#My500Words Challenge: Day 11

The Challenge

Persuade Me

The 500 Words

I guess my issue for persuasion is how to study in Graduate school. I’d like to start out with a little background on how I came to discover this method. Last fall, I took my very first graduate level class. I loved it so much, but the time it took to be full prepared was hardcore, and I very quickly had to figure out the best way to use my preparation time if I wanted to show the rest of the cohort that I deserved to be there.

There was a lot of reading, as I’m sure is expected with any Master’s program. After the first week of non-stop reading, I decided there had to be a better way. I blocked out an hour every day Monday thru Friday specifically for reading. I would read as much as possible during each hour, and I would take notes in my notebook, writing down anything from that chapter that stood out to me. I found that most of the time I only needed the first two or three days to get through the next week’s reading. The notes were especially helpful, because I could reference them in class without reading directly from the text.

For a while, I referred to this as my “no homework on the weekends” policy. It was great!

Now that my program is almost equal parts reading and writing, I’ve decided that reading is for during the week, and my weekends are reserved for writing. Since I’d rather spend a single day power-writing a paper, this works out perfectly for me.

I think the strategy for success comes down to a few things: time management, asking questions, and being aware of your workload.

Time management helps you allocate enough time to get everything finished. Personally, I hate being up against the wire on a deadline because I feel that my quality of work suffers. I do not wish to be known as the person who can’t produce quality work; rather, I want to be the high-quality worker that always follows through.

Asking questions helps you understand the expectations that you need to meet. I like knowing what is expected of me, because there can be much confusion if it isn’t specifically laid out. Always ask questions! Do your best to answer questions when others ask you. Engage group discussion, talk to people, do whatever you think would be helpful to increase your understanding.

Lastly, being aware of your workload is one of the most important things anyone could do. How does this differ from time management you ask? Because even the most organized person can stretch themselves too thin. Personally, I try to keep my day capped at three activities. For example: Work, class, and grocery shopping; or Work, Zumba, and piano lesson; or even Church, visiting teaching, and ward prayer. In theory I could always be doing more, but then I run the risk of burning out, or worse, losing my mind between points A and B.