If college is about one thing, it's about tailgate parties. But if college is about 70 things, one of those must be studying. For some of us, studying involves lots of reading, outlining and written assignments. For others of us, it involves lots of trips to Greenberry's, whining to our friends and last-minute panicking. Each of these approaches has its perks. Whereas the former leads to solid grades and a sense of accomplishment, the latter prepares you for a future career in the world of business. The following study tips will help you choose which path is right for you.
You might be wondering what could possibly qualify me to give out advice about study habits. After all, my GPA is so low I had to join the football team just to have a decent excuse. It's so low it can only be heard by whales. It's so low they had to bring in a special team of doctors to check its vital signs, and the doctors concluded they weren't really sure what they were being asked to do, but that yes, it's quite a low GPA. At least my GPA has a good center of gravity.
Despite all that, I am indeed qualified to be writing this. See, all the time I should have spent studying for my classes I actually spent meta-studying the art of studying. Now I'm here to pass on all my knowledge to you. So basically I'm a public servant. I'm like that guy with question marks on his jacket who wanders around D.C. and makes people feel uncomfortable but slightly better-informed at the same time. Except that I'm not a weirdo. Plus my jacket has semicolons on it.
Some people like to study alone, and some people like to study in groups. The problem with studying alone is that you are limited to using your own lecture notes, and it's difficult to see how your series of doodles titled "Quest for the Perfect Spiral" is going to help you prepare for your midterm.
The problem with group study is that everyone else's doodles are even more distracting and pointless than yours. No matter how far behind you are in a class, somehow the people you wind up studying with are always even more hopeless than you are. I was once in a study group session where it took us three hours to realize that we were all studying for different classes. We still don't know what that student from Christopher Newport University was doing there, although damn could that kid draw a spiral.
Think about it: What incentive do your diligent classmates have to spoon-feed you all the information they've had to toil endlessly to acquire? None. On the other hand, TAs are paid extremely well to do precisely the same thing. That's why TA office hours are a gold mine if you treat them right. Just flash a teacher evaluation form at the beginning of the meeting, and pretty soon you'll have all your questions answered. This is assuming the only questions you have are, "Is this a teacher evaluation form?" and "I'm going to fail this class, aren't I?"
The most important step in developing an effective study regimen is choosing a go-to place where you feel comfortable hitting the books day-in and day-out. You should base your decision on several factors, including your level-of-noise preference, how far you have to travel from your home and whether your vindictive ex-boyfriend knows about the place. So for example, I do all my work at Carr's Field during marching band practice, because I like to study to music, because I live at the nearby Emmet/Ivy Parking Garage and because Brad would never think to look for me there.
Most people, however, prefer to study at a more traditional location, such as a library. Still, with the variety of libraries at the University, deciding where to go can be tricky. Thus I leave you with this short rhyme that has always proved helpful for me:
If you've got a big test and an urge to watch "Braveheart,"
The third floor of Clemons is where you should start.
Clark stacks is a great place to write papers for classes,
But the mural room is exciting and full of bare asses.
If you get invited to Alderman for a study date with Brad,
Don't you dare blow him off or he'll get really mad.
Dan's column runs weekly Tuesdays. He can be reached at dooley@cavalierdaily.com.
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