ACADEMIC AMAZONS
TIPS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Sample Study Prayers
Reasons to Get Up Early
It is your responsibility to ask for help.
Ask for help as soon as you think you need it.
Say YES to your FUTURE, by saying NO to your DISTRACTIONS.
Learn how to read your professor. Your job is to please your professor.
Find a good multi-vitamin.
FORM STUDY GROUPS - FORM STUDY GROUPS
Start assignments immediately. (This way you don't have to play catch-up)
Always read ahead of class. This way the info will seem somewhat familiar to you in class when the professor covers the material and you can ask intelligent questions of your professors.
Get rid of no good, no account, jealous-hearted pretend friends.
Identify supportive family members. If you have none, limit your contact with relatives.
Eliminate naysayers from your life, even if they're family members.
For working students: ALWAYS think of yourself as a student first. A student who works, not a worker who goes to school. Ignoring this advice will weaken your ties to the academic institution and add years to your acquisition of a degree.
Set a rigorous study schedule and STICK to it. Make studying your lifestyle. Budget your time. Time is a resource that must be managed effectively.
Learn how to say NO. Effective time management means learning how to say NO. Learn to say NO to distractions. I cannot emphasize this enough. Say NO to huge chunks of times given away to television and other non-academic activities.
START A STUDY GROUP
Since women are the busiest creatures on earth, female students are strongly urged to commit themselves to becoming academic Amazons.
Women are expected to stay at home when the children are sick, stay at home to take care of sick and ailing siblings and parents. It is constantly demanded that women compromise their vision and dreams. Women are conditioned to believe that their value is locked into how much they give and sacrifice to others. "Don't indulge in suffering" (Diane Von Furstenburg's father). Don't compromise your life away.
JOIN A STUDY GROUP, campus activity group, or school fitness center. Every minute you spend on campus and with classmates strengthens your connection to the academy, strengthens and encourages you to focus on your schoolwork and academic career.
(Know that you can be a study group of one. If members of your study group are unreliable, chronically late or tardy, always wanting to cut sessions too short; Write down ideas to get the group back on track. If they are unreceptive cut them loose, they will only drag you down. Study on your own.)
Handling Distractions: Non-school related activities are distractions. If it doesn't support your academic development, it is a distraction. *If you are easily distracted, Don't study at home. (It's the kiss of death.) You need to commit yourself to studying 2-3 hours a day at school after class for constructive & productive study. 2-3 hours of study a day will allow you to cultivate a sense of academic confidence built upon your competence.
You do NOT have the right to give up on yourself.
Be brave and ask questions when you are confused or lost in the material.
Be brave and visit your professor's office.
You have an obligation to fully participate in and enjoy your education.
Do NOT drop a class unless you absolutely have to!
Do NOT make a habit of dropping classes, otherwise you'll make quiting a lifelong habit.
Learn about all the resources available to help you learn and advance your academic career. (Learn about free tutoring provided by the school.)
MIND GAMES FOR SUCCESS
Vow to become an expert in each one of your classes. If your classes are Algebra, History, and Microbiology; think of yourself as a mathematician, historian, and microbiologist for that semester.
Every day is another opportunity for you to be successful.
Make a journal to motivate yourself. Print out this web-page and place it in your journal. Take this information and add to it, adapt it if you need to, rewrite it in your own words to make it more real for you.
Place the funniest jokes you can find into your journal.
No matter how down you get, just remember that there are others making the same sacrifices for their education. If you feel like you're missing out on the fun, remember that there are others out there who are also making sacrifices.
Accept that some students have it easier than you do, that they're getting the support they need from friends and family. Accept that their parents are college educated and recognize the value of an education and that the "insider" information they acquired in their college years is better able to help them to help their child to work the "system". Accept that their life isn't your life, and that you are just going to have to dig a little deeper and work a little harder than they do.
LOCKERS
Get a locker every semester.
Locker Door: Copy of library schedule, computer lab schedule, tutoring schedule, and an inspiring quote or a study prayer, or reaffirm the reasons you should study hard and do well in school. Print out this webpage and place on locker door.
Keep a small box with: index cards, extra erasable ink-pens/pencils, extra highlighters, post-its, erasers, batteries for your tape recorder, cheap calculator, pads/tampons, and deodorant.
Keep a folder with an extra copy of your tuition paid fee statement, class schedule, school's registration course guide for that semester, college catalogue with course descriptions, extra copies of all course syllabi, list of school resources to help you.
Extra loose leaf paper.
Obviously keep your books there when you're not using them.
BINDERS
Course syllabus (highlight deadlines for papers and tests)
A member's list of your study group(s) with all the necessary contact info and location info.
Leave the seats by the door vacant for the late people. Late arrivers walking in from one side of the room to the other is extremely distracting and most professors don't have enough sense to tell/order students to leave them empty.
- Turn your pagers and cells phones OFF.
- ALWAYS turn in something, even if you don't complete the assignment, your professor may be inclined to offer partial credit.
- Be brave by asking for an extention on an assignment if you haven't completed it by the deadline. Some professors can be very fair-minded and flexible and generous if you give them an opportunity to be.
- Eliminate naw and yeah from your vocabulary. Yes ma'am; No sir work very well.
Think of yourself as a spong there to absorb every idea presented.
STUDY PRAYER
Isis, I beg your company to chase away the loneliness of the solitude of studying. Show me your grace and I will do well.
Please give me the strength to complete my studies.
Please help me to absorb all the knowledge that I can from this material.
Please help me to absorb and learn all the algebra I need in order to be successful in this class.
Please watch over me tonight to help me to stay awake long enough to prepare for tomorrow's test.
Axtis, help me to do well so that I may succeed in my studies and become a knowledgeable person, who will bring peace and justice to the world, for peace and justice are your virtues.
Sample
Schedule for Part-Time Student Schedule for Full-Time Student
Bus Riders: Utilize your time effectively by studying on the bus. Get up early and remind yourself that you can doze on the bus.
Part-Time students need to get back to the campus after work. Try to commit to one hour of study at the library.
Learn your study style and temperament.
Library: may be perfect or may be too quiet for you.
Maybe on some days you need background noise (white noise), try studying in the library.
Park space: offers tranquility, soothes the nerves, offers quiet space disturbed by birds and squirrels. Quiet, but not too quiet.
Maintain basic good hygene: bathe, comb hair, decent but not trendy or flashy clothes (let some other fool spend most of her money on tacky clothes).
Your college classmates (study group members) will become your business contacts, business partners, circle of influence, grapevine of information, and your references. You'll always need a network to plug into when you're looking for a job, you'll count on each other to provide job leads when there companies are hiring. You'll help each other to get through the door of corporate America.