I think the problem with being born smart is the security in the constant wins. The security builds confidence and that confidence slowly creeps into being over-confidence till you find yourself teetering towards academic ruin. Would you make it over the edge of the cliff in time or would it already be too late?
From the beginning, my Dad would call me by the family name, saying that in this family, no one was anything but incredibly intelligent. It was a trait that had been upheld for generations and so, his daughters must be the same. I didn’t disappoint. We never disappointed. My Dad relaxed the moment he saw our grades. We were upholding the family name.
I remember him yelling when I came second in class in elementary school. He’d peruse through my grades and say, “If you had a 98 here instead of 96, you would have been first,” and so on. But generally, he wasn’t the type of parent to do things like check our notes or assignments except in a subject like Mathematics where he made it abundantly clear that as daughters of a Mathematician, anything less than a perfect score in Math was unacceptable.
However, he was the type to be relaxed with his children’s academics. He knew we’d always be at the top of our class. I didn’t like to read every day like most of the other bright kids. I preferred drowning myself in the non-academic books in the library. And why should I? I’d be at the top anyway.
I didn’t know when it bled into my subconscious. To rely on eleventh-hour reading. I could cover three semesters' worth of notes in a single night and by the time, I was done writing my exams, I’d smile. I scaled through again. As far as I was concerned, things would never change. I was brilliant enough to pull any last-minute academic comeback and be sure to ace it. Life was good.
Until....(In Ray Johnson’s voice)
It was my final year of secondary school. My school made it compulsory for all students of that class to move to the dormitory. I was completely okay with it till after the first week of classes when I knew I was in big trouble. For some reason, every course, including Math, was looking so strange. My Dad wasn’t there to reassure me that the topics were easy peasy. I began to panic.
Nevertheless, I brushed into the side after a while. I’d been at the eleventh-hour game for so long, there’s no reason it would fail me now.
Well, it failed me. Woefully.
When my first semester’s results were out and I saw them, I think I was in a state of shock for hours. I couldn’t believe it. But you would think seeing myself in not the first three but the first ten would wake me up. It didn’t, till it was time to write my WAEC examinations and that’s when I knew I’d fumbled.
Anyway, since getting into college, things have been different. It wasn’t easy switching to studying every day as opposed to waiting till the night before the exams to study but I tried. I’d learnt my lesson so I was going to try my best. So when it comes to studying, this is how it goes.
Paying Apt Attention in Class
There are a lot of times when I don’t remember what was written in my notes but I can recall an analogy or a story the lecturer used in explaining the course and I’m able to give what is expected. And that’s because I fought distractions, which in my case is zoning out. I’d pinch myself if I need to but I make sure to catch every word.
Committing It In, That Day
This is where it continues. I don’t let that day pass without going through my notes. Not an extensive reading, just going through it and committing it passively to memory. Just ensuring that I get the hang of the topic on the day that is taught.
Mnemonics
Listening to me saying the things I read could leave you exceedingly confused. I abbreviate almost everything and make songs out of them which I recite while I read. Mnemonics stick like glue and have helped me overcome the difficult and rather elaborate terms in several courses. A lifesaver for real.
Penning It To Memory
This is something I noticed about myself a long while back. I generally love writing so it wasn’t surprising to see that I learnt and studied by writing. No matter how well it feels like I know it, if I don’t write it down, it doesn’t quite stick. Writing it down is like my two-factor authentication. Like, “You know it but do you truly know it?” kind of study. Once I write down everything I've read, I can relax.
I used to think I was the type to read with music since I write my posts and other things with music playing in my ears. And while I don’t find it hard to read with it, reading without it has proven more effective.
There you go, the eleventh-hour girl transformed into a daily studying lady. Who knew? Lol.
Images are mine.
