Reflections: College is Easy if You Know How to Study

See and do: Reflections by a visual learner

"College is not always easy!"

Whoever ever said that college was easy? I learned that the hard way. 

Discerning one's learning style can make studying easier. 

Let me reflect upon my own personal experience, for a moment and you will begin to see what I mean.

A number of years ago, I realized that time was going to go by, whether I had anything to show for it or not. So, I decided to make the best use of my time that I possibly could and go back to school. I had no idea where to start, but decided to take some interest level courses.

I began taking a course in ceramics, as I wanted to learn how to paint figurines. By the time that I was finished the course, I knew how to paint Hummel figurines. With some help from my instructor, I managed to create several, lace-draped porcelain dolls and mastered the basics of folk art painting. These courses did not require a lot of studying. It was a matter of ‘see and do’.

Then, I enrolled in a pottery course. My work schedule was such that there was only one course that I could fit into my schedule. It was a fourth year class that was held one afternoon a week. I had never taken any basics in pottery, so I had my work cut out.

Over that next year, I learned how to work with clay on a potter's wheel to make basic, pottery, which included mugs, cups, bowls, flower pots and vases. I was taught how to use different glazes and learned firing techniques for pottery, as well as how to use both indoor and outdoor kilns. In order to complete this course, I had to learn how to make big plates and teapots. With some assistance from the instructor, I managed to pass the course. This course did not require a lot of studying, either. This was also a ‘see and do’ course, as well as a ‘hands on’ course.

At the same time that I started the pottery course, I enrolled in a beginner's course on how to play the organ. I had some experience playing by ear and knew a bit about reading music, but sight reading proved hard for me. No matter how much I studied music, it did not get easier. Trying to read three lines of music, at the same time as I played it, was not something that I could do well, no matter how much I practiced.

I learned that I could hear music and play some of it by ear, immediately. My hand-eye-foot co-ordination left something to be desired. My hands were stiff from working with the cold, hard clay.

I gradually became increasingly frustrated with sight reading, but I persisted and finally learned the piece of music that was required in order to pass my organ course. When I took my examination, I was shocked to learn from my instructor, that I had played the piece perfectly, in a different rhythm than it was written. I decided that this kind of studying was not for me, though it did involve ‘hands on’ experience. I learned that I could write music, but that was difficult for me, too.

I gradually became aware that although my hands were busy, my mind was searching for something more. I realized that I was yearning for mental stimulation, rather than mere creativity with my hands. At that point, I enrolled in a two-year counseling program. That is probably the best thing that I could have done. 

Over the next two years, I began to understand myself, my learning style and how complex studying can be.

The first evening of my counseling program in a communications course, we were paired off with other classmates. I began to talk with a young mother who was having a difficult time at home, because her daughter had been injured at school. Having been trained as a pediatric nurse, I began to counsel her.

We worked our way through the courses together, over the next two years. We both obtained our counseling certificates, while two thirds of the students in the class were eliminated in the statistics course.

"If you don't have the patience to do statistics," we were told by the professor, "You won't be an effective counselor."

We obviously had patience. Maybe we had learned it somewhere?

Personally, I had begun to take more and more notes. I had made massive notes in my statistics course and shared them with my classmate.

While I enjoyed the counseling program, the studying that was required did not come easy to me. As fast as I would learn something, I could start and learn it all over again. I found out that I did not have a photographic memory, like some of the other students. I began to realize that I was not a person who learned by listening to lectures, as much as I enjoyed them. What I heard flew in one ear and out the other.

Over time, I gradually learned how to write down only key points in a lecture. As I did that, I became aware that what I wrote, I would be able to recall. Then, I knew how to study. When I wrote, I learned. That was the secret.

A number of professors, who watched me take notes, told me that I did not need to do that. Some of them got angry at me for taking notes. I took notes anyhow. I would go back over them at night or before my exams. I gradually started to realize that what I wrote down was being written in my mind, at the same time.

It was not long before other students, who were not adept at taking notes, would check with me about course information, that they had not been able to record in class. I chuckled as I helped them. My notes may not have been well written in any structured format, but they were there. As time went on, I began to take better and better notes. My hand writing improved, as well.

It was not until many years later, that I was told by one of my professors, that I am a visual learner. He said that others can be auditory learners. Then, I understood why I had struggled so hard academically, for all of those years. But, I had instinctively done the right thing. I learned how to study by writing everything down, so that I could actually see the information.

To ‘see and do' something like ceramics, is only one of many ways to study. Learning what my learning style is helped me to study more effectively and it certainly made it easier for me to study. This will probably hold true for others, also.