Study Obstacles: What to Do When Nothing Seems to Stick

Maybe you've dealt with all the issues I mentioned in my article on obstacles to studying effectively, namely fatigue, hastily prepared reviewers, lacking energy, or lousy revision space, but you're still struggling with remembering everything you study?

One of the worst feelings in the world is suspecting that you're wasting your time. This feeling might creep up to you one early morning study binge, and you might just thing "what am I doing?." It has happened to me, and it is scary.

If you have spent hours re-reading material, but nothing seems to stick, you may be revising for revision's sake. GOAL. Remember, the goal to reviewing is to re-learn something. At the very least, it's to find something you missed the first time.

Here is one thing you can do to overcome obstacles to studying effectively: add value to the things you memorize. Here are two strategies to do just that.

1. Never underestimate the idea of ENRICHMENT.

Enrichment means adding value to something. The idea is to take what you already know and enrich it. You don't need to keep repeating something over and over a.k.a. rote learning, though there is nothing wrong with that if it has worked for you thus far, but the problem is that memorization alone doesn't add value. Those are words related to your subject matter, but their meanings are vague.

Enriching what you already learned means finding examples that are relevant to the current times. If you're taking a refresher course and retaking an exam that you took a long, long time ago, the examples and nature of related cases may have changed in the last couple of years.

Read about them. Search examples on youtube. Interview people who you know have experienced this. Write to your professors and ask for anecdotes about the time they put theoretical knowledge into practice. Whatever examples you collect will only help you understand, ans most of all, REMEMBER the things you are reviewing.

This also applies to hard concepts that you don't udnerstand, which was probably why you simply resorted to memorization in the first place (again, no judgement here... i do that a lot).

2. Let the new ideas SIMMER

After you've collected your examples and related them to the theories you've been ruminating for a long time, you have to allot time to let everything blend together. You cannot skip this part, which is why applying time management concepts are crucial to revision and why putting off studying until the last minute could hurt your chances of ranking high.

Pacing up and down your hallway while you let your thoughts brew, taking a walk, lying in bed or the sofa just reflecting... these errands aren't lazy. They're for settling your mind, so that you can wrap your mental arms around the new ideas you just inputted.

The best thing to do would be to make notes regarding your realizations, which is why you must have a revision notebook. If you're like me, you probably have several notebooks that you're reserving for a special thing. THIS is that special thing. It's like creating a study diary.

Hope these work for you!

Your City Needs Its Writers: 3 Steps to Improve the Writing Culture in Your City

There is a La Union Books and Arts Exhibit right now at the SM City La Union, and this got me thinking. Every city has its share of storytellers. Some write novels. Some write long social media captions that probably should have been novels. I personally think a city with no active writers feels a bit empty, like a place that only knows traffic and billboards but has no imagination. A writing culture is not optional. It is the difference between a town that thinks and a town that merely exists. If you want to encourage a writing culture where you live, start by following these 3 steps: Step 1: Make writers visible. Invite local authors to your library, schools, community centers, and yes even your neighborhood book clubs. In fact, book clubs are one of the easiest groups to involve, because they already read, already discuss stories, and usually already have snacks. A sponsored book club event featuring a hometown author can do more for visibility than a month of posters. And honestly,...

Better Library Shelfing by Colocation: Grouping Similar Items

As librarians, we've all faced the challenge of making the most of our shelf space. It's like a puzzle, figuring out where each book belongs so that people can find what they need without a treasure map. This is where colocation – or putting similar things together – comes into play. It's a simple idea, but it can make a huge difference in how we manage our shelves and help our library users find their way around. Let's talk about how this approach can make our libraries more user-friendly and efficient. Why Colocation Matters Imagine you're looking for a cookbook. You go to the section where cookbooks are supposed to be, but instead of finding them all in one spot, they're scattered all over. Some are with the gardening books, others are near the science fiction. Frustrating, right? That's the problem colocation solves. By keeping similar items together – all the cookbooks in one place, all the science fiction in another – we make life easier for everyone....

Simple Way to Ask Library Users to Rate the Library Service

Library users do not always share their thoughts on how the librarian or school can improve their library service. In fact, some won't ever, unless prompted. Soliciting their thoughts using a suggestion box is also not as good a strategy as it is predicted to be. After all, the blank piece of paper near the suggestion box doesn't really guide the user. I also noticed that users would only use the suggestion box if they have a complaint, but not if they just want to go about their business and leave. There must be a more pro-active way to solicit users' opinion. A simple solution would be to offer a short survey to measure how successfully users were able to complete some common activities in the library. This assessment uses the Likert scale, which is typically a five, seven, or nine-point agreement scale used to measure respondents' agreement with various statements. For example, the scale can range from "very unsuccessful" to "very successful."...

Flash Fiction: The Librarian's Halloween Hexes

Every Halloween, when dusk began to settle over Willowdale, Eleanor Marwick closed the public library with a smile that was as much mischief as it was politeness. By day, Eleanor was the quintessential librarian: quiet, precise, and draped in an earthy cardigan. But as October 31st arrived, she was, for one night, something else entirely. Tonight, as soon as the clock chimed seven, she shed her librarian guise and stepped into her true role: the witch of Willowdale. Her cardigan transformed into a flowing cloak, her sensible shoes became lace-up boots that clicked against the cobblestone paths. A grimoire appeared in her hands, pages filled with spells in looping ink, all waiting to be unleashed. The first stop was Mrs. Haversham’s house. Sweet, gray-haired Mrs. Haversham never missed a due date and handled every book with reverence. Eleanor whispered a soft incantation, and immediately Mrs. Haversham’s garden burst into a spectacle of flowers that would bloom all winter. Mrs. Haversha...

Short Story: Deliverance

Categories: FRIENDSHIP, DRAMA, CRIME It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The boarded up windows gave the impression that the buildings lining the street were not habitable. Katie smiled and nodded at the curious eyes peeking out from the slats of wood as she passed them, knowing that her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair complexion got the locals excited. This old motel strip in the seediest corner of Metro Manila, Philippines had been both a place to hide and recuperate, and the best venue for secrets. Why she went back was as much a mystery as it was a marvel. It was hard to imagine that after all the craziness that happened in the past, she would want to come back and look for… something. Perhaps it was closure that she was after.

Short Story: Backward Day

ASIAN AMERICAN HOLIDAY PEOPLE OF COLOR A young twenty-something man was waving at people gawking at him in the parking lot while loading several pounds of burgers, loaves of bread, and cartons of beer into the trunk of our car. My boyfriend Tony was a sight to behold in any crowd, with his blonde hair and muscular build. But today, what was catching the crowd’s attention was his inside-out shirt, pants, and canvas hat. I’m not too worried about people reporting my eccentrically clad hunny-bunny to the police. Rambling, crazy locals were normal for the day before the Superbowl when every adult in our town was on shopping duty. The crazier you looked, the less likely anyone would disturb you while you were taking all the beer. Only, today wasn’t a normal one for my crazy family, who we’re visiting for the Superbowl weekend. It’s Backward Day, a tradition that our family kept going for as long as I could remember. Despite its name, it was not just one ...

What Librarians Do in 2024: Keeping Up with Everyone's Needs

Libraries are accessible to everyone... and we mean EVERYONE! Hey there! I'm a librarian, and if there's one thing I know, it's that libraries are not just about books anymore. They're about people – all kinds of people. And in 2024, our job is to make sure we're keeping up with what everyone needs, even as those needs keep changing. So, how do we do that? Let's dive in. Getting to Know You First up, we need to really understand who's using the library. This means looking beyond just the numbers and getting to know the community. What languages do they speak? What kind of information are they looking for? Do they need places to study, meet, or even just hang out? The more we know, the better we can be at making the library a welcoming place for everyone. Technology is Our Friend These days, almost everyone uses some form of technology, whether it's smartphones, tablets, or laptops. As librarians, we're jumping on this tech train too. We'r...

Short Story: To What is Owed

FANTASY COMING OF AGE FICTION In the stillness of the faerie woodlands, a low keening sound emerged from the dense vines of an old valete tree. A dryad was dying, and the entire forest knew it. The trees shuddered in sympathy, while the woodland faeries flitted in and out of the branches in distress. They whispered amongst themselves, fearful yet curious. It was always a great event when a dryad reaches his golden age and is in the precipice of being one with nature. The event is especially grand for a male descendant of an ancient Unseelie family. Usually, the event was celebrated with dancing and merriment. Sadly, a proper send-off was not in order, as the dying dryad had been in the throes of excruciating agony for days. Inside the tree, a crowd surrounded the old dryad.

Library Management Brainstorming: Get Patrons Involved

Brainstorming is a dynamic and flexible tool that can be applied to library management. By engaging a diverse group of stakeholders in the brainstorming process, libraries can tap into a wealth of ideas that pave the way for innovative services, enhanced user experience, and efficient operations. The structured approach to brainstorming, from idea generation to selection, ensures that libraries can systematically explore and implement solutions that meet the evolving needs of their communities. Through continuous innovation and adaptability, libraries can remain vital centers for learning, creativity, and community engagement. Librarians don't need to do it alone. After all, patrons are also the ones who would benefit from improvements in the library. Hence, tapping them for ideas is a good call. Topics for Library Management Brainstorming Improving User Engagement: A library looking to increase patron visits might brainstorm ideas leading to initiatives like a community bo...

Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay also Known as the Taoist Ma-Cho Temple in San Fernando, La Union

I am a native of San Fernando and am very familiar with Macho Temple, yet I'm as confused as most tourists when it comes to the image of the holy lady enshrined there. Yes, it's a CHINESE temple, but... Many Taoist and Catholic devotees have accepted without question that mama deity Ma-Cho and our Lady of Caysasay are the same person. As the Chinese deity, she sacrificed her life while trying to save seafarers endangered by rough seas. She died at the young age of 28. However, she is also recognized as a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary by the Catholic church. All these baffling thoughts converge and don't really require any clarification as tourists and locals simply enjoy the seabreeze that permeates the hill where this lady's temple is located. Ma-Cho Temple, the first Taoist temple in the Philippines and one of the largest outside of China. Perched on a hill in downtown San Fernando, it offers breathtaking views of the South China Sea, making it an ideal h...

Ruby Galvez, RL

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