The art of excelling at school

Ever since I read at least one book a week back in middle school, I've been told that I am a good student, if not an overachiever.  Then, just like that, in the tenth grade I was told that I wasn't even smart.

Now you can imagine the shock an "overachiever" might have to this statement, but I wasn't even offended.  My student teacher had a point: I wasn't as smart as Stephen Hawking.

In fact, most anyone can be smart and most anyone can make high grades.It just takes a little bit of training in the right approach.  This is what my student teacher was trying to say too.  

But learning the right approach takes time, and it takes trial-and-error.  And while figuring out new activities by oneself isn't such a bad idea, neither is being open to learning from others.  

So what I propose to do, and the point of this column, is to share the lessons I've learned as a fifth-year Honors student as well as any tried-and-true lessons I've gathered from others on "the art of excelling at school."  Likewise, through research and reflection, my hope is to also expand my own horizons through the learning of new strategies and insights on this very same topic.

Essentially, to do so, I plan on covering topics that are important for any student, like how to boost that brain power, how to approach an assignment with confidence and how to pass a class with flying colors.

Now by no means am I saying the ways I'll be presenting are the only ways or even "the way." They are merely ways that've been tried, tested and true.

I invite you to stay with me for the rest of the semester and to explore what my columns have to say.

Anna Swift at fahrmann3@live.marshall.edu.