How to Do Well in School

1. Attend class regularly. Since KCC is a commuter school, a lot of students have the tendency to rely on word of mouth as to what the assignment was on a particular day. Some students ask the teacher, "Did I miss anything important?" That's a silly question. During a certain day, crucial information about an assignment might have been given; a handout might have been disseminated; some insight about the secret of life might have been tossed out; the teacher might have, in a fit of zaniness, thrown a surprise pizza party. Successful students rarely miss class and in the RARE chance that they do, they ask the TEACHER what they missed. "Word of mouth" can often be a great source of confusion about assignments.

2. Pay attention in class. Yes, we know that there's a new movie starring Orlando Bloom showing at Kahala Mall after class. Yes, your cat's having babies and you want to make sure that Poopsie has an easy delivery. Yes, your grandpa is coming to your home to tell you stories about the time he singlehandedly wrassled a wild boar to the death. Yes, your boyfriend/girlfriend is meeting you later at Ocean's to dance to the same ol' booty-thumpin' songs they played last week while you drink a KIR ROYALE . But what do any of these things have to do with class? Successful students listen carefully, take notes, and jot down questions so that they can ask them at an appropriate time during the lecture.

3. Do homework routinely. A successful college student should ideally spend 3 hours a night doing homework, preparing drafts, revising work, etc. Teachers don't have the idea that homework is "busy" work, meant to keep students from their social lives. We do not have a global teachers' conspiracy run by Dr. Evil called the EVIL TEACHERS NETWORK to torture you with our assignments; the homework we assign is meant to serve as a skill-area employed in the essay or a helpful assignment that features the topic given in the homework.

4. See the teacher for help. See the teacher in general. Students at this institution are busy, especially with the demands of work. I understand that. Nonetheless, if you are really struggling with understanding a concept, understanding an assignment, or keeping up in class, then you should ultimately be asking the one person who can help you best--the teacher. The crazy guy in class, who never comes to class, who dances around in the back of the cafeteria and does the Macarena while talking on the phone to his Auntie in Ulan Bator, Mongolia--is he going to be the best source of information as to how to do the homework? I LIKE helping you. It gives me great personal satisfaction knowing that I can help you get better at something.

5. Review what you're learning on a regular basis. Successful students think about their coursework genuinely and put into practice what they've learned. They review their notes, textbooks, and handouts routinely to get a better sense of what they've picked up during the semester.

6. Learn from mistakes.. Successful students learn from their errors; they don't dwell on mistakes and they don't repeat their mistakes. If a student consistently misspells "their," "there," and "they're" and use them interchangably, the successful student will learn when to use them properly. Some students get a bit "salty" with the teacher when the teacher indicates that an assignment is done improperly, by giving them a failing grade. We don't feel a sense of glee when we give you a marginal grade (we don't go into our secret teacher cave and laugh, "Hah ahhahahahhhahaha! I gave that student an F! Muahahahahaha! Joy! Joy! Happy! Happy! Giving F's is fun, fun, fun!" ) So see us for help and see us so that you can improve your work.

7. Make school a priority. Successful students care about their academic careers and weigh their academic life as even MORE important than their social or work-life outside of school. Some students feel that school is not helping them to put food on the table, to pay the bills for electricity and for "da keedz," but studies have consistently shown that there are economic correlations to degree programs. Okay, sure...Bill Gates never got a formal degree, so the argument goes... and so did lots of successful entrepeneurs..., but since the majority of us aren't the Bill Gateses of the world, keep on trying.

8. Work hard, play hard. "Hit the books befo' you hit the beach," as the old Quizzard maxim goes. Doesn't a delicious beverage taste so much better after a hard day of work? Doesn't an essay look better and give you more of a sense of pride if you know you worked hard on it? Doesn't it make you feel a little bit guilty if your assignment isn't done to the best of your abilities? Doesn't a pizza taste better with cheese on top?

9. Motivate yourself to DO WELL. Successful students know why they are in college. No, it's not because of the wide abundance of people to date and play Yahtzee or Uno (tm) with on the weekends. Successful students are self-motivated. They don't rely on the teacher, the parent, the academic dean, or any authority figure to tell them how to do well in school--they already know. They don't feel the external pressures set by other individuals to turn work in on time, to take tests without cramming in material the night before while drinking lots of Jolt Cola--they feel an internal desire to 'kick butt' in class.

10. Take a multivitamin before going to bed. Multivitamins work wonders in giving you an extra sense of pep in the morning, especially during those early-morning classes. They keep you a bit more fit, and provide antioxidants that can often fight against stress-promoting hormones (and other scientific things I have no knowledge about but am writing about anyway).

11. Use a pen, not a highlighter, to take notes. When you use a highlighter, you mark up huge amounts of texts. But does the large PINK swath on your paper TELL you what is the main idea of the text? Does it tell you what the juiciest pieces of evidence are? Nope. A pen, by being able to CIRCLE, mark off < > and [ ] {} type information, is far more effective in conveying what points are more important than others.

12. Be and stay positive. A successful student realizes that school is not a HORRIBLE PLACE TO BE, that TEACHERS are akin to PRISON WARDENS and instead understands that college was MEANT to be fun, not a drag. If you want to have fun in school, then look upon every resource at school as something that has the potential to help you grown and learn. Think positively, speak positively, and interact with others on a positive basis. If you want to enjoy school, change the way you view it. This place isn't high school, with all of its teenage angst horrors. High school is a drag: "Oh my gawsh. Why is he wearing THAT ugly sweater!? And what did he do to his hair!? Yuck." College is strange and fun: "Oh my gawsh. Look how awful that sweater looks on him. I want to buy fifteen of those sweaters and give them to my nieces and nephews. And what did he do to his hair!? We need to buy that and check it out right now. Let's use the sink at my house."