You have to take a deep breath and just begin.

I understand that this is frustrating. The first step in doing anything is usually the hardest one. But, it’s doable — it’s a matter of figuring out how to approach the problem. In this case, your first step is to change the way you think about this problem. Here’s what I mean by that.

👉🏾 First, adjust your MINDSET.

When we say, “I can’t” or “I don’t want to” or “I don’t feel like it” we are giving priority to our emotions and therefore we have an emotional response to the problem. Where are the emotions coming from? Is it just your current mood or is this a typical reaction to this particular task or others similar to it? Is it a reaction that has become habitual every time you see your textbook? If the answer is yes, maybe it’s your fixed mindset talking.

What’s a fixed mindset? It’s your belief that your skill set, your strengths, and even your affinity to the subject matter are “fixed” i.e. you’ve had them forever (or never had them), and that’s just how it is — you can’t change a thing.

How does this play out in your everyday life? You say, “I don’t want to do this because I know I won’t be good at it!” or “I can’t do this because it will be painful and hard, and it will take a long time to do, so why try?”

What’s better than a fixed mindset? Cultivate a growth mindset: show yourself that you can build your strengths and skills through your efforts over time. The benefit: a growth mindset can be hugely empowering during your years of studying. Read Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to better understand how you can make lasting change with continuous effort.

👉🏾 Don’t think of studying as an OBLIGATION.

If you want to get rid of this problem, it’s important to identify where the sense of obligation is comes from. It can be external or internal.

External: Is someone else telling you that you have to study? It could be a parent, a professor, or a manager. Consider what they’re telling you: do they have your best interests in mind, are they considerate of your future, or do they have another agenda? Use your critical thinking to see if this advice is valuable to you, and if it isn’t, consider other options.

Internal: Are you telling yourself that you have to study? If you know there is something that’s important for you to do, it’s easier to come up with a solution. All you need to do is make the task less of a chore, and more of an important piece of work — just one piece, not all of it — that is critical to your personal development. How do you focus on that one piece? Read on.

👉🏾 Promise yourself you’ll reach ONE STUDY GOAL a day.

If you experience resistance towards your studies every single day, the best way to get your mind on board to begin studying is ask yourself this question each morning: “What is the one thing I am committed to completing today?”

There are many benefits to this technique. It will encourage you to think strategically about the day, keep you focused on your top study goal, make you prioritize what you need to accomplish, and limit the time you’ll actually spend at your desk. It won’t feel infinite any more. Keep in mind this — identifying your one thing doesn’t mean you don’t have many study goals, but it does means that you can finish one today (read a certain number of chapters or practice exam questions, for example), so you can concentrate better on other goals in the days that follow.

Hello bees! 

I’m part with part two of my college decision experience story. I just finished my freshman year at university studying Neuroscience (pre-med). When applying to schools last year it was stressful enough without a worldwide pandemic so I wanted to share my story in hopes of giving some insight into what deciding college is like. 

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a college counselor or an expert in college admissions. I’m reflecting on my experience to provide insight on the process. I’m also reflecting on the AMERICAN college admission system. 

---------------------------------------------APPLICATION TIMES-----------------------------------------

The biggest piece of advice I can give any student applying for college is take advantage of THE SUMMER before your SENIOR YEAR. This time was when I truly took time to consider my future which was scary in hindsight, but I found ways to make it fun. 

First: Testing 

The not so fun part is testing and I used the summer to patent and pull up my test scores. It’s a great time because I don’t have other school work and can focus on testing. I took about two tests over that summer. The one thing to remember is that since it’s the summertime, there will be less test location available. I had friends who had to go to a different state to take their test and driving at like 4 am is not a vibe ;). I recommend picking test dates at the beginning of the summer because there will be more locations. It is really nice to have testing done in the summer because trust me things get intense after that. 

Visit/Tours 

The best way to get a feel for the campus is always to visit. Sadly due to current circumstances that may not be possible. That’s what is great about technology. I couldn’t visit most of the schools I applied to and that made me lose a lot of perspective. That’s what’s great about virtual tours. I also recommend talking to current students if possible. Some schools have programs where you can pair with a student, talk to them or video chat to get a realistic perspective of what life is like. This is a big thing that is very useful especially in the case you cannot visit. There’s no problem in asking questions. 

Let Senior Year Begin…………………………………… 

When senior year started I had a general list of schools that I wanted to app;y to, but not definite. One resource that was incredibly beneficial was college visits. This when admission officers from different schools visit your school. Now this may not be available in every high school, but in some cases, universities will post when they are in the area on their website. I got information on a visitation for the school I currently attend at another local high school and I actually got a free application from it. If you don’t see such information on their website, CALL THEM. Universities have phone numbers for a reason, to call and inquiry for information that can help in this life changing decision. Since school events are kind of up in the air, calling is a great way to see what this school has to offer.

Pros and Cons List Are Friends: I know I love lists and organizations, but honestly a good old spreadsheet can sometimes be your best friend. I applied to a total of 11 schools. To some that is a lot, and to some that’s not enough. For me, I can come up with this list based on factors I discovered while touring and researching schools. Now these factors are subjective to the programs I wanted to partake in. 

Factors: Financial Aid/Scholarships, Campus Size, Diversity, Study Abroad, Undergraduate Research/Clinical Work, Jobs, Academic Support 

This wasn’t everything that I based my decision on. There was also the X factor. That gut feeling you get when faced with someplace new. I am a STEM major who wants to go into medicine. While doing research into different schools, I looked at not only good programs for my major, but what they can help in view of my future. I’ve always wanted to do research and travel, but also am not oblivious to the fact that anatomy and chemistry might be a challenge. This list took me months to make, so take your time and find what’s important to you. 

From here I compared these factors for all my schools on a spreadsheet while also counting the biggest factor being money. I was able to boil down which schools I wanted to apply for to 11. 

Application Process: I used the Common App which is really useful, but also confusing, but the biggest thing in applying especially to a lot of schools is organization and pacing. There was a lot of essay to fill and a lot of files to send. What I did was separate the more important tasks like finishing the overall common information versus university specific essay. Then I prioritize when schools I applied Early Action and which schools I applied Regular Decision. From there I chose the applications that took the least amount of time to do first. Remember some schools require multiple essay prompts especially if you want to apply to Honors or Speciality programs. It’s all about timing and organization. Now applications are expensive to apply. The reason I was able to for so many schools was I got a fee waiver from Common App. These you can request to throw out your school or if you got a fee waiver for the SAT/ACT you can inquiry one for applications. Also be mindful of documents like transcripts and test scores. Sometimes they can take longer than the Common App and can cut the deadline short. I recommend submitting documents before your application because they do take longer and if you wait you may have to spend an extra $75 express delivery. When SENDING IN applications, it’s okay to keep an eye on those document statuses, but not too close. Once you send it in though, leave it to the college admission powers! 

Now Some REAL TALK……………………..

College admission is a system filled with unfair subjectivity that favors rich and connected people. I am grateful for the schools I was accepted into, but it was no piece of cake. 

I got into my dream school. I have known of this school for a while.

Close, but still far away from home. Challenging, but had the familiarity. I was really excited because it made me feel like all my hard work in high school paid off, but this is where that unfairness comes into play. I had applied to financial aid months prior, but there was an error. So I redid my financial aid on the phone and papers. Mailed them within a week of the paperwork made available. I was patient until about a month from decision day. I spent the following three weeks on the phone with their financial aid department until decision day where I was hung up three times. At that moment I committed to my current school. I would like to say this was isolated, but there are a lot of stories like. I learned that my dream school, not so much a dream school. It was terrifying and heartbreaking because I thought I made the best choice. Turns out I did. I committed to a school that I have family that went to it and I live down the street from. It tends to get a bad rep at my high school because I went to a competitive high school where a lot of students go to name brand schools. The thing is no matter the name is on your degree, what matters is having a degree. Don’t let anyone make your future feel smaller. I made that mistake and it caused pain. Your future is up to you. Don’t let anyone control that. 

Although some of them are not really rare but some of them are really talked about less. Some of them have really helped my grades to grow.Up like mimicking exam environment, teaching my friends. Which one of them did you find was obvious?

Mimic test Environments. Lots of people don’t know this but our brains remember things better if we learned them in the same environment in which we will be tested. For example, if the room will cold make your study room cold, if it is hot wear a sweater when you study. Try it, it works.

MP3 Notes. So I don’t know if I’m the only one who does this, but I record my notes as MP3 files and then listen to them on the go. First, it helps me to remember when I’m first learning the information, and then over time, I am better able to remember everything because I’m hearing it in my voice. Over and over again.

A brief walk before a test. Lots of people think they should be cramming before an exam, and that is dead wrong. Lots of studies show that a brief 10–20-minute walk before your test will help you have better recall and maintain focus while you're in the test.

Don’t highlight. So this part of my don’t study hard but smart facts, but basically highlighting is useful. It focuses your brain on small unimportant facts and stops your brain from making larger connections. So don’t highlight and underline it doesn’t do anything, but get you to focus on a single small detail. Learn about passive studying techniques . Click here

Cramming is bad and good. I know a lot of people don’t say this, but I’m going to tell you why you shouldn’t cram and why you should. Cramming is bad because you jumble up all the information and facts, but if you quickly review 2–3 hours before the test everything research has shown that you will outperform the ones who didn’t quickly review everything.

Study Smart not Hard. I mentioned this briefly above, but basically, it means to focus on the authors not just their theories. Focus on big ideas and not just the small details, and never study just a single subject all day. More on my best study smart ideas HERE if you are interested.

Syllabus. Lots of people look at the syllabus for one minute at the start of the semester, but with most teachers, it actually has the most important info you need. Whether Berkeley or Harvard so many of my teachers told me that each week may have 4–5 readings of assignments, but the most important ones where the first ones, so focus on those.

Study before Bed. Lots of people think if they are tired they won’t learn things, but science shows that if you study right before bed you’ll remember things better. I tried it and it does work.

Teach Someone. I only was ready to take an exam after I spent like 20 minutes teaching someone else the information. I would annoy my friends in school, high school friends, or parents to make sure I knew it well enough to teach it.

Tell a story. Ok so you can make up a story or find one of TV, but whenever I couldn’t remember things I would make a story for it. I would make up characters and names that directly tied back to the materials, and during the test, all I needed to do to get the A was write out my story.