Top 10 Habits to Prioritize to Make Your College Life Successful

              Do you find studying boring, too? Have you ever thought that learning and enjoying could be possible at the same time? Of course we will think that it’s impossible. Studying can only be fun for the bookworm, the nerd, and the genius. But wait! I think it’s not impossible at all. There could still be pleasure and purpose in what is normally accepted as a wearisome requisite of the society.

            According to Edna S. Leung-Yao, author of “10 Keys to College Success”, it all depends on one’s attitude, the way he or she looks and responds to things, making the best of a given situation. Well, it must be talking about one’s perspective to discover that it is not the load that weighs you down but the way you carry it.

            In general, we are going to talk about right study habits wherein we can even have more time for fun and friends while fulfilling our school requirements. The top 10 habits that I’m going to share to you, based on the book of E.S. Leung-Yao “10 Keys to College Success”, would always require and focus on DISCIPLINE. I can tell that the word “discipline” is the commonly used term when it comes to good study habit. It is not only a simple word but an act of controlling yourself by behaving that shows a willingness which requires goal setting and determination towards excellence. However, here are the top 10 habits for better and more effective learning:

1. Diligence. If we are going to talk about diligence, responsibilities, quality of work and perseverance must come into our mind. Since perseverance is the quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult, you have to invest your time and effort wisely in these routine tasks. This will train you to be steady and sturdy until you reach your goal. Instead of being diligent, you have to appreciate, too. It is valuable to earn diligence, but becomes priceless when you gained it.
2. Interest. Without the sustaining base of interest, learning slows down, attention drops, and excitement loses effectiveness. When interest is present, your filters of perceptions are open. If you think you’re not blessed enough to have natural interest on a subject, then cultivate it with wisdom and discipline. How? Just simply read, observe and inquire. As you cultivate new interest, you will realize that the more you seek, the more you will find, and the more you will want to discover. This will make you to be a more interesting person.
3. Scheduling. Obviously, you can tell that scheduling is an effective device for the profitable use of time. Preparing a monthly or semestral calendar can be your “appointment register”. This calendar cues you to look ahead and plan for approaching events or deadlines. Work out also a daily schedule. As you create your own schedule and plans, balance all priorities and turn time-wasters into time-savers. Keeping to a schedule is though. You will have to fight the temptation of putting off tasks. Develop the discipline of saving time by sticking to your schedule.
4. Concentration. It is focusing your mind that determines the quality of your completed work and give you control over yourself and the environment. Definitely, the art of making your mind behave can be practiced such as doing breaks to drive away mental exhaustion, and setting aside a difficult problem for a while. You probably have practiced some of these techniques. Press on. Pursue the discipline of concentration.
5. Involvement.  Some barriers stop the majority of students from getting involved including shyness, laziness, and selfishness. Shyness is caused by brooding too much of what people think and say about you. But actually, it’s not how people see you that matter. What’s really important is how you see and accept yourself. God made us all unique. Develop your strong points and take steps to improve your weaknesses that could turn your flaws into awesomeness. Laziness is a definite lack of effort that marks the work of us, students. The only cure for this is hard work. Choose to be far-thinking ant rather than the short-sighted grasshopper. Selfishness is too much of putting oneself first.  He gets involved in class and school activities primarily to feed his own ego. He is like the foolish servant in the “Parable of the Talents” recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 25:14-30.  At the end of the story, the foolish servant lost all he had because he didn’t make wise use of what was given to him. Involvement is participation, not spectatorship. It is an activity, not passivity. It is more than existing; it is being alive because it is interaction with people. Involvement is the relationship element that keeps you n touch with people which lets you to make a difference where you are.
6. Planning and Preparation. Planning and preparation help you to look ahead, give you direction, forewarn and forearm you of possible snags and consequences. Proper planning and preparation promote greater efficiency in your study performance. These are assured steps in daily planning and preparation which enable you to accomplish more in less time: list down things to do for the day; prioritize and subordinate the things to do; finish what you have set out to do on your day’s list; and draft a list of things to do for tomorrow. Planning and preparation helps you work out a system for every project you undertake. With a system, you can achieve goals, meet deadlines, and complete tasks with a sense of fulfilment. Discipline yourself to plan and prepare as a way of learning and living.
7. Listening. Many can hear and yet are deaf. Have you ever thought of the difference between hearing and listening? In fact, hearing is a faculty while listening is a discipline. Good listening demands concentration and active mental participation. Because of poor listening habits, lessons are not learned, messages are misunderstood, relationships are scarred, and opportunities are wasted. However, you can sharpen and develop your listening habits by: reading the lesson in advance; dealing with distractions; concentrating, taking down notes; and reviewing the lecture points at the end of the lesson. When we truly adjust into what others are trying to communicate to us, we have unlocked another door to deeper learning.
8. Integrity. Well, you often hear, “It is better to cheat rather than to repeat.” According o Edward R. Sims, “There is no way to pull off cheating. You cannot live to life. You may deceive your teacher about what you know, but you cannot deceive life. What you have not learned leaves a hole that nothing but learning can fill, and no amount of covering can disguise.” When you choose the way of dishonesty and deception, you could lose touch with God which is the greatest loss of all. In Leviticus 19:11, we read “Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” Lying and deception are sins that separate man from God. First, it is coming to God. Then be honest and truthful to fulfil what you have to for thee test of integrity.
9. Note-taking. This is one habit that pays off. First note-taking helps you listen. Second, it helps you remember what you have heard. Third, it keeps you from cramming during exams week wherein studying for quizzes and exams becomes easier. Moreover, you have to earn proper note-taking. To take down notes properly you have to: read the lesson in advance; concentrate and listen carefully; use the outline format; and tighten your notes when you feel they are jumbled. Make note-taking a fixed pattern of your study and discipline yourself to jot down key point and significant information while you study for your lesson.
10. Enjoyment. According to Robert Have Schauffler, “Enthusiasm is the thing that makes the world go round. Without its driving power, nothing worth doing has ever been done… Apart from it joy cannot live…” When you are apathetic, you face chores and tasks as challenges. You must make the most of what you do, wisely using up precious time. You are far from boredom or hardship. Enthusiasm over what you do, enjoying it, makes all the difference. You can enjoy the opportunities before you and tackle them with strong energy and enthusiasm. Even according to an author and a film director Gordon Parks, “You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit. Enthusiasm is natural; it is being alive, taking the initiative, seeing the importance of what you do, giving it dignity and making what you do to yourself and to others.”

            As long as you are aiming the best for your studies in college life accompanied with diligence, interest, scheduling, concentration, involvement, planning and preparation, listening, integrity, note-taking, and enjoyment they can develop a right perspective towards studying. Wise attitudes and good habits from DISCIPLINE help you learn more in less time and with pleasure. Now, you can also tell to others that there is pleasure while learning at the same time. 

ENGL101a 
Blog#2: Enumerative Essay

Simply Education

        

         For all of your life, education is the best dynamic weapon that you could carry against ignorance. But how do we really define education? Well, if we are going to consult a dictionary, education is the systematic training of the moral and intellectual faculties. Meanwhile, according to Benjamin Disraeli, “To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” It can mean that education is the best cure for most curiosity, but if you are not contented enough, you are free to explore more new things and here is where we can now say  that  education will be your  best capital and foundation in life. As long as you have enough knowledge, you can explore and innovate that can help to change the world and will bring you into success at the same time. But don’t worry; no one can get it from you; no one can ever steal it from you. That is what most of teachers or professors tell to their students, one’s property or wealth can be stolen anytime, but one’s knowledge can never be stolen. However, one does not simply gain lots of knowledge about different fields and aspects of life in an instant, of course he must also earn it, maybe, for a year or a decade that’s why we are spending many years of our lives studying.

          And by the way, have you ever asked yourself why you should spend many years of your life studying?  There are three possible explanations for your answer. First, if you answered that society requires it, your parents want it, people just advise it, friends and other people go through it, you may tend not to see and appreciate the role and value of education. Rather, you look at it as a requirement that must be accomplished. Second, if you answered that you will become more knowledgeable, better equipped and trained and greater chances of success, you see education as a stairway to success. Education for you is a tool, a means to an end. And third,  if your answer is that you will cope better with the ups and downs of life, to become a better person, and be able to answer with confidence life’s constant questions (such as true or false, and right or wrong), you believe personhood, not academic excellence, is the first aim of education. For you, real purpose of man’s existence is not to earn a living but to live a life.

          Anyway, I think we must believe to Thomas Alva Edison’s saying, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” In fact, successful men are the men who have worked, read, and thought more than was absolutely necessary. They were not contented enough for what they had since they knew that they have knowledge sufficient for the present need but still sought more knowledge and stored it away for the emergency reserve. Every one of us may have different perspectives about education, but we have to set into our minds that education aims to give children resources that will endure  as long as life endures. Education will always be our greatest wealth from this world that anyone can hope to acquire to be the greatest equalizing instrument in the society. 

ENGL101a
Blog#1: Descriptive Essay