The challenge of studying

Why so much fuss about study skills? Surely studying is a fairly straightforward activity –you read books, attend classes and then write essays. Where is the problem? Well, perhaps it isn’t so simple …

Zahra looked up again and saw it was 7.20 pm –nearly an hour since she’d started and still she was only on page two. Another hour and she’d have to collect Mark from his class –and would she ever get started again after that? Early start tomorrow morning –socan’t afford to work late tonight. And it’s the detective serial at nine o’clock –last episode –can’t miss this one. Wonder if the accountant is running the drug ring –but then what’s the link with the police chief?… No! Must get back to the book –perhaps a cup of coffee would help me concentrate –not that the last one did –and that was only twenty minutes ago. She looked at her notepad. The book title and chapter heading were written across the top, but the page below was blank. They said to make notes as we read –but notes of what? No point copying the book out. ‘‘Sum up the key points.’’ How?… What is there to sum up? Is it totally obvious,or have I missed the point? … apart from those brains busting long words,which don’t make sense even when you look them up in the dictionary. Why am I bored? I thought studying would be interesting. The book title looked fascinating, but I can’t even get through a few pages. There are so many words in the sentences. The first few I think, ‘‘OK –Iget you’’, but by the sentence end I’ve lost it. Why can’t they say it simply. Is it just a big con –blinding us with complexity? … Just remembered, I meant to sort out my desk … The phone rang. It was Holly … Zahra brought back another cup of coffee and sat down again. Only half an hour left. Must concentrate. Let’s go back to the top of page two. On second thoughts,I may as well go right back to the start, since I can’t remember word. I’ll try to get some notes down … .Yuk! It still seems like a foreign language. Oh forget it!… It’s too late to get anywhere now. I might as well get tidied up before fetching Mark. Perhaps I’ll give it another go after the serial … Meanwhile, in another room a few streets away … Nathan stared blankly at the computer screen. What now? He’d made half a dozen starts and hadn’t yet reached the middle of a page before deleting the words and starting again. How can I be stuck when I’ve hardly started? How long is this thing going to take? Will I ever finish it? … ‘‘Can happiness be a goal of social policy?’’ How do you start on a subject like that? How am I supposed to know what happiness is? Even the book doesn’t seem to be able to make up its mind. And what do they mean by social policy? What if I wrote, ‘‘Yes and no,depending on your point of view’’? … or perhaps I could just pick out few sentences from the textbook and change the words around a bit. At least they wouldn’t be able to say I’d got it wrong. But then the tutor said to write in your own words….. As his mind slipped back to the classroom he winced. Why hadn’t he kept quiet? He knew he didn’t really understand what the others were going on about –but the tutor was so keen for everyone to speak. He’d finally wound himself up to say something, but it was so long to the next gap in the discussion that the subject had changed. Then the tutor looked straight at him, so he blurted his point out so fast that no one understood what he was saying. Of course, they pretended to agree as they carried on the discussion, but he knew he’d made an idiot of himself. How could he face going back again? Anyway,I didn’t come away with that much –nonotes. In fact I can hardly remember a thing that was said. Why not give it amiss this week? Would the tutor be offended? Perhaps I’ll get marked down?… Oh well, think about that later. Must get back to this rubbish essay. Should I reread what I’ve written so far? No,can’t bear to read a word. How about looking up ‘‘happiness’’ in the dictionary and starting from there? I’m sure I wrote down some ideas for this essay when I was reading. Where did I put them? Brain’s turning to water … .Why am I doing this to myself?

Is studying really as bad as this? Well, not all the time. But there are times when things look pretty bleak. Although Zahra and Nathan are fictitious, their problems are very common –and not just among new students, or ‘weak’ students. They are general problems which all students face –problems of struggling to understand,of struggling to write of managing time,I completing a task,and of keeping up your morale

Zahra has a problem with making time for study between her social commitments, her work commitments, and her leisure interests.

Both have problems using time effectively.

Both are confused about what exactly they should be doing and how long it should take.

Both are stuck and cannot see away forward.

Zahra is repeatedly distracted –byaphone call, by her own thoughts, by making coffee, by tidying her desk, and most of all by the boredom she experiences when reading the text.

Nathan is inhibited by his sense of revulsion when he reads his own words and by his general feelings of inadequacy as a student.

He thinks of himself as a weak student and feels overawed by the tutor and the other students. He is approaching his essay in such a diffident way that he cannot take hold of the subject and express his own ideas. Instead, he sits, hypnotised by the title, casting around in desperation.

Both have lost the surge of enthusiasm they felt at the start of their studies.

They are in danger of giving up and wasting all those good intentions. They need help. Yet they may be doing better than they think. Studying often feels like a struggle, however good you are at it. In fact it is in the process of struggling that important learning starts to happen. We looked in on Zahra and Nathan when they happened to be at particularly low ebb, but we can easily join them again when things are looking up …

Nathan squeezed between the plastic chairs crowding the coffee bar and put his cup on the table. Had to phone to check the kids are OK. What are you all talking about? Zahra grinned. Megan’s going off on one. She’s discovered the secret of happiness. Well it’s just that we all know money doesn’t make us happy –and basically I’ve got everything Indeed –but still it gets to me that my younger brother earns twice as much as me. What a crazy society. Why do we compete with each other to earn more and more, when happiness is really what we want? Swap with me Megan,said Adam. You can be happy on the dole, and I’ll be happy on half your brother’s income Megan doesn’t want to pollute us with her wealth and make us unhappy –doyou?said Nathan. Look, I’m not rich. I’m just saying my lifestyle’s OK. But we all chase each other’s tails to have holidays and flash cars,instead of putting money into the community,where it would really make a difference, you know make people happier. But then,said Nathan they’d just get habituated to it in a few years,s what’s the point? Ooh –habituated –hark at him,Vikram chipped in. Been memorising your dictionary again Nathan? I’ve found myself using words like that,joined in Emma. Norms nuclear family –now my friends laugh at me Yeah –Ihave to be careful at work, or I sound like apart,said Zahra. But isn’t it amazing how much more you understand on TV,said Vikram. I’m watching a programme and I’m thinking –yeah, I know that, but what about the other point of view –you know,give us some evidence, don’t just tell us your opinion. Yes,said Megan. My Joe is starting to feel the pressure. Says he’ll be forced to start studying himself. But I can’t help getting stuck in.

You hear such rubbish on TV. I’m so into it now –Iwant to phone in and tell them where they’re wrong…. Later,as they stood at the bust stop, Zahra said Nice bunch of people Amazing mixture,replied Nathan. I thought they were all school teachers and managers the first week. I didn’t want to open my mouth in case I made a fool of myself Never thought I’d be sitting chatting about theories. I didn’t even think I’d make it through a whole chapter of the book, I took so long on that first one. I still don’t know how I stuck with it to the end Well you should have seen me struggling with that first essay. Nearly drove everyone in the house mad –not just me. I still find writing the worst. But at least I seem to be improving … .Don’t fancy the look of that next piece of reading, though, do you? Oh, I don’t know –could be quite interesting. Look out, here’s your bus –see you next week –take care!

And so they disappear into arose sunset and we see that studying can be wonderful after all. Well, I just wanted to show that although it is frustrating and tough, studying is also very rewarding. Like climbing mountains, there is a lot of hard slog on the way up, and sometimes you wonder why you bother; but when you reach the peak you remember how fulfilling it is. Many students say that studying not only gives them greater knowledge and understanding of the subjects they study, but also more confidence broader interests,and more purpose in life; that it helps them to achieve more in areas of their lives not directly connected with study. This is another reason why it is worth studying this book. As you develop as a student you will strengthen your capabilities all round.