Many moons ago I was an undergraduate student.  I remember spending countless hours on subjects that never seemed to make any sense. I practically lived in the library.  The study sessions were as familiar to me as a Sunday afternoon. Heck sometimes it was Sunday afternoon. I would start a session at 7 am and finish it at 4pm.  After a study session, I would go home feeling semi-enlightened and accomplished because I put the time in. I outlined my text books, rewrote my notes, and took no prisoners.

Studying at the undergraduate level is a gladiator event. You are not focused on your health. You barely sleep. Marathon study sessions are the norm and you are expected to retain that material. And it is understood that not every student will pass the class. Undergrad is a weeding out period.

My breaking point for marathon studying came to me senior year. A group of my friends were studying for physics 3am in the morning. There was a photo of an astronaut in one of the hardest chapters of the semester. In our delirium,  we realized that astronaut looked a lot like our physics professor.  Laughter erupted throughout the study hall. He did look like the astronaut.  For some reason, we all looked out the window at the same time. A man walked by looking like the astronaut from our physics book. We all looked at him as if we saw a ghost.  His figure seemed to disappear into the darkness. Were we seeing things? We ALL saw him! And that was the last time; I pulled an all-night study session in my academic career.  When the pages of your text book literally come to life, it is time to ease up on the intensity of your efforts.  Do you have stories like this?

If you liked this blog, there are more to follow in the days to come…-Amy