Student Tip of the Week

Anisa Jimenez is a sophomore at Stetson with a major in Psych and a minor in Education. Her first semester here was rough but she didn't let that pattern continue. Instead the second semester she found techniques and learning skills that best suited her, which lead to a drastic turn around for her GPA.

Her tip or key to success for fellow Stetson students is organization. It's all about being organized so that you can break your homework down into increments, that way it doesn't overwhelm you. It also means that the night before a major assignment or test, instead of cramming you'll be getting a good night's rest. To organize her life, Anisa makes use of planners and to do lists. She puts her due dates into the planner then breaks down how much work she should do each day so that everything gets done on time. There are many different strategies one can implement into his or her life to organize it, finding one that suits you will definitely boost your grades.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Roy G. Biv

Having trouble remembering what Gorbachev did for the Soviet Union? Make up an acronym. What is an acronym, you ask. Well every letter in Roy G. Biv relates to a color in the visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violet). This may take a little more time to come up with, but it might be a good way of remembering those really important facts that you just know you are going to be tested on.

…still wondering what the acronym is for Gorbachev? So am I dear blog reader…so am I.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Get organized!

The semester is just beginning but the assignments, commitments, and dates to remember are compounding upon each other at a ridiculous rate. Trust me when I say that while your memory may be one of the great wonders of this planet, do NOT trust it to remember all this important info.

GET A PLANNER! It doesn't have to be paper; it can be electronic. The IPhone now has a cool app called IHomework that apparently does all a planner does and more. I'm sure Droid, Voyager, Instict, or whatever crazy phone you have, has something similar if not even more fabulous. Some students use white boards in their room and keep a daily to-do list. Some people write with lipstick on their bathroom mirror (only do this if you are asking for grief from your roommates/hallmates). The point is, I don't care what it is, as long as it works for you and you actually use it!

Stay curious,

Team ARC

A "Classes are Quickly Coming to an End" Tip

“Hello, my name is Sims Klein!”

USE THE REFERENCE LIBRARIANS! Many of us do NOT like asking for help. It’s beneath us. We need no help! Well, there are times when we absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, need help. For instance, let’s say you’ve picked a fabulous research idea and you are beyond excited about it, and then VOILA! You go to the library and can’t find one single thing about your topic. Enter reference librarian. They work at that round desk in the middle of the library on the first floor. Introduce yourself and be nice to them. You will not regret it! And F.Y.I. their names are Sims, Jane, Barbara, Pat, and Jane!

Stay curious,

Team ARC

A "Make the Last 2 Weeks Great" Tip

Roy G. Biv

Having trouble remembering what Gorbachev did for the Soviet Union? Make up an acronym. What is an acronym, you ask. Well every letter in Roy G. Biv relates to a color in the visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violet). This may take a little more time to come up with, but it might be a good way of remembering those really important facts that you just know you are going to be tested on. …still wondering what the acronym is for Gorbachev? So am I dear blog reader…so am I.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

A "there's 4.5 weeks of classes left" Tip

Take the plunge!

You know how it feels when you are poised on the edge of a pool trying to convince yourself to jump in (we’re talking pencil jump here, nothing fancy like a dive or daring like a cannon ball), but you know the water’s freezing? You keep saying “oooone, twooooo, threeeEE,” and still can’t convince yourself to go in. The longer you wait, the less you feel like going in at all. In a way, this is how we all feel when we procrastinate. The more we put it off, the more daunting an assignment feels. So, our advice? Get it over with! Jump in! Enough with the counting!

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Yet Another Mid-Semester Tip

Spread the word.

What word? The good word, which is your very wonderful plan of getting work done! Tell everyone—roommates, friends, suitemates, parents, children, goldfish, stuffed animals, whatever—your plans for getting work done. Be specific: for instance, “I am going to learn all of the irregular Spanish verbs by Friday.” Hopefully this way you can help build more accountability for yourself with the people that care about you the most.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Post-Spring Break Tip

JUST SAY NO to more ORGS!!!

No not orcs, though they’re scary too. Just say no to that other organization that has just asked you to join. One common epidemic on Stetson’s campus is a propensity to collect organizations like Boy Scout badges. There are some fantastic organizations on this campus, and yes there are some that you should definitely be in. BUT, you cannot be in all of them. You cannot even be in half of them. They’re just aren’t enough of you. So take time and evaluate how you are spending your time. Why are you in each of the orgs that you are in? Do they fit in with your goals for your time here at Stetson? Do they make sense with the career you’ve chosen? Do you enjoy it? Are you truly helping them in their vision? If the answer to any of those questions is no, you might want to consider bowing out. You only have 24 hours a day and they must be used for the things that are the most important to you, such as CLASS and those few orgs that mean the world to you, and vice versa.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Another Mid-Semester Tip

Ask yourself, “Would I pay myself for what I’m doing right now?”

If your job was to be a full-time student, which for many of you it is, would you be earning your weekly paycheck? Whether we admit it or not, many of us receive some type of funding to be here: we get scholarships, grants, loans, etc. Thereby it is your job to be here; well scratch that, it isn’t just your job to be here, it is your job to do well here. Are you fulfilling the terms of that contract? If you were an employer would you pay someone for the job that you are doing? Food for thought.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Mid-Semester Tip

Be kind to yourself :)

It hurts when someone says something nasty to you, or even worse about you behind your back. We forget that while this is painful, the most harmful words are the ones we say to ourselves. Telling yourself, “You are SO going to FAIL this exam,” or repeating “you’re so stupid, you’re so stupid” when you don’t get how to do a math problem, may be a common practice for you. Know that, this does not help. Not only does it not help, it goes a long way to making it impossible for you to actually do well in something. When these thoughts start to cross your mind, acknowledge that they’re happening, let them go, and replace them with the nice gooshy warm positive thoughts, that will absolutely do more to help you than you can ever realize. We suggest the ever powerful, “you CAN do this!” Simple, yet right to the point.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

When stuck, try this! (said in cheesy infomercial voice)

Is procrastination getting the better of you? Is that paper looming larger and larger over your head? Our advice: instead of tackling the beast, take on one small task, one thing you have to get done. Even if it just takes five minutes, that little moment of satisfaction you feel after doing it can be the makings of real, true-blue motivation. If not, break the beast down. Make it smaller. Find a small piece of it you can quickly get done, such as the works cited page, or typing up the quotations. If that still doesn’t work, COME SEE US!

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Anti-Procrastination Tip

Know thy weaknesses.

Is Facebook a big time waster for you? How about the TV and those 10 hour marathons of whatever trashy show you hate to admit you’re addicted to? Whatever it is, don’t lie to yourself and say “oh I’m sure I can avoid it for a couple of hours.” REMOVE the temptation! For instance, if Facebook is your addiction, don’t study at your computer, or even near it, or even in the same room as it. If you are writing a paper and you have to use your laptop, turn off the internet connection. Yes, you very easily could just turn it back on, but at that point you are making a conscious decision to do so. If it’s something other than Facebook or the TV, the simple answer is to put as many obstacles between you and your time wasting entity as possible. Make it difficult for you to access that particular thing. Don’t trust your will power! We are all weak in the face of our seemingly harmless addictions! Wii anyone?

Stay curious,

Team ARC

New Semester Tip

Make a sign for your door to alert everyone to the fact that you are furiously pounding out the last tasty morsels of your paper, or stuffing every last bit of statistics equations into your very stuffed brain, or something along those lines (maybe without the food analogies) but more compact: such as DO NOT DISTURB! This can hopefully cut down on the people asking you to do something when you absolutely cannot afford to even lose one minute of time to tell them no sorry you can’t. It works in hotels, why not here?

Stay curious,

Team ARC

New Semester Tip

Some people hate to say no. For instance, someone may ask, “Do you want to go out tonight?" You think to yourself "Well I DO need to do that reading for tomorrow," then you say “UH HUH!” Someone else asks “Do you want to go get a coffee Carmel machiotowhatnot even though you’re in the middle of a lab report?” You say, “Sounds great!” While the sentiment might be true, sometimes we simply say yes because we don’t want to hurt someone else’s feelings. We encourage you to believe in your friends and the fact that they want you to do well. If you are working on something important and you need that time, your friends will understand. And if they don’t, well these are your grades that you are dealing with, not theirs! So practice with me now, everyone together, say NO, but nicely :).

Stay curious,

Team ARC

New Semester Tip

Shake on it.

Make a plan with your roommate/housemate/spouse/children/dogs/cats/parakeets/robots…whatever on study times for this semester. You can even write down the specific times and days and put it somewhere for everyone to see so that not only is it more concrete, but you yourself might be more willing to follow it. This will hopefully cut down on some possible tension during the semester, but could also be a source of accountability for you and the people you live with. It might also guarantee that your studying is not so erratic and devil-may-care and a little more planned out. Who knows!

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Spring Semester Tip

Know where you’re going!

Whether or not you know your major, or even more than that, your intended career, it is important to have some idea of where you WANT to be headed. Without that kind of direction it is so scarily easy to lose motivation as you have no idea why you are doing what you are doing: why am I in this math class? Why do I have to do this paper? Why is this homework important? Take a minute and write some goals for this semester. What grades do you want in your classes? What do you want to accomplish in your organization? Take another minute and write down some goals for your time at Stetson. What do you want to have accomplished by graduation day? Take one more minute and write some goals for five years after Stetson. Are you working with people? Are you working outside? What have you accomplished? Who are you? These are important questions. You don’t have to know all of the answers, but know this: graduation day will be here before you can blink. Today is the day to start working on these goals. We know this all sounds very motivational speakerish, but it’s too important for us to care! Don’t…waste…your…time.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Finals Prep Tip

Start studying AHORA MISMO (translation: right now!!)

Start minimizing Finals stress right now by not waiting until the last minute which makes cramming your only option. Think of something small to do for each subject every day, like retyping your notes, making study questions from your reading or the notes from that day of class, or making flash cards to carry around with you to look at when you have free moments during the day. Try making up mock-tests that you can start doing now so that when finals arrive you have already been through the testing experience dozens of times. This will also truly decrease the amount of anxiety and trepidation you may have going in to an exam, because really the last thing you need on your plate during finals week is more stress!!!

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Halloween Study Tip

You are NOT a vampire...so stop acting like one!

The problem with cramming is that it causes people to skip sleep altogether and put in a 10 hour study session before a test. F.Y.I. this does not create the most highly functioning brain activity for the actual test. As humans we do require sleep, and as students we also require a study plan that does not involve 10 hours straight of studying any one subject. For most people the best plan is to break studying up into 1-2 hour sessions, which does require some planning ahead of time as you may have to break that up over many days. So be smart: know your physiology.

Humans + sleep=alert brains with better chance for As.

Humans - sleep=vampires with bad grades.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Study Tip

Put the phone down and nobody will get hurt!

Sometimes we are so connected to our phone it feels as if it is a strange yet stylish appendage to our body. Yes, technology is good (some would say and some decidedly would not) BUT there is a point in which it infringes far too much into our lives. If you cannot have a five minute conversation without checking your phone for texts, you definitely are unable of getting away from your phone long enough to truly focus on any one subject. When you decide to write a paper, study, read fifty pages of your assigned reading, put the phone on silent and far far away from your reach. If you are constantly checking your phone to see if someone called or texted, you are not truly giving 100% to your studies. Do yourself a favor, cut the technological cord and be truly there with whatever you are working on.

Stay curious,

Team ARC

Memorization Tip

Sing what you study!

Not a singer? That's ok. The majority of us learned our ABCs with a song, so it's not a huge stretch to say that most of us could handle the sound of our own voices long enough to remember something we are trying to memorize. Anything can be turned into a song, and you have a MUCH better chance of remembering it if it has some sort of melody. Don't believe me? Try singing the lyrics to Fresh Prince of Bel Air...Go. Did you remember it? And that's been off the air for 13 years!

Stay curious,

Team ARC