How to be a Successful Student by Sung Chan (AJ) Jung

There is no doubt that most students want to be successful during their college lives. People tend to want to be successful in groups which they belong to. College is also one of the groups, so most students devote their time and effort to attain good grades. Unfortunately, not all students can achieve good grades even when they do their best. Why do we face this kind of situation, even though we do not want be failures? The answer cannot depend on how much students do their best, but must depend on how they do their best. In the other words, students do not know the law of “SMART,” which helps them to be successful. Indeed, there are the effective principles of “SMART” to be successful students.

First, successful students tend to “S”mile at their professors during class. Koreans have a wise saying, “We cannot spit on smiling face.” Even a psychological study said that people tend to prefer a person who smiles at them when they talk. This is not flattery from students to professors. This is making the relationship between students and professors. How can students succeed without mentors who can offer guidelines? The first step is way to achieve success on campus.

Second, winning students know how to “M”anage time. We are given the same time equally, but the results are not always equal. If we record our time, we might notice how much we are wasting time. Successful students never waste even 15 minutes to achieve their goals. On the other hand, most unsuccessful students do not value even 30 minutes to achieve their goals. In short, if we really want to succeed, we should value our limited time.

Third, victorious students always prepare to “A”sk questions. Preparing questions requires studying before class. In other words, successful students always devote their time to study and struggle to solve their curiosity even though they do not have enough time. Have you, the readers, ever done as the successful students do? If you say “No,” this is one of the reasons why you do not succeed.

Fourth, fruitful students actively “R”espond to the professors’ lecture, and they give their best as much as possible during class. If we observe their actions, they always nod at every single word from the professors. Moreover, they look like beasts hungry with curiosity, and they never stop having eye contact with their professors. On the other hand, unsuccessful students are looking at their desks and busy avoiding the professors’ eyes. How do we look? Learning is mutual interaction between professor and student. How can we have a good learning environment without trying to respond?

Last, effective students are professional at note “T”aking. Our memory has limitations while we memorize. Note taking is the best way to overcome this situation. Successful students spend much time note taking. If we have a chance to read their notes, we might see a lot of highlighting, abbreviations, and their own symbols. In addition, everything in their notes is evidence of how much they try to memorize what they have learned. According to some psychologists, people tend to forget almost 80% what they memorized. But successful students always are ready to recall most of what they have learned with their notes even though they also sometimes forget.

As we can see, nowadays, there are a lot of success guide books, and they are sold in bookstores. The books say a lot about disciplines, laws, and principles we should know. I believe that most successful people are also very common people like us except for their effort. Winning students are not different from us. They are exactly the same as us when they are given same the time, professor, and the same book like unsuccessful students, but they struggle to achieve their goals. In short, unsuccessful students should stop complaining about negative situation because they do not devote their time and effort as they want to succeed. Do you, the readers, want to be successful students? Yes, you can be if you really want to be with your devotion of time, effort, and the principle of “SMART.”