“By investing two times the energy into your education, personal development and professional capabilities, you will see ten times the return in your opportunities.”
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What Kind of Student Was I at 18?
A typical day would look something like this: I would frantically assemble my daily outfit of sweatpants (usually put on backwards) and a sweatshirt after waking up to the realization that I would be late to school for the third time that week. After arriving to first period physics, I did what any motivated student would do and promptly fell asleep using my textbook as a pillow. Jolted awake by the bell, I would then hurry to second period pre-calculus where I had to vigorously copy the answers for last night’s homework assignment and turn them in. After 50 minutes of disrupting my math teacher with sarcastic remarks, it was time to mosey on down to English class where, SURPRISE! There was a pop quiz on a book I didn’t even own, let own alone read.
This flurrying around in a state of panic and aimlessness took place every day from 7 am to 2 pm from the time I was 10 until I was 18. School was a prison of mind-numbing boredom and fear of not accomplishing the bare minimum. I had no grand plans for my life like some of my other classmates. From Monday to Friday, school was a place I just happened to be. At the root of my procrastination was a lack of desire, purpose and motivation to do something important with my life.
College Changed Everything.
Even with these poor academic habits, I somehow got into college. It was college where I realized that education had value in the form of personal satisfaction and financial incentives. I was amazed by the fact that top academic performers had the opportunity to win scholarships, get internships and leave college with a full-time job.
Aside from the opportunities that college could provide, another motivating factor was that college is… Well, how do I put this lightly? Expensive as shit. If my family and I were going to pool financial resources together to help me receive an education, then I was going to do everything in my power to make the most of the opportunity. There was also an element of sentimentality to this new chapter, as my late grandfather saved his whole professional life to pay for my first year of school. In my mind, there was a lot riding on my success: my identity, my family’s expectations, my future… yeah, no pressure.
After failing the first few assignments in college and missing deadlines, I knew it was time to change. I knew that I needed to make some drastic alterations to my mindset and habits to reap the benefits that college had to offer. But there was only one problem:
I had no idea what the F@$% to do to become a good student.
What Can I Do for You?
After four-years of being an undergraduate, I learned what great students always do. 18-year-old me would never have believed that he would graduate college with two degrees, four scholarships, a 3.94 GPA, and the choice between getting my master’s degree paid for or working at one of the largest technology companies in the world. If I – the most average student to walk across my high school campus – achieved this, I can teach you to do it too.
If you are about to begin college or are in the middle of college and want to improve your performance, I’d like to give you my playbook. If you follow my seven rules, you not only will become a straight-A student, but you will feel personal satisfaction from achieving a challenging goal.If you work hard enough, you will be eligible to win scholarships that can finance your education.
Think about yourself like a business and college as an investment in your core competencies. By investing two times the energy into your education, personal development and professional capabilities, you will see ten times the return in your opportunities.
Rule #1: Set big goals.
In order to be considered successful, there needs to be a metric for success. Goals measure progress and give us the motivation to always be striving toward something. I recommend creating goals that are far out of your comfort zone as they will cause you to search deep within yourself to find motivation, discipline and knowledge. I believe in setting stretch goals because, even if you fall short, you still achieved something great.
When I first began college, my goal was to get a 4.0 GPA, yet I never actually got a 4.0 until my fourth semester. Until that fourth semester however, my GPA was a 3.85.This taught me a valuable lesson: by setting your sights on perfection, you can fall short and still be a top performer.
Being successful rarely occurs by accident and occurs even less from setting easily attainable goals. Set goals outside of your capabilities and comfort zone and work every day to accomplish them. The only way to change is to do things that you have never done before until they become habits.
Rule #2: Dress up for class.
Whatever you want to achieve in life you must dress, talk, walk and act like you have already accomplished your goal. This mindset provides the necessary courage to accomplish your most daring pursuits. Dressing nicely is essential for becoming successful for two reasons. The first is that making the effort to dress up makes you feel more alert, confident and professional. Secondly, dressing nicely also influences people’s perception of you. If students in class are wearing sweatpants and you are wearing a collared shirt and dress shoes, the professor will take you more seriously. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to look professional, simply go to a store such as Marshall's and buy button up shirts, nice jeans and dress shoes or buy clothes on clearance. Making the effort to look presentable does not go unnoticed.
Rule #3: Stay after class on the first day and introduce yourself to the professor.
Your relationship with your professor begins on day one. By making the effort to introduce yourself on the first day, you set the tone for the relationship. You want to let your professor know that you respect their time and plan to master what they have to teach. Because other students are too afraid to do this, you will distinguish yourself as a dedicated and mature individual who respects the professor.
The Difference Between High School and College
Coming from high school, we are in the habit of thinking that our teachers need to serve us. This is wrong. There is a sharp distinction between the roles of college professors and high school teachers. Most college professors do not dedicate as much time to teaching as high school teachers because instructing is only 50% of a professor’s job. Most college professors split their time between two different but equally time-consuming activities: research and teaching. As a part of the research portion of their jobs, they perform studies, read academic papers and publish research. They are doing this all the while teaching classes. Naturally, these competing priorities cause their mind to be in several different places. So, when college students complain about not being accommodated, it falls on the deaf ears of a busy professor who is just trying to get all their work done. The more students that show up, give mediocre effort and expect the class to be easy, the more frustrated the professor will become as they feel their time is being disrespected.
Side Note: not all professors perform research.For instance, Clinical Professors do not work in a research capacity, yet they still instruct college classes.
How You Can Get Ahead
By introducing yourself on the first day and leading with the conversation points below, you are essentially letting the professor know, “I respect your time and I am here to master what you have to teach. How can we make this relationship mutually beneficial?”. You will distinguish yourself from your peers by acting maturely and courageously. This one small five-minute conversation could be the deciding factor when asking for a curve on your final grade for the semester.
Leading with the thoughtful conversation points below will help make the conversation fruitful. As another tip, try to talk about yourself as little as possible. Just be sincerely curious about what your professor has to say. Active listening causes people to think more highly of you. Remember what Dale Carnegie said in How to Win Friends and Influence People, “To be interesting, be interested”.
Conversation Points
Ask what their research is about.
Ask what it takes to be successful in their course.
Ask about the challenges that students of the past had to face.
Rule #4: Sit in the front row and ask one question per class.
This is a perfect time to introduce the concept of salience. Essentially, think about it like this: the more frequently you make a strong impression in someone’s mind the more often they will think about you. Why is this helpful? Well, when the professors are thinking about the model students in their class, they always remember those who sit in the front row and engage in the lecture. Their perception of students in the front row is that they are hardworking, diligent and curious. Even if you do mediocre on exams, they will associate you with effort which will pay off come time to evaluate people’s final grades.
This also serves as an insurance policy. In the unlikely scenario that you give your best effort, yet you still are falling behind, the professor might potentially be more accommodating to you. As the model student, the professor will be more likely to provide you extra guidance and information through their course if they believe you are genuinely trying your best. Several times during college, after making a consistent effort to show interest in the course and ask questions, my professors would provide helpful tips for studying for exams that were not given in class.
Take 20 minutes prior to class and look at the PowerPoint slides and read a section of the current chapter. Come up with one thoughtful question and ask it at the appropriate time. These small efforts will reap exponential rewards in both your knowledge and the teacher’s perception of you.
Rule #5: Go to the teacher’s office hours before exams and essay deadlines.
By this time, you will have already established a relationship with your professor. This will be beneficial come time for essays and exams. These two categories usually make up the bulk of the final grade, so it is crucial to maximize the points in these categories. Let’s break down the strategy for getting the maximum amount of points:
Essays
When it comes to writing essays, the best thing to do is to complete several rounds of editing and revision. I set a goal to complete the final draft of my essay a few days before the due date. I would then take my essay to the professor and ask for their commentary. This provides instant feedback as to whether you are on track to getting an A or not. Once you make the changes based on the critique, the professor cannot help but give you a good grade. They will see their own influence in your work and be more inclined to give you a high mark. What’s more, if you complete what you deem as a final draft and are willing to accept that grade, then any incremental improvements just increase your score and satisfaction.
Exams
When it comes to studying for exams, it is important to make a methodical plan and study the material in small but sustainable increments. I always liked to create a study schedule a week before the test that mapped out each of the available chapters and how I was going to review the material. The most beneficial aspect of this habit is that it eliminates the tendency to cram.
Also, plan to go to your teacher’s office the day before the exam and tell them what you know about each topic on the study guide. Ask them to quiz you about topics from the relevant chapters (pay close attention: they are asking questions that form the conceptual basis of what is going to be on the exam). The teacher will be more inclined to give you helpful information if you show that you have already prepared for their test. If you just show up before exam day and ask for their help without preparation, they will not help you.
As an example, say you have a test over five chapters of material. You could make a mock schedule like the following:
Sunday
Review Chapter 1 materials (Read textbook, review chapter 1 PowerPoint, re-do the homework exercises)
Monday
Review Chapter 2 materials (Read textbook, review chapter 2 PowerPoint, re-do the homework exercises)
Tuesday
Review Chapter 3 materials (Read textbook, review chapter 3 PowerPoint, re-do the homework exercises)
Wednesday
Review Chapter 4 materials (Read textbook, review chapter 4 PowerPoint, re-do the homework exercises)
Thursday
Review Chapter 5 materials (Read textbook, review chapter 5 PowerPoint, re-do the homework exercises).
Schedule an appointment with your professor the day before the exam and walk through the study guide/important questions you have.
Tutor a fellow student the night before the exam (see Rule #6).
Friday - Exam day
Wake up earlier than usual and review notes from every chapter.
Rule #6: Pick a classmate and make it your goal to tutor them before an exam.
A majority of students will halfheartedly study for an exam and then ask their smart friend to tutor them on the day before the test. At that point, they have already made the commitment to leave their success in someone else’s hands. If, however, this same student decided, “I am going to master the material and teach one of my fellow students” they just committed themselves to knowing the material forward and backward in advance of exam day. Make this your goal for each test and you will see exponential returns in your results. If you can master the material well enough to teach it, then you will most definitely be getting an A.
As a side note: it is extremely rewarding to help someone who is struggling in the class get an A on a test when they did not believe in themselves (more rewarding than you yourself getting an A). If you are following a similar schedule to Rule 5, your goal would be to do this on the night before exam day.
Rule #7: Time blocking.
Time blocking is the key to getting things done quickly and effectively.
This is a tool that will serve you in college and beyond. When you have a list of various obligations, it can feel so overwhelming that you do not know where to begin. The best way to calm anxiety from a heavy workload is time-management, planning and diligence. When you plan what you are going to do and allocate specific time for it, you will be surprised with how little time you actually spend on the work.
Here is how you do it: every Sunday, take an inventory of the tasks you have to complete. Look at the syllabus once a week and get yourself comfortable with the impending deadlines for assignments, exams and papers. For each weekday, choose some assignments and allocate time for each task. This step allows you to be proactive in foreseeing upcoming problems and scheduling accordingly.
Here is a sample of the time blocking exercise:
I won’t walk through the whole week because I think you get the idea: take your tasks, choose a day to complete the tasks and allocate a time limit for each. You will be amazed at how much you accomplish in a short period of time.
Concluding Note
I bet someone reading this is thinking to themselves if this is worth the effort. I know because I used to think the same things prior to being a good student. When I was in high school and someone would ask me how I did on an exam, I would scoff, make a joke and a lame excuse for why I got a C. I was always secretly angry and ashamed of myself and my effort, but I had to mask the hurt with humor. In college however, when someone asked me what grade I received and it turned out to be the best score in the class, I felt way more confident in myself and proud of my abilities. It is way better to have self-esteem and a track record of success than a list of really well-thought out and articulate excuses.
These seven rules changed my life. They took me from being an underachiever to someone who believes he can achieve anything. That's the power of education: it has ability to transform our lives. If you are lucky enough to be in college, I hope that you take advantage of this opportunity and create the life you always dreamed of.
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