Quote:
Originally Posted by LifeFirst  I was just numb all day long because I was studying the last couple of days. I really had a feeling that I would do welll but I don't know WHAT happened. I don't know what to do now.  |
LifeFirst, the image that is coming to my mind is that you've been driving along pretty well, and then you've just got your first flat tire. You don't know what to do. Do you plow on, pedal to the metal, grinding forward? Nope, you need to fix your tire.
When it takes hours to read a few simple paragraphs, this means you're tired. You need to rest.
If you are taking stimulants such as caffeine, you need to stop.
You need to get a good nights sleep, every night.
You need to get some exercise, every day.
And no, you do not need to be going to parties
Then, when you're not tired, you will be able to study and learn again.
Now, it may be that you've bombed this class. OK. There are other classes. Or you can take this class again.
Once you are out in the marketplace, people will only care about what you know. Not what grades you got. Whether it took you 1 year or 6 years to get through college. They will not care. All they will care about is what you have learned.
So, you took this class, and there was more material than you could easily absorb, and you responded by valiantly studying long hours, until your eyes glazed over and you could read a paragraph three time without the information getting into your tired brain. You had a flat tire, and you said, "well, let's see if I can just keep driving by pressing hard on the accelerator". And you found out, nope, that doesn't work.
Thus you need a new learning strategy. You need sleep, because it is during sleep that your brain makes the connections and records what it has learned. You need exercise. When your eyes are glazing over, you need a break: take a nap, and then a quick fast run to get the blood moving, and then return to the material. And if you drink coffee or soda or take nodoz, stop! Caffeine disturbs your sleep cycle at night, preventing you from learning effectively, and makes you more tired the next day.
When you get up in the morning, take three deep breaths, and say to yourself out loud, "today I will learn this material in an easy and relaxed manner".
When you sit down to study, take three deep breaths and relax. Let all your muscles go floppy. Pick up your book, and skim through the material you're reading today. Don't try to read anything yet, just let your eyes skim along and pick up stuff if they want to. When you've come to the end, get up, stretch. Stretch up, up, up, fingers up to the ceiling as high as they will go. Stretch to the side, left, and right.
Now start reading the material. Gently. Easily. Your goal, your job, what you do in this activity, is to open your mind. It is not your job to force yourself to read, to bear down, to go hard. Your job is to relax, open your mind, and allow your eyes to read the material, to allow your brain to absorb. Your brain may not get everything the first time. That's OK. Read until the end. Put your worries aside. If you find your mind wandering, gently return it to the book, and continue reading.
Then, for the material that you didn't get the first time, return to it and read it again, gently, easily. Instead of forcing the material in, cramming it into your brain, let repetition do the job for you.
I hope this was helpful,
^_^
Cat