A. Distractions – All students have certain distractions while they study. Some of these distractions are minimal and may have little effect, yet others can be extremely damaging. Academic distractions range from background noise to physical discomfort or the people with whom we study. Most of these distractions can be easily eliminated by the student. Here are a few of the most common sources of distractions and how they affect the student:
a. Cell phones – Students often find themselves communicating with their friends by talking or text messaging while they study. Other times, they may spend time on games or other applications on their phones.
b. Music –Many students assume that by listening to their iPods and other such devices will give them personal seclusion from the outside world.
c. TV – Having the TV on in the background is the most deceptive one of them all. Students don’t realize how much of their attention is unconsciously consumed by the television running in the background.
d. Studying with people who are not working on the same material – Those students who have had study groups know that the only way study groups work is when everyone in the group works on the same project. When students get together with classmates or friends who are not working on the same project, they tend to either socialize or get sidetracked with questions outside of work. This breaks their concentration on the material they are trying to study.
All of the above distractions either disrupt or overload the information flow to the brain. The brain needs as little sensory input as possible while the person is studying. When there are audio/visual or physical distractions (uncomfortable study positions, bad lighting, etc.), then the student loses full concentration on the study material. The brain becomes too busy with other information and can’t process the study material properly. The usual argument that students use for having the TV or music on in the background is that they don’t watch the TV or consciously listen to the music. The issue is that we may not pay conscious attention to the sensory input, but subconsciously, our brain is picking up everything. It’s very similar to having many applications running in the background of our computer. When those unwanted applications are running in the background, they slow down the processing speed of the computer.
Suggestions – Students should let all of their friends and family know that they will not be answering their cell phones (calls or text messages) while they study. Then, they should turn the phone on its silent mode, and put the phone far away where they won’t even be able to see the flashing screen. They can check their messages when they take a study break, which should not be more than once per hour for about ten minutes. Proper study techniques also require the student to turn off the TV, radio, iPod, etc. when they study. No additional sensory input should be on.
There is another very powerful and concealed reason why we should eliminate all other sensory inputs while we study. That reason is linked to how our brain recalls the material it has stored. When the brain stores any information, it tends to store every other bit of information that comes in at that time. Additionally, it connects all of that input and stores in one place. This means that when we read a book in a park and listen to classical music, the brain will combine the reading material, the environment (the park with all the smells and sounds) and the song to which we are listening and store them all together as one experience. So, when it’s time for us to remember what we have read, it would be ideal for us to recreate the same environment as of the time we were reading the book. This process helps the brain retrieve the material much easier.
We have all been in situations where a certain scent or song has taken us back to a specific experience. That is because of the brain’s information retrieval process. The problem is that when the brain needs to recall certain information during a test, it will have a difficult time retrieving everything since the student cannot replicate the same study environment during a test in a classroom. The student will not be allowed to have a TV or iPod playing the same program or song as it did when studying.
And last but not least, the student should study with other people ONLY if the others are working on the same material. This will allow them to ask questions regarding their work and learn from each other.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Life After High School - Attainable Dreams
In this session, we are going to see how a dream career can become a simple reality. There are certain simple steps a student must take to reach his dream career. The process is quite simple, yet a little unusual to some of us. This process is called Planning by Reverse Engineering.
Here are the steps.
1. The student Picks a Career (Profession) - People have different career goals; likes and dislikes about what they want to do for a living. For some students picking a profession is very simple, and yet for others, it may take some time.
2. After picking a profession, a student must see if that particular profession requires any further education beyond high school, such as vocational training, career college, university, or graduate school. If it does, then the student must work backwards from the profession all the way back to high school.
For example: If the student wants to become a LAWYER, then she would have to go to law school. There are many different law schools. Some are ABA accredited and others are not. Graduates from non-ABA accredited law schools have certain practice limitations and restrictions. Therefore, the prospective lawyer will have to make a choice. Once she has an idea of which law school she wants to attend, then she will have to check their admission requirements. Here are a few general requirements accepted by most law schools: a) LSAT (Law School Admission Test) scores, b)Undergraduate (College) Degree, c)Pre-requisite Courses, and d) Undergraduate Major.
3. Based on these graduate school (e.g. law school) requirements, the student will have to pick a major, a direction of study concentrated on a certain field or subject. All college students must pick a major in which they will eventually receive their undergraduate degree. There are many majors offered by colleges. All colleges have different national rankings in different majors or fields. A certain college may rank #2 in Biology, but #100 in architecture. The student will have to see how their chosen college ranks in a particular major. More often than not, students who want to got to law schools will choose to major in English, Political Science, International Relations, and Government. The mastery of the English language is essential for lawyers.
4. Once the student picks the best suitable college for her major, she must then look into that college's admission requirements, just like those for law schools. And similar to laws schools, college admission requirements may vary from one school to another. The basic requirements are as follows: a) High School GPA, b) SAT or ACT Scores (Some colleges accept SAT's and others accept ACT's. The student must clarify their particular testing requirements with each school) c) Extracurricular Activities (volunteer work, after school sports, academic clubs, etc.).
When the student works backwards from the career choice all the way to high school, she knows exactly what she will need to do in high school go get into college, then law school, and then practice law. Nothing is left to chance or luck. Everything is attainable and depends solely on her efforts. Everything happens one step at a time.
Unfortunately, most students don't follow this easy, step-by-step path. They don't plan and execute their plan. Instead, they take it one step at a time and hope for the best. They do what they can in high school, then take the SAT/ACT, apply to different colleges and hope to get accepted somewhere. Subsequently, they attend the college that grants them admission. In college, because they don't have a plan, they start wondering between majors and career choices. They allow themselves to aimlessly wonder through college and waste a lot of valuable time. After graduating college, they decide to go to graduate school. Now, they have to find and apply to schools which will accept their undergraduate work, GPA, and the graduate admissions exam scores (which they probably hadn't even planned on taking). Suddenly they realize that the graduate admissions exam (e.g.LSAT for law schools) requires strong reading and composition skills which they don't have because they majored in engineering. Consequently, they have to go back to college and take several English courses. Yet another waste of valuable time.
Therefore, it is extremely important for each student to plan by reverse engineering and then take the necessary steps toward their profession. Its a time-tested system that works. This system is used in anything that needs to be built, whether its a career or a house. First you have a vision of what the end product will be, then you work backwards to plan the entire project. Then you take that plan and start building one step at a time.
Here are the steps.
1. The student Picks a Career (Profession) - People have different career goals; likes and dislikes about what they want to do for a living. For some students picking a profession is very simple, and yet for others, it may take some time.
2. After picking a profession, a student must see if that particular profession requires any further education beyond high school, such as vocational training, career college, university, or graduate school. If it does, then the student must work backwards from the profession all the way back to high school.
For example: If the student wants to become a LAWYER, then she would have to go to law school. There are many different law schools. Some are ABA accredited and others are not. Graduates from non-ABA accredited law schools have certain practice limitations and restrictions. Therefore, the prospective lawyer will have to make a choice. Once she has an idea of which law school she wants to attend, then she will have to check their admission requirements. Here are a few general requirements accepted by most law schools: a) LSAT (Law School Admission Test) scores, b)Undergraduate (College) Degree, c)Pre-requisite Courses, and d) Undergraduate Major.
3. Based on these graduate school (e.g. law school) requirements, the student will have to pick a major, a direction of study concentrated on a certain field or subject. All college students must pick a major in which they will eventually receive their undergraduate degree. There are many majors offered by colleges. All colleges have different national rankings in different majors or fields. A certain college may rank #2 in Biology, but #100 in architecture. The student will have to see how their chosen college ranks in a particular major. More often than not, students who want to got to law schools will choose to major in English, Political Science, International Relations, and Government. The mastery of the English language is essential for lawyers.
4. Once the student picks the best suitable college for her major, she must then look into that college's admission requirements, just like those for law schools. And similar to laws schools, college admission requirements may vary from one school to another. The basic requirements are as follows: a) High School GPA, b) SAT or ACT Scores (Some colleges accept SAT's and others accept ACT's. The student must clarify their particular testing requirements with each school) c) Extracurricular Activities (volunteer work, after school sports, academic clubs, etc.).
When the student works backwards from the career choice all the way to high school, she knows exactly what she will need to do in high school go get into college, then law school, and then practice law. Nothing is left to chance or luck. Everything is attainable and depends solely on her efforts. Everything happens one step at a time.
Unfortunately, most students don't follow this easy, step-by-step path. They don't plan and execute their plan. Instead, they take it one step at a time and hope for the best. They do what they can in high school, then take the SAT/ACT, apply to different colleges and hope to get accepted somewhere. Subsequently, they attend the college that grants them admission. In college, because they don't have a plan, they start wondering between majors and career choices. They allow themselves to aimlessly wonder through college and waste a lot of valuable time. After graduating college, they decide to go to graduate school. Now, they have to find and apply to schools which will accept their undergraduate work, GPA, and the graduate admissions exam scores (which they probably hadn't even planned on taking). Suddenly they realize that the graduate admissions exam (e.g.LSAT for law schools) requires strong reading and composition skills which they don't have because they majored in engineering. Consequently, they have to go back to college and take several English courses. Yet another waste of valuable time.
Therefore, it is extremely important for each student to plan by reverse engineering and then take the necessary steps toward their profession. Its a time-tested system that works. This system is used in anything that needs to be built, whether its a career or a house. First you have a vision of what the end product will be, then you work backwards to plan the entire project. Then you take that plan and start building one step at a time.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Life After High School
As our youth grows older, they start approaching the end of their K-12 schooling. So, what choices do they have after graduating High School? Over many years of my academic and professional career, I have created a general list of options which I share with my students. Being an academic coach and a business consultant for many years, I have my own opinions about the importance of college education for every student, but that will be discussed in later blogs.
Here are some options with no order of importance as each student may choose his/her own path.
Life After High School - What are the options?
Upon graduating high school, our students can do one or more of the following (in no particular order of importance):
A. Work - Go directly into the workforce and get a job. Most of the time these jobs will start at minimum wage and will not require any special skills or knowledge. In such jobs, professional advancements and promotions are very seldom.
B. Technical or Vocational Schools - Students may choose to attend one of several vocational training institutions where they will learn skilled labor and gain specialized knowledge about certain types of work. The list is very large and will not be discussed at this point.
C. Junior College (aka Community College)
1) AA degree (Associates) - A student may receive an AA degree from a JC in a field of their choice. This is usually a two-year program and usually the lowest academic degree after high school. This degree assists many individuals in getting slightly higher paying jobs as certain positions may require such a degree.
2) College Transfer - Many students who do not apply to four-year colleges (universities) directly after high school, choose to take this route where they get to take all the necessary courses to transfer to a university. These courses are designed to fit the general education requirements of most universities within the U.S.
D. University / 4-year college (Undergraduate School) - A four-year college is the same as a university and is generally known as Undergraduate School. Students with high High School GPA's and SAT or ACT scores may apply directly to colleges and start pursuing their bachelor's degree directly out of high school. Different universities have different admission requirements and each prospective applicant must contact the admissions office of each university and inquire about such requirements. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT (American College Testing) are standardized tests measuring the overall knowledge of each prospective college entrant in Math, Critical Reading, and Writing. These tests are similar in many fashions, yet different in others. Different students perform differently on each of these tests. Colleges may have their own preferences for such tests and it is the student's responsibility to check with each college's testing requirements for admission.
Life After College to be discussed in later blogs.
Here are some options with no order of importance as each student may choose his/her own path.
Life After High School - What are the options?
Upon graduating high school, our students can do one or more of the following (in no particular order of importance):
A. Work - Go directly into the workforce and get a job. Most of the time these jobs will start at minimum wage and will not require any special skills or knowledge. In such jobs, professional advancements and promotions are very seldom.
B. Technical or Vocational Schools - Students may choose to attend one of several vocational training institutions where they will learn skilled labor and gain specialized knowledge about certain types of work. The list is very large and will not be discussed at this point.
C. Junior College (aka Community College)
1) AA degree (Associates) - A student may receive an AA degree from a JC in a field of their choice. This is usually a two-year program and usually the lowest academic degree after high school. This degree assists many individuals in getting slightly higher paying jobs as certain positions may require such a degree.
2) College Transfer - Many students who do not apply to four-year colleges (universities) directly after high school, choose to take this route where they get to take all the necessary courses to transfer to a university. These courses are designed to fit the general education requirements of most universities within the U.S.
D. University / 4-year college (Undergraduate School) - A four-year college is the same as a university and is generally known as Undergraduate School. Students with high High School GPA's and SAT or ACT scores may apply directly to colleges and start pursuing their bachelor's degree directly out of high school. Different universities have different admission requirements and each prospective applicant must contact the admissions office of each university and inquire about such requirements. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT (American College Testing) are standardized tests measuring the overall knowledge of each prospective college entrant in Math, Critical Reading, and Writing. These tests are similar in many fashions, yet different in others. Different students perform differently on each of these tests. Colleges may have their own preferences for such tests and it is the student's responsibility to check with each college's testing requirements for admission.
Life After College to be discussed in later blogs.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Choices and decisions
A choice is a selection out of a variety of options (two or more) an individual makes upon which to act. Choices are made from deep within. The soul, intuition, and the subconscious mind are the primary factions of the being that are involved in making a choice.
A decision is made with the conscious mind and the ego. It is based on past experiences, education, logic, deductive reasoning, and the current state of emotions.
A decision is made with the conscious mind and the ego. It is based on past experiences, education, logic, deductive reasoning, and the current state of emotions.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Asking Questions
What happens when we want to ask someone a question? The first question we must ask ourselves before asking the other person is, “What is the purpose of asking this question?’
Perhaps we lose focus on the purpose of our question. Sometimes we are deceiving in the way we ask questions. Sometimes we don’t want to know the truth, but what we are going to do with whatever answer we get.
Example:
“How may I help you?” Is this question designed to find out how we can actually help someone or is this question designed for us to make a sale or look caring or to take advantage of the other person, or to break a silence, or to say something for the sake of saying something? If the question is designed to find out how you can be of assistance, then we will approach that person with the proper tone and demeanor (controlled by our subconscious mind). When a question is being asked for the sake getting the truth, then that question will receive its true answer. Should there be any other motives behind the question, then sooner or later it will come out like a leaky pen through a white shirt pocket.
Ultimately, are we asking a question to get THE answer or A answer?
Perhaps we lose focus on the purpose of our question. Sometimes we are deceiving in the way we ask questions. Sometimes we don’t want to know the truth, but what we are going to do with whatever answer we get.
Example:
“How may I help you?” Is this question designed to find out how we can actually help someone or is this question designed for us to make a sale or look caring or to take advantage of the other person, or to break a silence, or to say something for the sake of saying something? If the question is designed to find out how you can be of assistance, then we will approach that person with the proper tone and demeanor (controlled by our subconscious mind). When a question is being asked for the sake getting the truth, then that question will receive its true answer. Should there be any other motives behind the question, then sooner or later it will come out like a leaky pen through a white shirt pocket.
Ultimately, are we asking a question to get THE answer or A answer?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
having to say something vs. having something to say
Seldom do we catch ourselves having to say something as opposed having something to say. The former is just a silence killer or a lack of conversation material. Many people find themselves in a situation where they are compelled to say something or make conversation. These people have a difficult time with silence or like the sound of their voice a little too much. They are under the impression that the people in their audience are really interested in what they have to say?
Then we have the second group of people who have something to say. If a person has something to say, the information will come out effortlessly and without any hidden agendas. Unlike the first group, the people in the second group are under no pressure to fill the silence. They share their mind without any expectations or attachments to their own ideas.
Then we have the second group of people who have something to say. If a person has something to say, the information will come out effortlessly and without any hidden agendas. Unlike the first group, the people in the second group are under no pressure to fill the silence. They share their mind without any expectations or attachments to their own ideas.
Road A or B
Often times we tend to look at our current life and start wondering about our past actions. Doubting questions arise: "If I hadn't done that or if only I had done this other thing, then things would have been better." Truth of the matter is that regardless of which path we took in the past, we would have still ended up in the same place. Our actions are the cause and our situation is the effect. However, our actions are a result of our being. Who we are determines our actions and not the other way around. Our belief systems cause our actions. Therefore, had we taken road A versus road B, we would have still ended up where we are now.
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