Treasure your happiness

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take pictures, pictures and more pictures, laugh and laugh and laugh out loud, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness
you'll never get back.

Study smart

Here's another article i found on web which is very educational :

Building an Understanding

Learning is a process similar to building a house. You aren’t fed the complete picture. Limitations on communication prevent the instantaneous transmission of knowledge. Instead you listen to lectures, read textbooks and take painstaking notes to try and comprehend a subject.

You are fed building supplies, bricks, mortar and glass. It is up to you to assemble the building. Unfortunately, most learning strategies fall into two basic types:

1. Memorization - Instead of building anything you simply stare at each brick for several minutes trying to record its position.
2. Formulas - This is the equivalent to being blind, fumbling around a new house. You can’t see the building itself but you learn to come up with simple rules to avoid walking into walls.

There is nothing particularly wrong with either of these strategies, assuming they aren’t your entire strategy. The human brain isn’t a computer so it can’t memorize infinite sums of knowledge without some form of structure. And formulas no longer work if the questions they are designed to solve change scope.

Learning Holistically

The alternative strategy is to focus on actually using the information you have to build something. This involves linking concepts together and compressing information so it fits in the bigger picture. Here are some ideas to get started:

1. Metaphor - Metaphors can allow you to quickly organize information by comparing a complex idea to a simple one. When you find relationships between information, come up with analogies to increase your understanding. Compare neurons with waves on a string. Make metaphors comparing parts of a brain with sections of your computer.
2. Use All Your Senses - Abstract ideas are difficult to memorize because they are far removed from our senses. Shift them closer by coming up with vivid pictures, feelings and images that relate information together. When I learned how to do a determinant of a matrix, I remembered the pattern by visualizing my hands moving through the numbers, one adding and one subtracting.
3. Teach It - Find someone who doesn’t understand the topic and teach it to them. This exercise forces you to organize. Spending five minutes explaining a concept can save you an hour of combined studying for the same effect.
4. Leave No Islands - When you read through a textbook, every piece of information should connect with something else you have learned. Fast learners do this automatically, but if you leave islands of information, you won’t be able to reach them during a test.
5. Test Your Mobility - A good way to know you haven’t linked enough is that you can’t move between concepts. Open up a word document and start explaining the subject you are working with. If you can’t jump between sections, referencing one idea to help explain another, you won’t be able to think through the connections during a test.
6. Find Patterns - Look for patterns in information. Information becomes easier to organize if you can identify broader patterns that are similar across different topics. The way a neuron fires has similarities to “if” statements in programming languages.
7. Build a Large Foundation - Reading lots and having a general understanding of many topics gives you a lot more flexibility in finding patterns and metaphors in new topics. The more you already know, the easier it is to learn.
8. Don’t Force - I don’t spend much time studying before exams. Forcing information during the last few days is incredibly inefficient. Instead try to slowly interlink ideas as they come to you so studying becomes a quick recap rather than a first attempt at learning.
9. Build Models - Models are simple concepts that aren’t true by themselves, but are useful for describing abstract ideas. Crystallizing one particular mental image or experience can create a model you can reference when trying to understand. When I was trying to tackle the concept of subspaces, I visualized a blue background with a red plane going through it. This isn’t an entirely accurate representation of what a subspace is, but it created a workable image for future ideas.
10. Learning is in Your Head - Having beautiful notes and a perfectly highlighted textbook doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the information in it. Your only goal is to understand the information so it will stick with you for assignments, tests and life. Don’t be afraid to get messy when scrawling out ideas on paper and connecting them in your head. Use notes and books as a medium for learning rather than an end result.

(http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-tips-to-study-smart-and-save-time.html)

11 Habits of Highly Effective Students

1. Study. A good rule of thumb for college students is "2 hours of study for every 1 hour in class." This may be even greater as you prepare for an exam or work on a paper. Be aware of your personal best time to study and try and stick to a schedule. Find a place to study where you won't be interrupted. Discover the library!

2. Get the right tools. Make sure you have all the right "student tools" to be successful: textbooks, binders or folders to keep you organized, paper for notes, a computer or access to campus computers, a calculator, pens and pencils, etc. You can't be a good student if you haven't got the right tools.

3. Keep up. Keep up with your reading and assignments. Class lectures will be more understandable if you've kept up with your reading. Once you begin to procrastinate and get behind, it is very, very difficult to catch up. Reading all the chapters for the first time the night before the exam rarely works.

4. Attend class. Once you get in the habit of not attending class, it is hard to get back on track. Make a habit of never missing class.

5. Consider a study group. Some students learn really well this way. If you give this a try, keep the group small (2 to 5 people max). Make sure it doesn't turn into a social event. To see if you really understand a concept, try and teach the idea to a member of your study group.

6. Prepare wisely for exams. Most exams you'll have in college will demand that you're thoroughly familiar with the vocabulary of that discipline. Not only should you know the vocabulary inside and out, but you should understand the subtle differences in meaning between two similar words or concepts.

7. Watch your syllabi. Make sure you not only hang on to each syllabus from all your classes, but also make sure you refer to them throughout the semester. When are the exams and what chapters will they cover? What other assignments are required and when are they due?

8. Communicate with your professors. New students are often intimidated by professors and are often reticent to visit with them. Communicate with your professors about issues that need attention; don't wait until the end of the semester when the situation has become out of hand.

9. Relax and balance your life. Take advantage of many the social activities we have on campus (e.g., clubs, athletic events, dances, etc.), but don't overdo it! Don't let your entire four-year experience at SUU turn into one long social event.

10. Take care of yourself. You know the routine: exercise daily, eat right and get 7 to 8 hours of shuteye each night. Also, make sure you use your "support network" (e.g., parents, roommates, friends, ecclesiastical leaders, etc.) for moral support.

11. Work on your career. Spend plenty of time thinking about your career, as opposed to wandering through the next four years and then getting serious about it. Periodically set aside some time to reflect on your choice of major and where you’re headed with it. Ask yourself: Why did I select the major I did? Can I see myself living with this career choice in the working world every day? Will it make me happy? Do I have some natural abilities or talents that will help me be successful in my major field? Will my choice of major enable me to provide the kind of living with which I’ll be satisfied? How much more education will I need beyond a bachelor’s degree in my chosen field? Does my career choice “fit” with some of my other lifestyle choices? Have I seriously considered other majors?


(www.suu.edu/faculty/powell/pdf/effective.pdf)