Win The Studying Game
Learn the rules as you really must win the studying game because the stakes are so high. They will affect the rest of your life, good or bad.
90% of students don't realize that there is one tip that applies to every game. Once my physical education master forced me to join in a game of football. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a wide open goal, and kicked the ball into it, only to be told that I had kicked into the wrong goal.
Learn The Rules
The big tip is, if you want to win a game, learn the rules! It doesn't matter how unlikely the rules are, learn them! I never learned the rules of football because I didn't want to play.
Perhaps you are being forced against your will to play the education game, just as I was forced to play football. The big difference is that your score (exam results) will affect the rest of your life.
Of course, if I had really wanted to win at football I would have practiced every day, and memorized the rule book. I was chess captain at school, and studied chess each day, because I wanted to win. In the same way you should practice exam techniques every day.
Are Degrees a Scam
Perhaps you think as I used to that qualifications are a scam, because people with degrees and doctorates are out sweeping the streets. I could only see that qualifications don't give you a good job automatically. But did you ever see a wealthy professor with no qualifications? What about an engineer? I was too blind to see that you can't get a nice easy job without qualifications.
That's why I believe that learning how to write and salesmanship are just as important as studying, and guess what...you can study these subjects as well, and even use them to ace your exams. You will never get a top job without salesmanship and being able to express yourself. Doctors sweeping the streets never learned to sell themselves to prospective employers.
IQ Test
In 1958 there was a newspaper story about a teacher who managed to teach a child to read who had consistently failed every IQ test. The headmaster was surprised when the furious father stormed into his office.
"Stop teaching my child to read" he demanded.
"Why?" enquired the astounded headmaster.
"How much do you earn?" demanded the father, and laughed scornfully when told the answer.
"I earn ten times as much as that, and I can't read or do arithmetic. I just pay people to do them for me, and I have a transport chain covering the whole of the UK, and employ more people than your school does. What does my son need with reading?"
Attention Deficit Disorder Problems?
Perhaps your child doesn't have ADD. Perhaps the teachers are boring. The only way I could keep my mind on what the teacher was saying was to write notes. I never read the notes, but they forced me to keep my attention on the lecturer. Online schools are the answer that I like. I can re-read a difficult passage ten times. Try asking a lecturer to repeat himself ten times!
Whether you are a parent, or an undergraduate student, or a graduate student you must be interested in the student budget. Learning to budget is a skill to last a lifetime too. So you don't just have to win the studying game to succeed, but it sure helps!
