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monday, january 22, 2001
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Brandon Gillette, Topeka sophomore, has spent more time studying this year after making a New Year's resolution to get better grades. He has put up motivational signs in his room in the past, and this semester he took a job at Lewis Hall's academic resource center, where he uses downtime to study.
striving4perfection one student's resolution to improve his grades takes on greater importance after a change of major
by jason krall kansan campus editor photos by nick krug kansan staff photographer
Gillette studies in his room, which is adorned with pictures of night skies. Originally interested in aerospace engineering, Gillette was a counselor at a space camp this summer when he realized he would rather be a teacher. He is working on improving his grades so he can get into the School of Education.
he end of last spring's semester found Bran-
don Gillette lying in bed staring at a number
in big, black letters taped to the ceiling: 4 $ ^{n} $
The sign was just out of reach when he lay on the top bunk. So was Gillette's desired grade point average. At the end of the semester, he found himself with a 2.0 and decided he needed to start taking school more seriously.
This semester, the Topeka sophomore is handling a 19-hour course-load after sporting a 4.0 this fall. But it took changing his major to turn Gillette around.
New, Gillette finds himself driven by his decision to follow a different career path, and like many students, he has a New Year's resolution to bring up his grades.
the turnaround
Entering as a freshman in the fall of 1999. Gillette signed up to live on a community floor in Ellsworth Hall known as "3E." (Experiencing Excellence in Ellsworth) hoping that getting involved with events and projects on the floor could help keep him focused on school.
By mid-year, he was coaching Salvation Army basketball, working in a leadership program with the Association of University Residence Halls (AURH) and serving food as a community service volunteer at the Jubilee Café.
"I started paying more attention to that than to school." he said.
Still, the floor made its goal to average a 3.0. A giant sign reading "3.0" hung in the floor lobby, which inspired Gillette's "4.0" motivational reminder.
But support from others on his floor didn't seem to make a difference in the end, Gillette said.
"I felt like it was helping me, but in the numbers it didn't show," he said.
Hoping to enter the School of Engineering, perhaps to study aerospace engineering, Gillette applied to work at the Summer Cosmosphere space camp in Hutchinson. He was placed as a counselor for seventh through 10th-graders in the Future Astronaut Training Program. After taking 11 groups of students through the one-week camp, working with kids from varied backgrounds and some physically disabled and autistic children, Gillette decided he wasn't as interested in space as he was in teaching.
When he returned to the University this fall, he dropped courses in physics and engineering calculus and focused on getting As in two classes. He kept his introductory eco
nomics class and added an education class, for which he aided a middle school science teacher several times.
"As the semester progressed, he realized the importance of school because he was focusing on the future," Ohm said. "He just saw that it was going to take a lot of work and motivation to keep his grades."
After taking the education class, Gillette said he was sure he wanted to become a teacher, giving him a new reason to study.
Erin Ohm, Wichita freshman and a close friend to Gillette, said she didn't notice his transformation all at once. Through the course of the past semester, she saw him spending more time on homework and studying.
"It gave me an extra incentive. It was actually what I wanted to do," he said. "I just had to force myself to get things done."
Gillette moved to Lewis Hall and began working in its academic resource center—a job that included plenty of downtime that he used for homework and studying.
He hisky schedule this semester is preparing him to apply to the School of Education. He said he recognized that he was facing a pivotal task.
"Either I'm in for a big self-esteem boost or a big loss," he said.
Gillette said he had started every semester
The Student Development Center will offer its first time-management workshop of the semester at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Walnut Room in the Kansan Union.
For tips on how to lose weight, see the story from Thursday's Jaylay at
More information
from thorny5's snippet.
www.kansan.com/arch/2001/spring/
01_18_18/jayload/resolution01-18.html
For tips on how pick a major and how to quit
smoking, visit www.kansan.com and click on
the features tab.
ne can remember hoping for the best, but this year his New Year's resolution to do better carries more weight.
Managing his time will be the key, Gillette says, to how he plans to handle the heavy course-load. He still coaches basketball and works on an AURH committee that tracks hall improvements.
Like most students, Gillette has started many semesters keeping track of his assignments and tests in a daily planner. Some he only used for a few weeks; others he used more. But the planners never made it to Stop Day.
"A planner only helps if you use it," he said. "It seems like I'd start out using one, and I'd just kind of fade away."
getting better grades
Mary Ann Rasanak, director of the Student Development Center, said planning half-hour blocks of studying could be the key to keeping a resolution to get better grades
"All of us have a shortened attention span," Rasnack said. "No one intense immersion that exhausts you physically, emotionally and intellectually can be as beneficial as short bursts of studying."
But merely sticking to your study schedule isn't enough, Rasmack said. Choosing specific exercises to do is always more helpful than just trying to absorb a textbook, she said.
inere's amazing things you can get done in a half hour. You can work out a problem or two, or skim a chapter," she said. "Do something. Say to yourself, 'I'm not just going to sit here for half an hour and stare at the material.' If you just say, 'I'm going to study,' that's a little vague."
Rasnack said studying during breaks between classes generally was more effective than studying at night. Students tend to concentrate better and absorb more during daylight hours, even if they use the same methods they might use at night.
one said using signs for motivation, such as Gillette did, could help but striving for unreasonable goals led to unnecessary stress.
"I don't object to focusing on the 4.0, but that's not an easy goal. Goals should be achievable," she said. "You can post them on your mirror, above your bed, when you open the closet, on your refrigerator, on your TV screen or your computer monitor."
The Student Development Center will offer its first time-management workshop of the semester on Wednesday for students looking for some guidance in keeping their New Year's resolutions to study. The workshop is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Walnut Room in the Kansas Union.
Committing to sit down and study is the biggest barrier that holds students back, Gillette said. But it's just as important to have some sort of release. For him, it's coaching basketball and attending KU basketball games.
"I kind of use basketball as an outlet. It's relaxation," he said.
Ian Kroll in a computer edit for this
Jason Kraill is a campus editor for the Kansan.
His New Year's resolution was to go to class more often. So far, he has not missed a class. Kraill can be contacted at writer@kansan.com or 864-4810.
— Edited by Courtney Craigmile
Following through on your New Year's resolution to get better grades:
Set achievable goals.
Not everyone can get a 4.0.
- Plan half-hour blocks of study time. Take breaks to eat, stretch, exercise or relax. Exhausting yourself mentally and physically won't help in the long run.
Have a study goal for the 30-minute period. Tell yourself you are going to work through a specific question or problem rather than just staring at a text-book.
Try to study more during the day. You can study during breaks between classes, on the bus or after your classes but before going home.
Use a planner to keep yourself organized.
Studying for a test:
Studying for a test.
Start early and leave yourself a lot of time to study properly — at least three days.
Don't wait until the last minute.
Go through your notes briefly. Look for major themes the professor emphasized during the course. Start an index card for each new theme you find.
Go through your notes again, adding details to each index card. If your notes are insufficient, go back to your books for information.
Look through the index cards until you're comfortable with the material.
Quiz yourself on each topic, checking what you remember against the cards.
Review every time you've been away from your notes for more than a couple hours. Review is the best way to get things
to stick in your mind.
Source: ehow.com and suggestions from Mary Ann Rasnack, director of the Student Development Resource Center
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