Last week, the Academic Advising Center presented its last Fitness Workshop Series of the semester on both campuses to give tips to students on how to study effectively.
On Wednesday, more than 65 students attended the Academic Fitness Workshop Series presentation, “Big Thinking: Study Skills,” on the Brownsville campus. The same presentation was made April 24 on the Edinburg campus.
“I hope everybody learns something from the tips I will be showing,” Academic Adviser II Ana Martha Barrera said. “I am also a student.”
Barrera said the key to become a successful college student is not necessarily studying super hard but being smart about the way students study.
“We all see success different but we all want it,” she said.
Barrera said a lot of times students think that the more time they spend reading the books over and over, the more successful they are going to be, but sometimes it is not about the time students spend studying but how much effort they put into it.
“I know most of you know this but there will never be enough hours in a day to learn what you need if you do not learn to study smart,” she said.
In the presentation, Barrera gave students more than 10 tips on how to study smart for finals.
“The first tip is to make a finals game plan,” she said.
Other tips were start early to study, study more for the toughest classes, form a study group, talk with your professors about any questions, get creative with study aids, take good notes and study them, quiz yourself and eat brain food, among others.
“I work at the Academic Advising Center and we always hear the same thing, ‘I just pulled an all-nighter,’” Barrera said.
She recommends students start studying early instead of staying awake the night before the exam to study.
“Sleeping is a priority,” said Elizabeth Cuevas, an academic adviser on the Brownsville campus. “Your recall is better when your mind is rested.
For more information about workshops, email Cuevas at elizabeth.cuevas@utrgv.edu
