Succeeding

(in more than this class)

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are,

far more than our abilities.”--Albus Dumbledore

1. Attend. As some raffle tickets say, “You must be present to win.” But know that attending means more than merely being present at every opportunity. It means to actively strive to understand, to comprehend and interpret, for yourself.

2. Go where things are happening. Sit in front. It will help you to truly attend, and it gives the impression that you are someone concerned about what and how much you learn (an impression that can become a self-fulfilling prophecy). It also gives you the opportunity to interact more directly with the teacher--that teaches lessons and sends a message.

3. Listen actively, not passively. Take notes and ask questions, even questions you find embarrassing to ask. The person who dares to ask gets an answer and learns something from it. Ask every question you have, only then will you know for yourself: "Only the unasked question is stupid" (Malcolm X).

4. Read your textbook slowly, carefully, attentively, and before the next class. Read for about 30 minutes every day, rather than the entire reading assignment at once. As you read, ask yourself the five journalism “W’s” (Who? What? When? Where? Why?) and the “H” (How?). Use many short study sessions rather than a few long ones. While you read the book the first time, highlight what you believe are the more important points (and re-read your previous highlights the next day at the beginning of your next 30-minute reading session). Also, while you’re reading the book for the first time, look up every unfamiliar word in a good dictionary (try the American Heritage Dictionary) or in the glossary in the back of your textbook, if it has one. Then scribble a brief definition of that word in the margin of the book so you won’t have to look up the word again as you successively review your highlights and margin notes. Be sure you’re aware of what you truly do know, and recognize and admit (at least to yourself) what you don’t know. Socrates thought that the conscious awareness of one’s ignorance was the birthplace of wisdom.

5. Re-read everything. Re-view everything. Re-consider everything. Incorporate repetition into your study schedule by re-reading your notes, highlights, and handouts according to a schedule. You could be 5 minutes early to each class and use that time to review the last session’s notes. You could invent mnemonic devices and add them to your notes. Do whatever it takes for you to understand and remember. Obsess about something for a while. The trouble is not that people don’t think, but that many never bother to ruminate about a problem or a question long enough to get a meaningful answer for themselves.

6. Be responsible. Be on time. Don’t leave early. Turn in your work on time. Under-promise and over-deliver. Make sure all of your work is high-quality, neat in appearance, and well-organized, because "every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it." Communicate: call your teacher if you have to be absent and give a good reason why. Don’t talk to your friends once class has begun. Treat others as you wish they treated you. In essence, choose to live the kind of considered, meaningful, balanced life--in class and out--that you feel you can be proud of at its end.

7. Commit yourself to excellence, not mediocrity. "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to his or her commitment to excellence, whatever the chosen field of endeavor" (Vince Lombardi). “Excellence is the best deterrent to racism; excellence is the best deterrent to sexism” (Jesse Jackson). Take care about the details to be an excellent student, an excellent spouse, an excellent friend, etc. William Blake was right: "Singular & Particular Detail is the Foundation of the Sublime." Recognize the importance of trivialities.

8. Live a balanced life. Don’t do too much. If you’re going to school, work only a moderate amount. If you have to work, take a moderate amount of courses. Accept some degree of temporary poverty in order to have more of an abundance later. Make time for family and friends. If you’re in too much of a hurry to get somewhere, you just might wind up nowhere. The end of this life is the grave: don’t be in too much of a hurry to grow up, finish up, grow old, and die--all that will happen faster than any of us wishes. Go slow--you (and your children) will only be young once, don’t miss it.

9. Persevere. Try and then try again. A Buddhist proverb says “Fall seven times, get up eight.” If you don’t understand the material after studying it one way, study it another way. “Mistakes are easy, mistakes are inevitable, but there is no mistake so great as the mistake of not going on” (Blake). Ask for help from your teacher or from other students. Think of learning as a heroic and romantic quest. It is. Accept the challenge and sacrifice appropriately to reach your goal. "The purpose of life is to matter, to make some difference that you lived at all" (Leo Rosten). “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men [and women] with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded it’s almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is filled with educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent” (Calvin Coolidge).

Courtesy Daniel Coleman, Ph.D