Fellow students- share suggestions, ideas, thanks!

[Mkue]

I've found that I do much better by not even using that word "stress". Remaining calm and easy going in class helps to absorb the material, for me at least it works.

I'm begining to wonder if stress is about "self-control", which I didn't see a lot of in one of my last classes. I noticed that the less emotional (trying not to use the "s" word) students stayed away from the more emotional students during the course and the calm students continued to do well.

Now the more emotional students were NOT out in the cold, the instructor offered to meet with anyone that was having trouble, she was more than willing to work with anyone who needed help.

I had an instructor in pre-req's ( a really smart guy) who said to "learn what you need to know in class" so you don't have to study so much !! It sounded crazy at the time but now I think he had something there !

Anyone else have any tips on this subject for fellow students ?

[Mkue]

Originally posted by Julielpn

Make sure you always take some time for yourself. Do little things for just you sometimes. Life cannot be nothing but work and/or study. I have one day a week that I DO NOT pick up a book. Just family. The downfall to that is....I don't want to pick up a book the next day either!

Julielpn, that is so true, take time for ourselves ! Yes !:)

[colleen10]

Hi everyone,

MKue, it's funny that you posted this and mentioned self control because just yesterday I was thinking about how stressful school can be, but I thought to myself, "if I can stay in control and keep a cool head, everything will work out.".

I think so much depends on what your "mentality" is. If I can stay calm and at least "think" that I'm in control I do much better on exams and when I'm studying.

This is my second time around going through school and I am so much more serious about it this time and I have found that my studying skills have changed tremendously in the last 5 years.

I am going to night school part time so, so far I have only ever had 1 class at a time. I have found that what works best for me is to read the book the day after class and pay particular attention to what ever the teacher covered in lecture. Sometimes I even read through the material and take extra notes from the book.

I always keep up on my reading and make sure that I understand the material before moving on to the next chapter or topic.

As for studying for exams what works best for me is to write out my notes a couple of times. Also, if I'm studying biological processes, for example, how a muscle contracts, I will say the steps out loud and write them down too.

Sticking to a schedule has also helped a lot too. I work 8:30 to 5 Monday through Friday and have class one or two nights a week. So, I always try to plan my studying and reading in advance.

[oldnewnurse]

Mkue, Do you have to ask the nursing instructor's permission to tape? Thanks,

[Debbie5]

It seems like when you have a lot of things going on, all you can do is put 100% into what you are doing at the moment. When you are in a class, think of nothing else. When you are doing an assignment, focus on that only. Making a study schedule helps because it gets it out of your head and on paper. You don't have to be thinking about other assignments while you're studying for another.

[Mkue]

Originally posted by oldnewnurse

Mkue, Do you have to ask the nursing instructor's permission to tape? Thanks,

Hi oldnewnurse, you might want to check with an instructor ahead of time. I've never taped any nursing lectures, just a few classes during pre-req's.

I'm taking Fundamentals right now and there is a student that is taping the lectures, in fact the instructor has the tape recorder on her desk.

I hope you are allowed to tape record ! It helps a lot of students. :)

[Mkue]

If it helps, someone told me to drink juice before an exam, "fruit juice".

So this morning, having not studied last night due to CPR/BLS course and getting home late, I drank one of those juice thingy's with the straw on the way to class.

Guess what? I got a "B" on the first Fundamental test and 100% on our abbreviations quiz.

I wonder if it WAS the juice or was it LUCK???

[Mkue]

Originally posted by colleen10

Hi everyone,

MKue, it's funny that you posted this and mentioned self control because just yesterday I was thinking about how stressful school can be, but I thought to myself, "if I can stay in control and keep a cool head, everything will work out.".

I think so much depends on what your "mentality" is. If I can stay calm and at least "think" that I'm in control I do much better on exams and when I'm studying.

This is my second time around going through school and I am so much more serious about it this time and I have found that my studying skills have changed tremendously in the last 5 years.

I am going to night school part time so, so far I have only ever had 1 class at a time. I have found that what works best for me is to read the book the day after class and pay particular attention to what ever the teacher covered in lecture. Sometimes I even read through the material and take extra notes from the book.

I always keep up on my reading and make sure that I understand the material before moving on to the next chapter or topic.

As for studying for exams what works best for me is to write out my notes a couple of times. Also, if I'm studying biological processes, for example, how a muscle contracts, I will say the steps out loud and write them down too.

Sticking to a schedule has also helped a lot too. I work 8:30 to 5 Monday through Friday and have class one or two nights a week. So, I always try to plan my studying and reading in advance.

When I was a youngster out of high school I took some courses at a local CC and did not "focus" at all during those classes, was more concerned about everything else in my life..lol..

The second time around, we see what we did wrong and don't want to repeat that process..lol. Thankfully I only bombed out of typing back then..lol..

I think one class at a time is a great idea, especially if you work full-time. Good Luck Colleen10;)