Peyton Price

As finals season approaches, it is important to make sure we are studying as efficiently as possible. So, I wanted to share five learning techniques based on learning sciences that will help you ace all of your exams and even save time studying.

#1: The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is something I used everyday throughout high school. I attended an alternative school where we did all of our academic work online and independently, so the Pomodoro Technique was used to break up our work time and help keep us focused throughout the day. Here’s how it works: You set a timer for typically 25 minutes (but you can choose however long is best for you) and treat that as focused work time. Then, you have another timer for typically 5 minutes, and that is your break time. Then, repeat this cycle! One article lists several benefits of the Pomodoro Technique including that it “Encourages focused work…Helps you get started…Improves efficiency…Reduces stress and anxiety,” all of which are incredibly helpful for college students.

#2: The Feynman Technique

The Feynman Technique has a few steps. First, you study a concept. Then, you try to teach it to someone else (this can be an imaginary or real audience). After that, you fill in the gaps you may have noticed and finally work to simplify the concept. If you can simplify something to the point where you could explain it to others, this is good evidence that you’ve mastered a concept. As Albert Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.”

#3: Interleaved Practice

Interleaved Practice is very useful, especially if you are studying for multiple different subjects or several related topics. Interleaved Practice is a strategy where you alternate between different topics and is scientifically proven to increase your reception of what you are learning. It can also be helpful to not get so bored of studying the same topic for extended periods of time. For instance, if you are reviewing several different types of math problems for your upcoming exam, mix the problems up instead of just doing one type at a time.

#4: Dual Coding Theory

Dual Coding Theory “assumes that there are two cognitive subsystems, one specialized for the representation and processing of nonverbal objects/events (i.e., imagery), and the other specialized for dealing with language.” Basically, this learning strategy is based on the way our brains connect visual and verbal information. For example, when someone says the word “apple,” you immediately imagine a round, red object. So, when you are studying, it can be helpful to create visual and verbal cues for concepts you are learning. You can do this through watching videos, putting images into your notes, or even drawing images on flashcards. 

#5: The Leitner System

The Leitner System allows your flashcard studying to reach its maximum potential. In this system, you create multiple different boxes of flashcards that you review at different periods of frequency. If you get a flashcard wrong, it moves into a box that you study more often, and if you get one right, it moves to a box that you study less often. Here is an article explaining the system in more detail if you are interested in trying it. All in all, the Leitner System is designed to help you master the concepts you are studying and consistently recall them.

I hope that you can utilize some of these strategies as we approach the end of the semester. I have utilized all of these before and can confirm they are extremely helpful!

If you didn’t know, the clocks were set back an hour on Sunday thanks to daylight saving time. The extra hour of sleep was certainly nice, but if you’re like me, you’ve been dreading the fact that the days are only going to get shorter and shorter. In fact, in the winter in Nashville, the sun sets as early as 4:30pm! This early sunset time can have negative impacts on productivity, mood, and motivation, so I want to share some tips for how to handle this change.

#1 – Adjust Your Sleep Schedule

Of course, the fact that it gets darker so much earlier makes us tired earlier, and this can actually be a good thing for us likely sleep-deprived college students. The earlier darkness can motivate us to get to sleep a little earlier and maybe even wake up earlier. The importance of sleep can never be underestimated and getting a good night’s sleep will lead to more success in our academic and personal life.

#2 – Make Good Use of Daylight Hours

Because the daylight hours are increasingly limited, it is important to make use of time where it is light out. Especially before it gets cold, we should spend as much time outside as possible. Being outside and getting sunshine is good for your health and keeps energy up. Go on walks with your friends, study outside, or play sports on the lawn as much as you can, especially while it still isn’t too cold out.

#3 – Stay Out of Your Room

For me, one of the best things to improve my productivity, mood, and motivation is to get out of my dorm room. Especially if it’s dark out, I find it nearly impossible to do anything productive in my dorm. It’s easy to feel isolated, exhausted, and unmotivated while in a small room without any natural daylight, especially if your roommate isn’t in the room. So, it’s essential to get out of your room in the late afternoon/early evening hours when it starts to get dark. Study in your common room or the library, go to the gym, or just spend time around other people. 

#4 – Prioritize Exercise and Health

As winter approaches and the days get shorter and shorter, it is incredibly important to prioritize exercise and overall health in order to keep our productivity and mood up. Making sure you are exercising and eating well because this makes a huge difference in your productivity and energy during the approaching winter months.

#5 – Cultivate a Good Dorm Room Environment

Another thing that can be a big help is making sure that your dorm room is well-lit and organized. As I said earlier, getting out of your dorm room as much as you can is important, but we are obviously still going to spend a decent amount of time in our dorms. So, making sure that your dorm environment makes you feel both comfortable and motivated is essential. Make sure you have good lighting and a clean space to return to in the evening.

I know that I will be making use of these quick tips and I hope that they can come in handy for you as well! Thanks for reading!

When my alarm went off at 7:45am on Friday morning, I nearly wanted to cry. “I cannot believe I have to get up and go to class,” I thought. I was exhausted, was still getting over a cold, went to sleep way too late the night before, and had just had an exam in that class two days prior. Still half asleep, I started trying to convince myself to skip class:

“There’s nothing important you’re going to learn anyways because you just had an exam!”

“Just sleep an extra hour; you’ll feel so much better after.”

Then, I realized that it was pouring rain outside – this was during the hurricane after all. Yet another reason to skip class. I mean, who wants to walk twenty minutes in the pouring rain? I went back and forth in my mind for a few minutes on whether I should go to class. 

And in the end, I decided to go. As I was walking outside of my dorm building, I got a text from my friend from the class that read, “We going today?” I replied that, yes, after much debate, I was going to class. My two friends responded with sad face emojis.

When I finally made it to class (not without my jeans getting totally soaked) I was faced with a pretty much empty lecture hall. But, my two friends showed up. They told me that they decided they would ask me if I was going and do whatever I did, which I did feel kind of bad about. But, of course, our professor ended up taking attendance that day even though he usually doesn’t because of how few people showed up. Besides that very small extra-credit increase for participation, I wouldn’t have missed much if I had skipped class. Yet I am glad I made the decision to go, and I want to explain to you why. These reasons certainly apply to why you should generally show up to class (that’s not to say there aren’t times when it is actually the right choice to skip), but they also apply to the choices we make in our lives in general.

#1: It only gets easier…

The truth is, things like skipping classes are a slippery slope. When you do it once, it’s suddenly a lot easier to do it again, and again, and again. And I know myself and just how much I hate waking up in the morning. If I skipped class last Friday, I’d definitely skip it again, and it would probably require way fewer reasons than I had on Friday. 

It’s really easy to create bad habits, and maintaining good habits is essential to being successful in college. If we let ourselves skip class, get behind on readings, leave problems sets for the last day, or show up late to our club meetings, it’s only a matter of time before this becomes the norm. At the moment, these choices may seem insignificant. But, they easily and quickly can become habits that hold us back from being the college students we want to be.

#2: The right choices are beneficial

In my class example, I actually would have faced a consequence for missing class and not getting the participation code. But, especially when we get out into the real world, there isn’t always a clear external incentive such as grades encouraging us to make the right choices. Even if it’s not immediately obvious, though, there are consequences when we choose to cut corners or skip out on things we know are beneficial to us.

It’s also important to remember that we are all extremely lucky to be receiving our education, especially at a place like Vanderbilt. I will be the first to admit that attending lectures often feels like a total waste of time. In general, though, I do believe that showing up to class is beneficial and at the very least keeps you engaged with your classes and the Vanderbilt community. Again, this applies to more than just attending class. In life, there are often many things that we don’t always want to do in the moment but we know deep down cause more benefit than harm.

#3: Don’t make excuses

Finally, there are few things more important than being disciplined. Discipline is at the core of how we live a fulfilling and productive life. We should always avoid making excuses for ourselves, because as I said earlier, this will only get easier and easier to do. If we let things like rain stop us from getting up and attending a class we know we should be at, we are chipping away at our discipline. Again, this might not seem like the biggest deal at the time, but it starts a bad habit that may come back to bite us in the end.

If we make our decisions in life based on our ever-changing emotions and immediate desires, we will end up making a lot of harmful decisions. And, we will skip out on the decisions that end up bringing us the most benefit. Staying disciplined and avoiding excuses is what allows us to be productive and ultimately happier.

Now, my intent in writing this is not to brag about how I would never skip a class (I have no doubt I will at some point) or that skipping class is the worst decision you could ever make (sometimes it is the right decision!). Instead, I hope I was able to show how something like skipping class can have more of an impact than we might initially realize. Also, these points can apply to so many different aspects of our life and are just generally important to keep in mind.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and, of course, enjoy attending your classes!

My fellow members of the Vanderbilt Class of 2028, we have officially made it through our first couple weeks of college. I know for me and probably many of you, college so far has been a rollercoaster of emotions: exciting, overwhelming, busy, stressful, fun, and pretty much every other feeling you can imagine.

Starting freshman year is a massive life transition, and the biggest one I’ve ever experienced. It takes time to adjust to a new environment, new people, and a whole new life. As we all go through this time of change in our lives, I wanted to share with you three tips/things to keep in mind that may help you and have certainly been helping me.

#1 – Remember the Importance of Change!

Change is hard for anyone, and starting at Vanderbilt is a big change. Many of us have moved far away from our family, friends, and home and all of us are in a totally new environment. Our life as we knew it has completely changed, and this can be extremely overwhelming.

You may be feeling homesick, missing your high school friends, or even just feeling nostalgic for your childhood. Moving to a new place, making new friends, and being at a school as ambitious as Vanderbilt is a lot of work and extremely overwhelming. But the truth is, leaving behind the familiar and experiencing a time of change is necessary in becoming the people we are meant to be and living the lives we are meant to live. 

Here are a couple of quotes I love that highlight the necessity of change:

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

• C.S. Lewis

“In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.”

• Abraham Maslow

#2 – Stay Grounded in Yourself and What You Love!

In the chaos of our first weeks at Vanderbilt, it’s easy to feel like you’re an entirely new person living a whole new life (because you basically are!). But, something that’s been really helping me is staying grounded in who I am and doing the things that make me feel like myself.

This may include doing your favorite hobbies, calling your family, or just taking some extra alone time. All of these things can help make you feel at home in a new environment and grounded in yourself. You may even find ways to do these activities with other people here and in student clubs!

For me, I’ve been trying to carve out time in my day to play guitar, which is something I did everyday back home. I’ve also really enjoyed walking around campus listening to my favorite songs – it’s a great way to destress and have some peaceful alone time.

Whether you love to draw, workout, read, or FaceTime your siblings, make sure you give yourself time for those activities in the midst of our crazy schedules! I promise it will help with adjusting to life at Vanderbilt.

#3 – It Takes Time!

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but it’s important to remember that it takes time to feel at home in a new environment, build strong relationships, adjust to college academics and extracurriculars, and get into a new routine. 

It may seem like everyone else is totally thriving here and having the best time ever, but don’t feel behind if you’re still adjusting. Things aren’t going to feel perfect all the time, and that’s ok! I’ve been constantly reminding myself to take things day by day and remember that we are all experiencing college for the first time and it’s ok to not have everything figured out yet. 

I hope you can keep these things in mind as you continue to adjust to life at Vanderbilt and move through this time of transition. Making it through the first weeks is something to be proud of and I hope we can all have an incredible rest of the year!