How to Study

Know Thy Teachers
Teachers are different, too, in their approach to their subjects, as well
as their expectations, standards, flexibility, and so on. It certainly is
worth the effort to compile a “profile” of each of your teachers. What
do each of them want to see in terms of notes, level of participation,
papers, projects? What are their individual likes and dislikes? Their
methods of grading and testing?
Knowing these various traits should certainly lead you to approach
each class—and each teacher—differently. Let’s say—not that it
would ever really happen to you, of course—that you have managed
to dig yourself a very deep hole. It’s 11 p.m., you’re well past your
study prime, and you still have reading assignments to complete for
English and history tomorrow morning.
Your English teacher demands maximum class participation and
makes it a large part of your grade—and test scores be damned. Her
hobby seems to be calling on the unprepared, and she has an uncanny
and unerring knack for ferreting those students out.
Your history teacher discourages discussion, preferring to lecture and
answer a couple of questions at the end of the class. He never calls
on anyone for anything.
Given this situation, and knowing you can stay awake long enough 
to read only one of the two assignments, which would you pick?
Would there ever be a time, barring a simultaneous typhoon, eclipse,
and national holiday, that you would show up for that English class
unprepared?
How to Study
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While I’ll show you in Chapter 4 how to ensure that poor scheduling
does not become a habit that dooms you to such choices, I suspect
that far too many of you do not take the natural differences among
your teachers into account when scheduling homework, preparing
papers, or studying for tests.
Likewise, I suspect that far too few of you try to create a bond with
one special teacher—a mentoring relationship— that could help you
avoid some of the bumps and swerves and reach your goal with far
less trouble. Why should you go out of your way to find a mentor?
Because you probably need more help—in life, not just in school—
than your friends or parents can provide. A mentor can give you that
perspective, advice, and help.