Changes I have made in my studying habits

Compared to my home university, professors here at USI give lots of workloads to student; as a result, I have to stay up late every night to complete the tasks, most of which are due on the next day because I am a procrastinating-type of person. Every week, I have around a hundred pages of reading and at least two written essays. Moreover, I have to spend at least 5 hours a week tutoring at the Writing Center as part of my ENG 490 class’s fulfillment. I have never ever given this much workloads before, never before I came to USI. To comply with the changes of school work, I attended the Academic Skill’s Success Series Workshop to get some useful study tips. Eventually, I have devised my own plan of study strategies.

First, I start to use daily planner. Back home, it never occurred to me that daily planner was a useful tool to keep track of our study habits since I did not have lots of stuffs to record. At that time, I was so disorganized. I felt that I spent each of my days with no realistic goals and tasks. I rarely planned what tasks to be achieved that day. That was partly because I did not have lots homework back then, so I spent most of my outside-class time doing other stuffs like reading books, not textbooks, watching tv show, or listening to music. But here, I have to be very cautious with what I am doing; otherwise I would end up staying up late completing my homework, sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning. Usually, my daily plan list exceeds the available space, so I have to stick in extra sheet. There are just too many things to do in a day. Thus, it is necessary that I use the daily planner to record my daily school work; otherwise, I would get side-track for sure.

In addition, in every class, I have to be very cautious and focused. Part of the reason is because English is not my first language and professors do talk fast since they are native speakers. Oftentimes, I find myself missing some information from the lectures no matter how attentive I am. In one particular class, which is mainly lectured-typed, which I am not so much used to, I always need to have coffee by my side during the whole class or I will pass out. Actually, the class is interesting but still do not know why I cannot stay awake in that class. When I was at my school in Cambodia, I did not usually pay that much attention; still I could do well in class. But it is not the case here at USI.

Furthermore, here I am pressured to read before class. I feel like I have to be well prepared before class if I want to succeed at USI. It is not the same in Cambodia. Then, though I did not usually do class reading, I was still be able to keep up with what my instructor was saying. Here if I just miss even one class reading, I feel like I am in the middle of nowhere, do not understand, at least to some extent, to topic being lectured or discussed in class.

Another similar change I have made to adapt student life here is writing. In some classes, I have to write a lot and only in limited time. Thus, I have to think and writer faster and much more than ever. I feel like a writing machine sometimes though. Writing is particularly difficult for ESL student like me. Usually, I cannot find the right words to express my ideas or that I could complete the number of essay requirement in the limited time because I could not write fast enough. In contrast, I can write up to 2 or 3 pages in just an hour if it is in my native language. Nevertheless, my writing is getting better and faster now, thanks to all the school work I have been given in class.

In a nutshell, after almost 3 months of studying at USI, I can see that my studying habit has changed tremendously. It is more organized and effective. I will bring this habit back home so as to better improve my study.