Sometimes people say you have to choose between sleep, grades, or fun, because you can’t have all three.
Straight A students Benjamin Cole, Andrew Bates and Sarah Pitts disagree.
“You have to look at every minute and say, is this how I want to spend my time?” said Andrew Bates, senior in mechanical engineering and a 2016 recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship. “If you come home and immediately watch TV, well maybe that isn’t how you want to spend your time.”
In college, Bates has been part of the Auburn University water ski team, a cellist for the Auburn Wesley Foundation, a member of Cupola Engineering Ambassadors, director of the Food Pantry and has studied abroad in Fiji.
Bates said studying in college is different from studying in high school.
“In high school you study with a grade in mind,” Bates said. “In college the goal is understanding the material.”
Sarah Pitts, junior in English literature and Spanish, and a finalist for this year’s Truman Scholarship, said certain techniques help her to better understand the material.
“In college you don’t get as many grades so you have to really stay on top of it,” Pitts said. “Even if there is nothing coming up you have to continuously look over materials, because it’s a lot easier to get behind.”
Pitts makes straight A’s on top of her extracurricular activities that include: Auburn University cyclists, two different research projects and she is an Auburn University study partner.
She said time management has been an acquired skill for her.
“I keep a really strict syllabus with a planner that I write everything down in and then I rank them one to five,” Pitts said. “One is the most important which means I have to do it before bed, but if it’s a five I can probably wait until the next day.”
Motivation isn’t easy for everyone. Benjamin Cole, a second year graduate student in public administration and a Fulbright Scholarship recipient this year, said sometime you have to force yourself to study.
“There will be time times when you’re going to not want to care about grades but you have to find some fiber in your being to keep yourself motivated,” Cole said. “If you are really passionate about what you do then it won’t feel like you’re studying, it will feel like you’re learning.”
Bates said the key to successful studying is being true to you.
“You honestly have to look at yourself and how you study,” Bates said. “Some people work well in groups, others don’t. I personally study best individually.”
To stay productive and accomplish tasks, Pitts said she looks at school like a 9 to 5 job.
“I get up at 7:30 and start being productive right away,” Pitts said. “I try to stay on campus all day and get my work done so that way when I come home I have time to relax and do my extracurricular activities. I also get lots of sleep.”
Giving a professor your undivided attention in class makes studying easier, according to Pitts.
“For me, really being present in classroom cuts down on my studying time. If I’m taking good notes and asking questions, then studying is more like reviewing. Recognize that you are paying to be here.”
According to these students, if you can manage these tips, college can be divided evenly among fun, sleep and grades.
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