balancing study time with socializing.
D. My situation is worse than precarious. I’m often the one DOING the pressuring to convince one of my friends to put things off.

13. If given a choice, will you take an easy class which doesn’t interest you or a difficult class which does?

A. Nothing interests me so much that I would ever take anything hard unless I were forced.
B. I loves me some easy classes, but I’ll pepper in a hard one every other year or so.
C. Most of the time I’ll go for the interesting classes, but I know my limits.
D. If I am interested, I’ll take it. Call me a glutton for punishment, but I know what I like.

14. When you get a bad grade, how do you react?

A. Grades are my life. I cry really hard and then wallow in self-pity while asking my pet iguana if I’m a bad person.
B. I dwell on it for the rest of the semester; I may or may not recover.
C. I get a little upset, but it doesn’t surprise me; I resolve to try harder next time.
D. I laugh. Who cares about grades?

15. How do you perform when in a class where nobody knows you?

A. I don’t like going to class when I don’t know anybody, so pretty poorly.
B. I do a little bit worse until I make friends in the class.
C. There is no real difference either way.
D. Very well. When I am anonymous, I am not predisposed to behave in a way that may be detrimental to my performance.

16. Where do you usually sit in class?

A. Front-row center.
B. Somewhere in the front or in the middle.
C. I sit next to my friends no matter where they are.
D. One of the back corners.

17. How well do you keep track of your weekly agenda?

A. I don’t.
B. My friends remind me at the last minute and I come through in the clutch.
C. I usually write things down and keep lists.
D. I keep a schedule on paper and on my hard drive. I am always over-prepared.

18. How do you spend your weekends and extended breaks?

A. I make sure to study at least 1-2 hours each day so I am ahead of the game when school starts again.
B. I do some occasional reading, but just enough to stay current.
C. If I have a project due, I MIGHT do an hour or two of work on it. Otherwise, I goof off.
D. I can’t say I ever remember my weekends or holidays…

19. How badly does your motivation suffer when you are ill?

A. It becomes nonexistent. I generally will miss at least an entire week of school, so I never recover.
B. It falters considerably, but once I become well again I am back to normal as long as I have professors that like me.
C. I have to be bed-ridden to be affected. I may miss a few days, but I stay in contact with my professors.
D. If I were a mailman, I’d deliver on Sundays. I am an unshakable force of fortitude.

20. Be honest – did you make it all the way to this question without a single interruption?

A. You bet! (Choose this one if you really didn’t, but feel like lying anyway.)
B. Of course not. I have better things to do than worry about preparing for school.
C. Almost. Nature called and after that I had to get a snack. South Park was on, too.
D. Yes. I’m awesome.

Save your answers for now; you’ll need them later.

Part two will explore the different learning archetypes and subtypes as well as show you how to utilize your own particular type’s advantages and how to work on its disadvantages.