Author: Maggie Cammaroto

‘Tis the season of exams. What a marvelous time! If you’re reading this, you may be processing a lot of endings at the moment. Perhaps not only are classes finishing up, but also your time studying abroad. On top of that, we are all coming to terms with the final few days of 2023. During this flurry of final exams & final goodbyes, it may be hard to find our footing and settle down to study. Time to check out out study secrets…

Believe it or not, we were once in your shoes. We’ve been on the struggle bus of finding the time/space/energy to put the rest of our exciting lives down in order to write that history paper or study for that chem final. But not to worry! We’ve been on the struggle bus long enough to figure out how to get off with study secrets. Without further ado, we present to you…mindhamok’s study secrets – tips & tricks to revolutionize the study experience & your GPA.

• A seed in the sun will grow to be strong.

December is Intellectual Wellness Month here at mindhamok! Last month, we journeyed into Environmental Wellness, which goes not only for the health of our natural environment, but for our personal environments, as well. As we seek out spots to study, let’s take a note from November. In fact, we talked all about creating an ideal study space in our November newsletter. Here’s the gist: seek out a study nook that is clean & bright. Natural light (i.e. from the sun!) is super powerful.

Try placing your desk next to a window (psssst – we shared this hack and so many others on our TikTok). Or experiment with adding a splash of color – red &  yellow to promote creativity, or purple & green to support tranquility for study secrets. Clear the clutter, light a candle, put on some classical music or soft jazz. It’s the little things that can transform any space into our cozy corner of knowledge.

• Know thyself.

Let me tell you a funny story about how I nearly failed AP US History. Picture this: freshman year of high school. I had to beg & plead to be put in my first AP (advanced placement AKA college-level) class instead of the honors version. I was ready…or so I thought. Immediately, dates & names were flying all over the place. Fear not! For I had ~the textbook~ which I diligently read, fervently highlighted, and even took extra care to copy down exactly what was written into pages & pages of notes.

But nothing could prepare me for our first test (bum bum BUMMM). Turns out, memorizing the dates & names was just step one. To knock it out of the park, I had to understand deeper historical processes, which my highlighting & word-for-word notes did not help me with in the slightest. “There has to be something I’m missing,” I thought.

I was missing a big something indeed, something a wise Greek man once said: “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” This is especially true when it comes to learning. We don’t all learn the same way. Some of us are visual learners and we digest information best when it’s presented in graphics. Others of us are auditory learners and we need to hear the information to process it. Still others have a reading/writing preference and must tackle new topics through those tools. And finally, we have kinesthetic learners that work best when the information is embodied.

For example, my sister Claire is an auditory learner. Throughout doctorate school, she listened to lectures on walks or while she was washing dishes. And she passed with flying colors! My brother Dominic is a kinesthetic learner. He’s studying to be a marine engineer and has really excelled in his classes since he’s gotten his hands on real equipment. I have a reading/writing preference.

You might be thinking “But hey! You were reading & writing!” Yes, observant reader, I was indeed reading & writing, but I wasn’t doing it in the right way. Once I understood the secret sauce in step three below, I consistently aced tests, thrived in over 10 AP classes, and attended my dream university. Once you figure out your learning style, you will flourish, too!