By Michael Burns and Mona Lisa Tucker/reporters
Setting good study and learning habits are essential if students want to do well, a South Campus coordinator told students last week.
“Are you a student or are you a learner?” asked Chris Carcerano of the academic success center during 10 Habits of Successful Learners.
Carcerano said students fly by the seat of their pants while learners are deliberate, process-oriented, goal-seeking scholars who know their learning styles.
“Finding your learning style is like finding your blood pressure,” he said.
Students can use study methodologies, such as auditory or flashcards, to allow their brains to work faster and more efficiently, he said.
Carcerano said an estimated 40 percent of college students leave higher education without completing their bachelor’s degree.
By staying focused and implementing the right steps to do homework, study and take tests, he said anyone can finish a college degree.
“We are what we do repeatedly,” he said, quoting Aristotle.
Carcerano said he wants students to understand they need to establish a repeated behavior system, a plan that leads to academic success.
He said constantly taking advantage of class time and getting help when needed are important.
Students should also be prepared not just before class but throughout class as well.
Carcerano said students should go into their classes with some prior knowledge of the material. This way, they are equipped to ask questions.
Staying alert, taking good notes and adapting to the teacher are all factors in taking advantage of class time, Carcerano said.
Good students are organized, Carcerano said. They write down everything they need to do each day and schedule time for it. Making a list allows them to see the things they did or did not do.
Furthermore, he urged students to reach out to others for help outside of class — their classmates and TCC support staff.
“The strongest thing a non-traditional student can do is ask for help,” he said.
Students also should first work on the assignments that give them the most trouble.
“Reward yourself with the things that you like by finishing the stuff that you don’t like,” he said.
“And don’t cut off the stuff you don’t like to make time for the stuff you do like.”
Creating a study plan allows the student to prepare for tests earlier than a week before they are due.
“Don’t ever cram the night before a test,” he said.
Students should find time to study and not set unrealistic goals, Carcerano said. He told students to remember they are people too.
So he advised scheduling time for sleep, exercise and leisure time.
Students should expand their knowledge of technology as much as they can, Carcerano said.
“Take ‘I’m never gonna’ and throw it out the window,” he said.
Skill, will and motivation are the three things students need to be successful, Carcerano said.
“Excellence is not a single act, but a habit,” he said.
Student Alexandra King found the seminar beneficial.
“What Chris said really helped me to focus on the habits and mindsets I need to have to do well in school,” she said.
He closed by emphasizing that students focus and map out a successful school journey.
“Nobody plans to fail. They just fail to plan,” he said.
