OLLA MOKHTAR
campus editor
olla.mokhtar@my.tccd.edu
From procrastination to motivation, students either struggle or succeed because of their study habits. Making or breaking their educational journeys, studying is something students and faculty develop for success.
Assistant Professor of Biology Kari Eamma, shared the preciseness of revisiting her notes in her educational journey. Majoring in biology and going to graduate school before coming to TCC, she established a steady routine.
“I always had a study group, and I wrote everything the professor said,” she said “I always had a big pile of messy notes that I rewrote into a good notebook. Every time I had an exam, I’d try to fit it into two pages so I could read over it.”
Eamma understands that rewriting notes takes up a lot of time that students today might not have.
“If you’re working 35 hours it’s like you have two full-time jobs,” she said. “It’s really hard, especially if you have a family.”
Setting aside time for studying is something she recommends doing, regardless of how large a course load a student may have.
“I tell my students that at the beginning of the semester, they need to sit down to look at all the things they’re committed to,” she said. “They need to sit down and go ‘Oh, what are all my priorities? I know I want to allot this much time to study.’ Don’t try and set it up two-thirds of the way through the semester.”
She emphasized the usage of supplemental instruction, a free resource provided by TCC as it teaches students how to organize their notes and create activities to help retain information such as games.
“For students that attend SI sessions, they have the data to support that students do a half to a whole letter grade better,” she said. “Part of it is making sure that you have time for studying, but the college really supports that with SI for large enrollment classes and the science learning center (SLC) that has microscopes and other things.”
William Sumner, former professor and current radio/TV student who has been with the college since 1971 said his education has helped him beyond TCC.
“I have a business, and it requires a lot of computer work, so I went back to school to learn how to use Microsoft Office suite,” he said. “I went into programming and found out about the radio TV program.”
Sumner considers himself a student for life and explains his approach to studying.
“I do most of my studying at my office at the house,” he said. “If I prefer to not do it or to do something else, I pray about it, look at the assignment again and look at where I’m going with it.”
NE student Jonathan Sasy said he denotes a lot of precise time to studying.
“I study an hour a day and write notes online,” he said. “I usually have a Google Doc open and type the notes given. When I’m done, I usually reread it and make sure everything is right.”
As a student these habits can be tedious and overwhelming to establish. However, Sasy keeps his end goal in mind to overcome those feelings.
“The hardest part is not procrastinating. There’s just a lot of things on my mind,” he said. “My end goal is to always have a simple understanding so I don’t go into an exam or quiz not knowing anything.”
For more studying resources, visit Canvas and click on the learning commons tab or search for TCCD learning commons.
