Prospective Students' Keys To Success

Develop and practice constructive study habits before you embark on your academic journey!

If you’re researching your postsecondary options chances are good that you’re just about ready to embark on your final high school semester. Take this opportunity to develop, and practice constructive study habits before you embark on your academic journey.

As a graduate from Laurentian’s Communication Studies program, I can tell you first hand how important it is to develop good study habits. Quite honestly, it’s imperative to your success as a student and acquiring these skills now will go a long way in assuring your postsecondary success. Here are a few skills that I found incredibly useful throughout my university career.

Time Management

In university time management is imperative. As you’re entering a completely new environment you’ll be stimulated by a lot of things around you, and most of them won’t be related to academics. Give yourself a head start by learning how to manage your time on daily, and weekly basis. I recommend getting an agenda to indicate when your assignments are due, and when you’ll be taking time to complete them. Don’t forget to allocate yourself free time; this will give you something to look forward to throughout the week.

Good Note-Taking

The ability to take notes in class is very important in university. Whether you’re taking notes by hand or on your laptop, it’s important that you practice this before showing up for your first day. This can be one of the easiest things to practice while you’re still in high school. Start by holding a pen in your hand with paper nearby in class and write down what you feel is important, or interesting. Make an effort to review these notes after school. Going over your notes is a great way to reinforce your learning!

Organization

Keeping yourself organized will make your life as a student a whole lot easier. Start by getting a colored binder for each course that you’re registered in. I would always write the date at the top right of my pages incase my notes ever got mixed up. Also, enter deadlines in your cellphone calendar to receive alerts on when things are due. This will not only keep you on track but will also ensure that you don’t miss any important deadlines, or fall behind.

I encourage that you incorporating these skills as soon as possible. This will not only help you master these abilities but also allow you to see what works best for you. We all have different learning styles and what may work well for you student may not for someone else. Find out what works best for you now to ensure your success later.

See you on campus!
JSB

Jason-Scott Benoit
Secondary School Coordinator
Laurentian University