Becoming a Better Student

You know, back in high school I guess I was a fairly shy guy. I had a lot of friends, but I was pretty reserved and fairly quiet. Not that there is anything wrong with this, but I knew that I wanted to change. Unfortunately, in high school at least, it’s hard to break the mould that you've set for yourself.

That's the great thing about college - it's a clean slate, you don't have to be held back by anything you've done previously.

I made a commitment to myself to become more social and have as many interactions as possible. At first the task is a little daunting. I decided the best way to change was to start talking and just begin by making short conversations with anyone who was around.

This included people on the bus, anyone waiting in lines with me and people in my classes. At first, things seemed a little awkward but I kept in mind the goal to get better.

Today I'm glad to say that making conversations is a lot easier and a lot of fun. Now I focus solely on the enjoyment of the interaction. I’ve found that, for the most part, people that you talk to will have at least one thing about themselves that is highly interesting or something that you can learn from.


So, how does this fit into the idea of becoming a better student?

I realize that it may be a little late in the semester now, but getting to know some of the other students in the class, as well as your professors can make your college experience much brighter.
I find that when I make the effort to make friends with classmates, I enjoy coming to class a lot more. There is nothing worse than to come into a class where you know nobody, sit down and listen to a dull lecture for 2 hours, then leave - by yourself. When you know some of your peers it also makes doing presentations a whole lot less difficult.

If I can give you one piece of advice for improving your chances in class, it would be go to your professor’s office hours early in the semester (and NOT right before a big test). Besides being able to learn about course-problems from the person who will be marking you, this will help the teacher to identify you as a motivated student (this is a good thing). By meeting the prof. early on, he/she will likely be more helpful when you visit them before an assignment is due. You have just differentiated yourself from all the other 'leave it to the last minute' students who only use the office hours out of desperation.

Also, don’t be afraid to just talk to your prof. after class if the opportunity arises. The truth is (contrary to popular belief) professors are people too!! This means they enjoy interacting, like to hear jokes, enjoy talking about last night’s game, and so on. You may even find one or two of your professors are actually cool! (Alright… ‘semi’-cool).

Now, I can't guarantee this by any means, but if I was your instructor and we had had a few conversations and I knew that you were working hard and doing your best, I would be more inclined to bump you up that 1% to reach the next letter grade. Again, this is just me thinking out loud.

Now, don't get me wrong, the idea of interacting and forming relationships with others is not so that you can use the person for your personal gain.

The key is that I make the initial conversation simply to be friendly with no expectations for the future. Some people, as I have found, are really not worth my time; with others, I am extremely glad that I chose to make the first contact because we are still friends today because of it.

By making the small effort to be friendly, I'm sure you will (as I have) gain a multitude of benefits.



Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/tmlsb/228428783/