Ten Ways to Succeed in Class

Class begins on Tuesday and most freshmen have already arrived on campus and have gotten their textbooks for this novel and unprecedented semester. And although things are going to be significantly weirder with Pandemic 101 on all our class schedules, there’s still a few tips and tricks that will help you thrive during your first semester of classes:

Keep one notebook for all classes
Take freshmen general electives first
Don’t start off with a light freshman year
Request the front of the class if possible
Rent used texts with highlights
Ask tons of questions
Find one thing to like about each class
Discover Quizlet
Don’t pull all-nighters
If you sleep in class, start drinking a Mt. Dew until you train yourself to stay awake

1. Keep one notebook for all classes.

A lot of people like to “get organized” and have a notebook or binder for every class they plan to take, whether that be in high school or college. I found that having more than one binder only makes me more disorganized than anything. I’ve grabbed the wrong notebook so many times more than I care to remember, and half the time I learn that the particular class I’m taking doesn’t even require many notes (or I do better following along in the textbook).

Save yourself the time and stress and get one of the PCC five-subject notebooks (or however many subjects you have). Unless your major is a super note-intensive class (I’m assuming the science degrees have a lot of note-taking), stick to the one.

2. Take freshman general electives first.

Some people wait to take their basic history and science electives until their senior year, but I’ve never been able to figure out why. Your entire degree is based off of a certain order in which you should take your classes, starting with your most basic 101s. By throwing the checklist out the window, you have a higher risk of class conflict down the road, since higher level classes tend to only have a single meeting time in the day. I once forewent one of my sophomore-level classes, but since that class only met every other semester, and there was only one section of it, I wasn’t able to find room in my schedule until senior year. I was lucky, because some people mess up their checklists so bad that they have to graduate late, and no one wants that.

Plus, freshmen classes are designed to help you acclimate to the college climate, as well as help you meet friends in your year, which is a great way to network and build a friend group of students your age. Besides, it may seem like taking easy classes senior year will make your life easier–but it actually makes your life boring. You learn a lot in four years, and it’s no fun going back to college kindergarten.

3. Don’t start off with a light freshman year.

Freshman year is arguably the easiest year you’ll have at college. The classes are usually pretty easy and you have a lot of extra free time. Instead of cutting back and taking the bare number of credit hours (and potentially throwing off your degree’s checklist like I mentioned above), see if you can take one or two extra classes to get ahead. Overall, this does far less damage to your checklist and it will eventually snowball to create a limited-stressful senior year (I only had twelve credits both semesters my senior year–it was amazing).

Freshman year is also a great chance to get involved in extracurriculars like drama and sports. It’s one of my regrets that I never got actively involved in the drama department, and I didn’t help with a production until the very end of my freshman year (which was a relatively stressful finals period for me in comparison to other parts of my freshman year). Obviously don’t overwhelm yourself your first year of college, but even if you can choose one extra thing to get involved in (an extra class or something else), you’ll be glad you did it.

4. Request the front of the class if possible.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Freshman classes often involve a lot of students and it can get difficult to pay attention and enjoy the class if you’re stuck in the back. For classes I was excited for or wanted to pay extra attention to, I would request the front. The best place to sit was second or third row: you weren’t in the Spit Pit, but you weren’t three miles away either.

Not all freshman teachers give students the option to pick their seats, but a lot of them will offer front-row options for students who want them. I usually took the option and benefitted from it (it also gave you a chance to befriend the teacher before and after class, and having a teacher on your side is always a plus).

5. Rent used textbooks with highlights.

I made the mistake freshman year of buying all my books $$new.$$ Yes, even the history of civilization textbook ($$$$$$!). And while working the behind the scenes of the textbook sale this year, I’m realizing a number of freshman are doing the exact same thing.

Don’t do it!

Rent the used-est textbook you can find. Stand there, by the bookshelves, and thumb through each copy. Compare two used copies to see which has more highlights and notes in it, and take that one before someone else scoops it up. It’s not just cheaper, it’s smarter. And here’s why:

Junior year I took a video productions class. I picked a textbook with highlighted marks all through and used them to study and refresh my memory before being tested. One day I came to realize that nearly every passage marked with a blue star was an answer to a quiz question. I aced that class with flying colors, and a nice chunk of it was because I did well on the quizzes. Use your ancestors’ wisdom. Grow. Thrive. Conquer the world. The highlighter is more powerful than the sword.

6. Ask tons of questions.

I might have over-used this a in sophomore Origins class, because when I asked my teacher if it was biblically possible for there to be alien cows on other planets, he just said “no” and moved on. Don’t ask Bowman about alien cows in Origins class.

And sure, we all know that one kid who asks too many questions, or dumb questions, or questions just to distract the teacher. Don’t be that kid. Make your questions genuine, because unless you’re asking about alien cows, the teacher will typically recognize genuine questions as your desire to learn, and they can’t help but love you for it. Plus, chances are, if you have a question, someone else in the room probably either has the same question, or would be interested in hearing the answer to yours. Never be afraid to ask questions.

7. Find one thing to like about each class.

We all know that some classes can be the biggest drag of the century. I as a writer had a lot of trouble appreciating math class. Usually, though, there’s something–even if it’s minuscule–to appreciate about each class. Maybe it’s the teacher, or your seat placement in the room. Maybe you have a friend nearby or the person next to you is chatty before the bell rings. Maybe the textbook has wide margins for doodling (if the class is really that hard to enjoy). Maybe there’s a project or period of homework that’s going to be more enjoyable than other classes.

In history I loved my teacher’s stage presence and wealth of interesting knowledge. In photography I liked the textbook. In astronomy I liked my teacher’s quirky humor and the eccentric children’s song he’d play without warning. In cooking class I liked the challenge of creating something I knew I was terrible at. In technical writing I liked the cellphone manual project (I had to fake sadness when I got an A because everyone around me was crying over their grades).

8. Discover Quizlet.

I had never heard of Quizlet before coming to college, but it was a great way to study for tests and exams when I didn’t know where to start. Quizlet is a free website resource that allows students across the world to put up study notes from their class and teachers for others to use as a resource. It lets you play games and quizzes you over the material until you’re confident in your newfound knowledge. Just be sure to search for your teacher’s name when you study, because different teachers test differently.

9. Don’t pull all-nighters.

I know that the essence of college culture is to spend the unholy hours of the night beside melted candle wax and midnight oil, but let this stereotype die. By spending all night studying, you actually further hurt your chances of doing well on that test. By not getting sleep, you’re statistically proven to be at the same mental capacity that you would be if you were drunk, and your brain actually retains less information when it’s studying tired.

When I was an undergrad through junior year, we actually had lights out and we had to be in bed with our phone and lights out by 11:15. By rule, you couldn’t spend the entire night studying. Somehow I managed to get all my work done, and while I’m super thankful for the rule change, it’s still not healthy, smart, or beneficial to stay up to the crack of dawn.

10. If you sleep in class, start drinking a Mt. Dew until you train yourself to stay awake

It sounds crazy, but I had to do this for Spanish class at 8 AM four days a week. Yes, I drank Mellow Yellow (the Coca-Cola version of Mt. Dew) for breakfast. I was falling asleep in class, near the front, practically in the Spit Pit, and I felt absolutely awful for it because I knew my teacher could see me. Not to mention, aside from it being embarrassing, I knew I was missing vital information. Y Jenneth es no bueno at Español.

Luckily I only had to caffeinate for a couple of days before my body got used to the schedule (and I’m not a coffee drinker, so more extreme measures had to be taken that might have otherwise been solved sooner). If you’re having trouble staying awake in class, take a drastic action and load up on a highly caffeinated beverage before class.