College Knowledge for the Student Athlete

3. Seek Advice and Learn to Listen: Practice Hard and Make Use of the Training Room

54 3 C HAPTER Seek Advice and Learn to Listen: Practice Hard and Make Use of the Training Room 1. Be a Learner, Not Just a Student The฀essence฀of฀being฀a฀learner฀is฀to฀be฀an฀active฀participant฀in฀your฀ education.฀It’s฀easy฀to฀go฀through฀the฀motions฀of฀being฀a฀student.฀You฀ just฀have฀to฀“talk฀the฀talk”—go฀to฀class,฀take฀notes,฀go฀to฀study฀table,฀do฀ the฀homework,฀etc.฀Being฀a฀learner,฀however,฀requires฀the฀investment฀ of฀going฀to฀class฀prepared,฀doing฀the฀readings,฀taking฀meaningful฀notes฀ and฀reviewing฀your฀notes฀after฀lecture,฀participating฀in฀a฀study฀group฀ to฀have฀several฀minds฀to฀challenge฀others’฀ideas,฀and฀meeting฀with฀ your฀instructor฀during฀offi ฀ce฀hours.฀To฀be฀a฀learner,฀you฀have฀to฀“walk฀ the฀walk”—you฀have฀to฀do฀the฀maximum฀instead฀of฀the฀minimum.฀ 3: Seek Advice and Learn to Listen 55 You฀can฀relate฀to฀this฀using฀an฀athletic฀analogy,฀as฀well.฀There฀is฀ a฀clear฀difference฀between฀the฀team฀meetings,฀practices,฀drills,฀and฀ training฀that฀you฀do฀when฀you฀are฀100฀percent฀focused฀and฀committed฀ versus฀the฀days฀you฀just฀want฀to฀get฀in฀and฀get฀out฀or฀are฀distracted฀by฀ something฀else฀on฀your฀mind.฀ Learning฀to฀be฀a฀learner฀will฀be฀a฀new฀experience฀in฀each฀class.฀It฀ will฀be฀up฀to฀you฀to฀assess฀the฀professor,฀the฀syllabus,฀the฀course฀content ,฀and฀the฀requirements฀to฀figure out฀what฀you฀can฀do฀to฀learn฀as฀ much฀as฀possible฀from฀that฀specific class.฀This฀may฀sound฀like฀extra฀ work,฀but฀it฀will฀make฀your฀life฀easier฀in฀the฀long฀run.฀The฀more฀you฀ put฀into฀your฀education,฀the฀more฀you฀will฀get฀out฀of฀it.฀ In฀your฀college฀classroom,฀as฀in฀your฀life฀journey,฀it฀is฀also฀time฀to฀ ask฀hard฀questions.฀Challenge฀your฀professors฀about฀what฀they฀tell฀ you฀as฀fact฀or฀what฀they฀offer฀as฀interpretation.฀How฀did฀they฀come฀to฀ that฀opinion?฀Look฀for฀the฀evidence฀and฀the฀research฀behind฀their฀ analysis.฀Do฀the฀careful฀reading฀that฀is฀essential฀to฀asking฀good฀questions .฀Challenge฀the฀authors฀that฀you฀read.฀Become฀a฀critical฀and฀ serious฀thinker.฀Be฀thoughtful฀in฀your฀self฀reflection, and฀be฀critical฀ in฀your฀questioning฀of฀the฀ideas,฀assertions,฀and฀analyses฀that฀others฀ pose฀to฀you.฀Evaluate฀what฀you฀read฀and฀what฀you฀hear฀without฀bias.฀ It฀is฀a฀good฀time฀to฀challenge฀yourself฀as฀well.฀Challenge฀your฀prior฀ assertions,฀stereotypes,฀and฀conclusions.฀ Embrace฀the฀opportunity฀to฀explore฀your฀intellectual฀world.฀Think฀ back฀to฀the฀wonder฀of฀a฀three-year-old฀who฀asks฀why฀about฀everything.฀ Approach฀your฀college฀learning฀with฀that฀same฀sense฀of฀wonder฀and฀ excitement. CoLLege KnowLedge foR THe STUdenT ATHLeTe 56 2. Master Studying for Exams Many฀students฀come฀to฀college฀without฀knowing฀the฀best฀way฀to฀ study฀for฀exams฀or฀how฀to฀take฀exams.฀It฀is฀not฀unusual฀for฀students฀ to฀earn฀lower฀grades฀on฀their฀fi ฀rst฀set฀of฀college฀exams฀than฀they฀ were฀used฀to฀getting฀in฀high฀school.฀The฀explanation฀we฀hear฀most฀ frequently฀from฀students฀is฀that฀the฀breadth฀and฀depth฀of฀information ฀college฀instructors฀expect฀on฀exams฀far฀exceeds฀the฀high฀school฀ standard.฀ Exam฀preparation฀is฀the฀foundation฀for฀doing฀well฀on฀exams.฀What฀ is฀the฀best฀way฀to฀prepare?฀Believe฀it฀or฀not,฀the฀best฀way฀to฀prepare฀ for฀exams฀is฀to฀honor฀the฀common฀sense฀of฀how฀your฀brain฀works.฀ You฀retain฀the฀most฀information฀the฀soonest฀after฀you฀receive฀it.฀The฀ advice฀you’ve฀heard฀over฀the฀years฀but฀probably฀ignored,฀about฀reviewing ฀your฀notes฀right฀after฀class฀is฀absolutely฀true.฀ Develop฀a฀system฀that฀enables฀you฀to฀review฀the฀notes฀you฀take฀ each฀day.฀If฀your฀notes฀are฀sketchy฀or฀incomplete,฀you฀will฀be฀able฀to฀ fi ฀ll฀them฀in฀while฀the฀lecture฀is฀still฀fresh฀in฀your฀mind.฀During฀your฀ study฀time,฀it฀is฀well฀worth฀spending฀time฀each฀day฀reviewing฀your฀ notes฀for฀each฀class.฀As฀the฀term฀progresses฀and฀you฀have฀more฀notes฀ for฀each฀class,฀you฀can฀review฀half฀your฀classes฀one฀day฀and฀the฀other฀ half฀the฀next฀day.฀The฀trick฀is฀to฀be฀sure฀you฀keep฀reviewing฀your฀ notes฀from฀the฀very฀beginning฀of฀the฀term฀so฀when฀you฀are฀studying฀ for฀exams฀during฀the฀term฀or฀for฀the฀fi ฀nal฀exam฀you฀are฀not฀reading฀ your฀notes฀for฀the฀fi ฀rst฀time.฀This฀process฀of฀ongoing฀review฀makes฀it฀ much฀easier฀to฀study...