Five Tips for Academic Success
The UD team thought it would be awesome to help you start the school year on the right foot. Here are our 5 tips for academic success.
The UD team thought it would be awesome to help you start the school year on the right foot. Here are our 5 tips for academic success.
Community
During the school year, things can get so busy that we forget that people matter just as much, especially for a believer! Hebrews 10:24-25 says “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” While school is important, pursuing the right community is equal if not more! Find people that will encourage you, lift you up, and keep you focused this year!
- Deb, American Studies & Education Major
Plan
There are so many things that constantly need to get done once the semester starts, and waiting until the last minute can lead to a disaster. One way to stay organized with all your tasks is to plan ahead for them! God advises us to be prepared and intentional in all our ways. The bible says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only into poverty” (Proverbs 21:5). Keep a planner and give yourself small deadlines of how you will complete your tasks before they are due. This can help remove any unnecessary amount of stress school can give you. Don’t put it off until tomorrow!
-Toyin, Journalism & English Major
Study
No need to say much. You are in college pursuing a degree, not a significant other. Studying is the major key to succeeding in college. Everyone has a different style of studying. Some study with a partner or group, others in silence or some study at night. Figure out yours set aside scheduled time and be diligent with it. As you study, make sure you study in time blocks and take frequent mental breaks. Your brain needs rest.
-Olamide, Health Education Major
Health
During the semester, you’re usually so engulfed in getting assignments in, checking the syllabus, finding the PDF version of a book and keeping your sanity that you forget to really take care of yourself. No not treating yourself, but taking care of your physical body, your health. In many regards, the bible tells us that our bodies are a temple and temples need maintenance. So as a student, make sure you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep and eating at least 3 times a day. It may be hard but it is not impossible and it is worth it. It translates well as far as your focus and helps to prevent you from HAVING to use things like coffee etc. Time management will help you a lot in this endeavor, Kudos!
-Gabe, Graphic Communication Major
Personal Devotion/Quiet Time
While the majority of your time is being consumed by projects, labs, studying, internships, organization duties, work, and other student-life strains,the one thing that may require the least amount of “concentrated” time, yet yields the greatest benefit, is often neglected; quiet time, fellowship with the Lord, or whatever it is you call it, absolutely cannot take a backseat in this season of school for you. It’s literally the only fraction of your life that’ll hold you and everything else together. You can excel in all facets of this semester, year, and your life by keeping God first. This might not even require you to spend 30 to an hour in your bible or in prayer, but simply acknowledging Him through every phase of your day—before and during classes, study sessions, tests, working, etc—and making sure to utilize those five to ten minutes before your next class to see and hear what He’s saying can take you a long way. “One day in Your presence is like a thousand mold into one.” (Psalm 84:10 TJV)
-Jummy, Journalism & English Major
Sowing and Reaping Academic Success
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my meditation.
Psalm 119:99
Wouldn’t it be great to experience the verse above? With the thought of going back to school, this verse comes to mind because it seems to fully capture what academic success might look like. This blog post isn’t just about what academics success looks like, but how to actually get there; how you can guarantee your academics success. How you can get closer to getting a 4.0. How you can raise your semester GPA by two points more than you had last semester. Sounds far-fetched, right? Let’s see.
There’s a big problem though. Again, this blog post is supposed to reveal a practical way of achieving academic success. The problem is this though: if I were to tell you the steps to achieving academic success, would you actually follow the instructions given? Be honest and really think about it. All your life people may have told you what you need to do to be academically successful: go to class, study, don’t procrastinate, etc., etc. It is possible you have heard some things you need to do to be academically successful at least 5 times in your life. But the question is, “Out of all the times you’ve heard what you supposedly need to know, how many times did you obey or listen to what you were told?”
If I told you what you needed to do to be academically successful would you actually listen and apply the advice? Most people hear what they need to do to be successful in school and then they don’t do as well as they want and then they begin to seek help and ask what they can do to succeed. The problem is what you need to do to succeed is not a secret. In fact, it's already been told to you maybe 100 times. The question is, did you actually do and will you actually do what’s necessary to be successful academically. Some people think, “This semester I’m not doing anything but school and the gym. Yea, that’s it, then I’ll get a 4.0.” The idea that ‘the less you have to do the better you will perform in school’ isn’t always the case and most of the time I’ve seen that fail.
My best semester in school was when I worked two jobs, had two prominent leadership positions, and took 19 credits with some of my major’s hardest classes. I was able to get straight A’s and a few A- that semester and to this day, that’s been the best semester GPA I’ve had. Glory to God! God really graced me that semester. I didn’t take on such a heavy load that semester without asking God if He would sustain me through all of it. He told me to take on the challenge and I did. It was super hard and I sweated almost every step of the way, but I didn’t lose faith.
If I were to tell you what you needed to do to succeed academically, would you actually listen? Obedience to what is true is the key to succeeding. But what does that actually mean? Succeeding academically is not a secret because how people have been successful in the past is not hidden. The verses below reveal how I’ve been able to be successful academically:
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding
Proverbs 15:32
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
Proverbs 9:9
Instruction is so important because it paves a way to a predetermined destination. “Huh, what does that mean?” Instruction is a structure or template for how you get in line with the goal you have set. If you want academic success, you have to simply get proper instruction. Not just get proper instruction, you must follow it.
The semester when I excelled, in spite of my busy schedule, was a combination of me hearing God daily and walking by faith. I literally had to ask God “I’m overwhelmed and I have many assignments, what do I do first?” Sometimes it was school work and other times it was to prayer and read my word and then get to school work right after. Sometimes I would have to help others with their problems spiritually, personally or academically before I did my own school work. The key here is that I didn’t do anything based on my own presumption or what I thought was best, but I asked God or moved based on what God instructed me to do at the time. As it is written:
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
John 5:19
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
Obedience to instruction is key; obedience not just to God, but to your actual instructor. I ask my professors about how rigorous their class is and what a person would need to do in order to get an A in the class. I ask, “How I should study for the exams and assignments?” Because I ask, they instruct me. Their instruction is important because they are the instructor! The degree to which I obey their instruction as a master in the subject, is the degree to which I perform successfully in their class. They as teachers have mastered the materially to a certain level and I have to follow their protocol in order to secure my chances of performing well.
My main example is my Anatomy & Physiology 2 class during the semester when I took 19 credits and had straight A’s. My professor literally told the class on day one what we needed to do to get an A in the class. She said: study immediately after every class, study in groups of at least 3-4 people, use flash cards and a few other basics things like this. This was one of the hardest gateway courses into my major and yes, it was a weed out class with 400 people. I got an A on every exam, except for the deadly final on which I got a 79%. People always complained that this teacher was so hard and her class was unfair, but I had a great experience with her simply because I listened to her instruction. The reason why I got a 79% on the final was because the professor told us not to study the previous exams to prepare for the final because she would not use the same information over again. The class had so much material, but I thought she was jiving.
Here is the key: she gave instructions, but the degree to which I followed her instruction determined the degree of my success on the exam. Clearly, I got a 79. My obedience there wasn’t particularly on point, but I came out with an A in the class because I had sown obedience to her instruction for so long. I reaped my harvest in due season. You’ll reap yours too, if you walk by faith and obey the instructions and guidance of God every moment of your semester and the instructions of your professors too.
Oluwatobi (Tobi) Oke is a young entrepreneur from the University of Maryland College Park who is the CEO of Good Lord Clothing. He's the Vice President of Bethel Campus Fellowship and attends Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md. He shares the Gospel through rap music and plays the congos. He is working on his mixtape called “3 Days In The Grave” hopefully to be released fall 2015.
THE LONGER ROAD TAKEN
Finally, graduation season is winding down and people are done having their many celebrations. I didn't mind because I don't have food in the house and their many celebrations had fed me through this tough time in my life, but I digress. It's so good seeing those that you love graduate, they have made it through that tough period and crossed the finish line. At the same time, if you were or are like me, then you will know that watching all your friends graduate, while you are just taking another summer vacation kind of, well, it sucks. You're so conflicted because they're crossing a finish line that you may or may not have any idea when you will cross it or even where it is for you.
Trust me, I understand. I'm 23 years old and am only a sophomore. Every time someone asks me what year I am, I cringe a bit inside. This is because when I say sophomore, I always think that they see a 19 year old or something. It's not bad being seen as 19, except I'm 23, so I'd rather not be seen that way. I have changed my major about 3-4 times, not even officially some of those times, sometimes just in my head. I think by the time I graduate, I would've been in undergrad for about 7 years and I'm not even an engineering study nor have I ever been a major that "should've taken" more than the typical 4 years. I have even been to graduations of people I consider younger brothers and sisters in the faith that I advise myself, but you know what, I'm completely happy with my situation and would go through it all over again if you asked me.
This is not necessarily an article, it's a piece to encourage those who are seeing their peers excel in a way that seems that they are surpassing you. I felt the exact same way. Only until recently did I really see that I was happy with where I am now. I am finally in a major that I LOVE and even in it, I have found opportunities that I love as far as internships and jobs. I don't think I would thrive in any other major the same way and I thank God because I learned so much in my, what seems to be long, process.
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
I clung to His words, I literally had to because I had no hope for myself at one point in time. I didn't know when I would finish school, but I knew I was in it and I hated it. What I hated more was seeing my friends complete it and recognize that I still had to be there.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
I transferred into Howard University after about 2 years of being in school and all they accepted from me was 16 credits..........16?! I almost lost it in that office, but I remembered this verse, Philippians 4:6. It didn't solve my problems but it helped me to realize something, that God has everything in His hands, whether I chose to believe or not. A friend came to me and told me to see it in a way where I would go through it all again, but with knowledge from my mistakes and knowledge that I gained the years I had already been in school. This helped me because I saw that now I'm in a place where I have an advantage and was hungrier than those around me, which makes me stand out in certain environments. All this time, I looked at my situation the wrong way; I had always become sad when I thought about how I was still in school, but God spoke to me through someone and showed me to instead get the most out of it while I'm still here. I have the opportunity to build my resume, network more, get my GPA higher and and equip myself better because I still have the opportunity to do so.
If you’re in a similar situation as me or have had academic downfalls, don't think down on yourself or feel any kind of way. This article isn't to say that the rest of it will just be easy once you take it all to God, but you will know for a fact that He is helping you and that He will change things. I ended up not having to pay for the rest of my education and I'm thankful to God for that, but if I didn't go through what I went through in an academic dismissal from my original university, I would have maybe finished there with a major that I was iffy about, and would've had to resort to loans. So don't only be happy for your peers when they graduate, but also be happy for yourself knowing that you have more time to build and equip yourself for the "real world.” I have been told by many older than me to see my prolonged time as a blessing more than a curse, so I do that and it has helped me see things much better. I pray you do the same and if you need any kind of encouragement. please feel free to email us and let us know so that I or the rest of the team may encourage you!