MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2007 | BACK TQ SCHOOL | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DANNY KANSAN | 57
》 ACADEMICS
Grades slip when students don't study
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
College is accompanied by a heavier course load for incoming students. Time management and good study habits will help students to juggle their course work and excel in their studies.
Budgeting time makes work manageable
BY KYLE CARTER
kcarter@kansan.com
College experiences vary widely during a student's time on campus but all share at least one common theme: academics.
Movies show college students
Movies show living it up at keg parties and eating pizza three times a day, but the reality is that there is a less glamorous side to college life.
David Holmes, professor of psychology, said the freedom of college life caused some students to neglect their studies.
eyelids came from his laziness. He said he picked up better study habits after that semester and now has a 3.5 grade point average in the School of Business.
"In college we don't say 'ok, tonight read pages x, y and z.'" he said. "They put off studying, and then get hit by a truck of an exam."
"Success is all about study habits. College is about studying and learning; this is not a playpen."
DAVID HOLMES Professor of psychology
Holmes said establishing a routine was critical in college.
Alex Svoboda, Overland Park junior, said the workload in college surprised him his freshman year. With 15 credit hours his first semester, including calculus and finance, he had to spend more time studying than he planned. Svoboda recalled a night during his first final week when he stayed up all night writing a paper and then took a final immediately after finishing.
"Success is all about study hab-
"Pulling all-nighters is weak, but sometimes you just run out of time," he said.
Though Svoboda wishes he hadn't procrastinated when writing his paper, nothing worse than tired
its", he said.
"College is about studying and learning; this is not a playpen."
Students who need help establishing good study habits can visit the Freshman Sophomore Advising
Center, 126 Strong Hall. Director Tammara Durham said advisers helped students figure out which courses they needed to take and devise a plan to graduate on time.
"It helps make the journey more manageable if they have the road map in front of them and they know where they're going," she said.
Advisers can also help students choose a major, but Durham said it wasn't necessary for students to make a choice during their first year.
Holmes agreed that students should keep their options open if they weren't sure what to study.
"I think it is important to stay intellectually loose and sample widely," he said. "College exposes you to many ideas and possibilities you've never thought of."