Graduating from high school is one of the most satisfying and simultaneously scary times of your life. For the first time, you are faced with the task of navigating yourself to a successful future. Advice floods in from everybody in all directions and eventually you have acquired so much information about how to do well in college that it starts to become confusing and maybe even contradictory. Counselors and teachers try to generalize college life on a single sheet of paper, but the fact is that college is as unique as the individuals enrolled in it.

Many people say the best way to get through college with the best grades possible is to study most of the time and relax the rest of the time. While this is a terrific strategy, the whole social aspect of the college life is completely ignored. Social life plays a large role in overall well-being. College offers the best chance you will ever have to surround yourself with great people for the rest of your life. Once you build a solid foundation of friends, you will be able to assist each other in achieving the ultimate goal—graduating with good grades.

You will need to create schedules for yourself to manage your time. It is sometimes difficult for students to separate having fun and studying. If you want to make it through college, you must go to class. Oftentimes students fail out because they completely neglect going to class and doing required assignments. And then there’s the complete opposite side, the students who graduate with a 4.0 grade point average but have never been to a social event in their college career. The key to success is balance. What is the point of spending approximately four years in the same place if you build no supportive relationships, good memories or funny stories?

Obviously, college is no cake-walk. You will sometimes need to lock yourself in your room and turn off your cell phone for a few hours to crack down on loaded projects and abandon all contact from the outside world. But after you are finished with the project and you know you nailed it, you should reward yourself by relaxing and having a good time. As long as there is good balance of work and play, you should have few problems. And as long as you have your work-time designated in a time slot before your down-time, you should be able to juggle the two effortlessly and, best of all, happily. To be successful, you need to create your own unique schedule; if one thing doesn’t work, shift your schedule around until it does. When you and your best friends finally graduate, you can reminisce about all the great times you’ve had together, and talk about how college wasn’t as difficult as you once thought it was going to be.

Editorial provided by Mathew Matusek, Journalist, Slippery Rock University Graduate.

www.thehighschoolgraduate.com

So, you’re in high school, which is no doubt a difficult period in your life. You are finally becoming an adult and gaining new responsibilities. On top of these new experiences, you are beginning the college search process, which can certainly add to the anxiety. Well, relax. The process doesn’t have to be that complicated.

First, your main goal right now should be to focus on graduating high school. You cannot go to college without a high school degree, right? So, pay attention in class, do your homework, and make sure you are getting good grades. Additionally, you may want to play a sport or participate in an extra-curricular activity.

Now, here comes the hard part: making sure that college is right for you. Don’t go to college because all your friends are doing it or your parents are making you. Go to college because you want to learn more. College gives you more than just useless facts and student loans. It can prepare you to be a great problem solver, to think better on your feet, and to communicate well. But, like high school, college can be complicated. Make sure that you are prepared for late night study sessions, forty page papers, and living in residence halls. If you are, your college degree can be rewarding. You may have better job opportunities and have the potential to make more money than those people without bachelor’s degrees.

At this point, you may be wondering how you choose the right school for you. Choosing a college is like using the process of elimination skills you learn when you are taking a multiple-choice test. You eliminate the obviously wrong choices first then you pick the answer that seems correct.

What characteristics can you use to eliminate the wrong colleges? Size is a great characteristic that can help you eliminate schools. Do you want a large university or a small college? The choice is yours, but if you want more personal attention, make sure that you choose a school with a small student to faculty ratio. A word of caution, size of the student body has nothing to do with the personal attention that you would receive. Sometimes it is all about making the right connection with a faculty or staff mentor.

Location is another key characteristic of the college search. You may hate the city and want to go to school in the suburbs, or you may want to stay close to home. By narrowing down the kind of environment you want, you can eliminate more of the wrong choices.

Two other key factors to consider are major and extra-curricular interests. If you want to major in biology and be on the swim team, you should go to a school that offers those programs. Other things to consider are religious affiliation, diversity, and graduation and retention rates. Graduation rates are generally the percentage of students that graduate in four years and retention rates is the percentage of freshmen who stay at a school to become a sophomore. Of course, you need to factor in financial assistance. Schools offer financial aid, but you need to make sure you can afford your school of choice.

As you fine-tune your interests, you can begin searching. How do you do this? The internet is a great resource. Go to your favorite search engine and type in “college search” or something more specific like “nursing schools.” The results that generally pop up are specific college search engines. You can ask for colleges in certain states with certain majors, and in some cases ask for a certain religious affiliation.

Another great search tool is your guidance counselor in high school. They are there to help you in this process; take advantage of them. Ask them questions. Also, don’t forget your friends and family; they are great resources too. They may know of a great college that may not even be on your list.

Additionally, go to college fairs to meet with the representatives of the college. These people can answer your questions and help you with this process. Plus, sometimes the representatives of the colleges aren’t employees; they are alumni or faculty representatives. These people are highly invested in a school that you are looking at.

You may even meet representatives during high school visits. These are times when a representative will come to your school. Usually these last a period or throughout the lunch periods.

At this point, you will have plenty of college brochures. These can be helpful because they contain plenty of information about the college. But don’t decide to apply to a school because of their brochure. It may have pretty pictures, but the best way to see if a college is right for you is to visit it. If you feel comfortable when you visit a college and like the people you meet when you are on the campus tour, chances are you are going to like going to school there. And if you don’t feel like you belong, you probably won’t as a student, so you may want to knock that school off your list.

Once you have found the schools that fit your needs and eliminated the schools that don’t, ask yourself the final question: “Can I see myself here for four years?” You may answer yes to more than one school. If you do, talk it out with your family and friends. They know you pretty well and could offer some insight.

In the end, you may choose a school that isn’t the perfect fit. If this is the case, you may need to start this process all over again. This happens frequently and you are not alone, so don’t get discouraged.

One final piece of advice; make this process fun. The college search process shouldn’t be like going to the dentist. If it becomes a chore or stressful, take a break and evaluate if this is really what you want to do with your life. If you want to go to college, you’ll survive.

Editorial provided by Michele Diehl, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Gwynedd-Mercy College.(www.thehighschoolgraduate.com)

SQRW is a four-step strategy for reading and taking notes from chapters in a textbook. Each letter stands for one step in the strategy. Using SQRW will help you to understand what you read and to prepare a written record of what you learned. The written record will be valuable when you have to participate in a class discussion and again when you study for a test. Read to learn what to do for each step in SQRW.

Survey.Surveying brings to mind what you already know about the topic of a chapter and prepares you for learning more. To survey a chapter, read the title, introduction, headings, and the summary or conclusion. Also, examine all visuals such as pictures, tables, maps, and/or graphs and read the caption that goes with each. By surveying a chapter, you will quickly learn what the chapter is about.

Question.You need to have questions in your mind as you read. Questions give you a purpose for reading and help you stay focused on the reading assignment. Form questions by changing each chapter heading into a question. Use the words who, what, when, where, why, or how to form questions. For example, for the heading "Uses of Electricity" in a chapter about how science improves lives, you might form the question "What are some uses of electricity?" If a heading is stated as a question, use that question. When a heading contains more than one idea, form a question for each idea. Do not form questions for the Introduction, Summary, or
Conclusion.

Read.Read the information that follows each heading to find the answer to each question you formed. As you do this, you may decide you need to change a question or turn it into several questions to be answered. Stay focused and flexible so you can gather as much information as you need to answer each question.

Write.Write each question and its answer in your notebook. Reread each of your written answers to be sure each answer is legible and contains all the important information needed to answer the question.

As you practice using SQRW, you will find you learn more and have good study notes to use to prepare for class participation and tests.

HINT: Once you complete the Survey step for the entire chapter, complete the Question, Read, and Write steps for the first heading. Then complete the Question, Read, and Write steps for the second heading, and so on for the remaining headings in the chapter.
See our other study skills resources at www.how-to-study.com

A learning style is a way of learning. YOUR preferred learning style is the way in which YOU learn best. Three learning styles that are often identified in students are the Auditory Learning Style, the Visual Learning Style, and the Tactile/Kinesthetic Learning Style. Read about each of these learning styles to identify YOUR preferred learning style.

Are you an Auditory Learner?
Auditory Learners learn best when information is presented in an auditory language format. Do you seem to learn best in classes that emphasize teacher lectures and class discussions? Does listening to audio tapes help you learn better? Do you find yourself reading aloud or talking things out to gain better understanding? If YES, you are probably an Auditory Learner.

Are you a Visual Learner?
Visual Learners learn best when information is presented in a written language format or in another visual format such as pictures or diagrams. Do you do best in classes in which teachers do a lot of writing at the chalkboard, provide clear handouts, and make extensive use of an overhead projector? Do you try to remember information by creating pictures in your mind? Do you take detailed written notes from your textbooks and in class? If YES, you are probably a Visual Learner.

Are you a Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner?
Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners learn best in hands-on learning settings in which they can physically manipulate something in order to learn about it. Do you learn best when you can move about and handle things? Do you do well in classes in which there is a lab component? Do you learn better when you have an actual object in your hands rather than a picture of the object or a verbal or written description of it? If YES, you are probably a Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner.

Your learning style is your strength. Go with it whenever you can. When you can choose a class, try to choose one that draws heaviest on your learning style. When you can choose a teacher, try to choose one who's teaching method best matches your learning style. When you choose a major and future career, keep your learning style firmly in mind.(www.how-to-learn.com)

Self-discipline
Self-discipline can be considered a type of selective training,
creating new habits of thought, action, and speech toward improving yourself and reaching goals.
Self-discipline can also be task oriented and selective.
View self-discipline as positive effort, rather than one of denial.

Schedule a small task for a given time of the day;
Practice deliberate delaying.

• Schedule a particular task in the morning and once in the evening.
• The task should not take more than 15 minutes.
• Wait for the exact scheduled time.
  When the schedule time is due, start the task.
• Stick to the schedule for at least two months.

Advantages: Scheduling helps you focus on your priorities.
By focusing on starting tasks rather than completing them, you can avoid procrastination.

• Schedule a task and hold to its time;
  Avoid acting on impulse.
• Track your progress;
  At the end of the allotted time, keep a record of accomplishment that builds over time.

  Advantage: Building a record will help you track how much time tasks take.

• If you begin to have surplus time, fill it with small tasks, make notes to yourself, plan other tasks, etc.

Harness the power of routine.

• Instead of devoting a lot of hours one day, and none the other and then a few on an another day and so on, allocate a specific time period each day of the week for that task.
• Hold firm.
• Don't set a goal other than time allocation,
  simply set the habit of routine.
• Apply this technique to your homework or your projects, you will be on your way to getting things done

Advantage: You are working on tasks in small increments, not all at once. You first develop a habit, then the habit does the job for you.

Use self discipline to explore time management

Time management can become an overwhelming task.
When you do not have control over your own self, how can you control time?
Begin with task-oriented self-discipline and build from there.

Advantage: As you control tasks, you build self-discipline.
As you build self-discipline, you build time management.
As you build time management, you build self-confidence.

Maintain a self-discipline log book.

• Record the start and end times of the tasks.
• Review for feedback on your progress

Advantage: This log book can be a valuable tool to get a better picture over your activities in order to prioritize activities, and realize what is important and not important on how you spend your time.

Schedule your work day and studies.

• When you first begin your work day, or going to work take a few minutes and write down on a piece of paper the tasks that you want to accomplish for that day.
• Prioritize the list.
• Immediately start working on the most important one.
• Try it for a few days to see if the habit works for you.
• Habits form over time: how much time depends on you and the habit.

Advantage: When you have a clear idea as to what you want to achieve for the day at its start, the chances are very high that you will be able to proactively accomplish the tasks. Writing or sketching out the day helps.

Discouragement:

• Do not be intimidated; do not be put off by the challenge
• If you slip, remember this is natural
• Take a break and then refresh the challenge

Tricks:

Associate a new habit with an old one:
If you drink coffee, make that first cup the time to write out and prioritize your tasks.

Advantage: Association facilitates neural connections!

Tick your progress:
On a calendar in your bathroom, on a spreadsheet at your computer, on your breakfast table:
Check off days you successfully follow up. If you break the routine, start over!

Advantage: Visualizing is a ready reinforcement of progress

Role models:
Observe the people in your life and see to what extent self discipline and habits help them accomplish goals.
Ask them for advice on what works, what does not.

Contributed by Mahanthi Bukkapaptnam, Des Moines, Iowa

“Good thinkers do not necessarily think harder, longer, or more exactly; they have simply learned to think in directions that are more likely to be productive.” - Unknown

What is the quality of your thinking? I recently stumbled upon the book “Marketing Genius” by Peter Fisk, who describes the following insights into how a genius thinks:

1. Original Thinking: A genius starts with an open mind, uncluttered by conventions, taking new perspectives, deconstructing a problem the reassembling it in better ways.
2. Creative Thinking: A genius is always open to possibility, seeking to solve problems by hypothesis, taking a mental leap and then seeing whether it proves to be true or not.
3. Analytical Thinking: A genius will work though a problem or idea progressively and rigorously, as well as creatively, challenging the mathematical or scientific logic.
4. Observational Thinking: A genius has an exceptionally high state of consciousness, a greater awareness of what is going on, and looking for patterns like forensic detective.
5. Dual Thinking: A genius can think in parallel, to tolerate apparent ambiguities, to bring together opposites and connect the unconnected.
6. Holistic Thinking: A genius can take a broader perspective, to see the holistic problem in the context of its environment and piecing together its many parts.
7. Volume Thinking: A genius searches for many solutions rather than just one, building on or challenging each other, constantly searching for a more perfect solution.
8. Pragmatic Thinking: A genius recognises that ideas and solutions are of little use in the abstract, that the theory or concept must be made real, that it must be practical and useful.
9. Visual Thinking: A genius is able to express their ideas more clearly, typically visually through diagrams and analogy, to make sense of complexity in comprehensible ways.
10. Conviction Thinking: A genius must have the inner strength, belief and confidence to stay strong to what they believe, while conventions and colleagues will challenge them.

How holistic is your thinking…..? Deliberately practice using one or more of these thinking styles in your day-to-day problem solving over the next few months.

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

“Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.” - George Bernard Shaw

"Even if you're not a genius, you can use the same strategies as Aristotle and Einstein to harness the power of your creative mind and better manage your future."

The following eight strategies encourage you to think productively,
rather than reproductively, in order to arrive at solutions to problems. "These strategies are common to the thinking styles of creative geniuses in science, art, and industry throughout history."

1. Look at problems in many different ways, and find new perspectives that no one else has taken (or no one else has publicized!)

Leonardo da Vinci believed that, to gain knowledge about the form of a problem, you begin by learning how to restructure it in many different ways. He felt that the first way he looked at a problem was too biased. Often, the problem itself is reconstructed and becomes a new one.

2. Visualize!

When Einstein thought through a problem, he always found it necessary to formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including using diagrams. He visualized solutions, and believed that words and numbers as such did not play a significant role in his thinking process.

3. Produce! A distinguishing characteristic of genius is productivity.

Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California at Davis found that the most respected scientists produced not only great works, but also many "bad" ones. They weren't afraid to fail, or to produce mediocre in order to arrive at excellence.

4. Make novel combinations. Combine, and recombine, ideas, images, and thoughts into different combinations no matter how incongruent or unusual.

The laws of heredity on which the modern science of genetics is based came from the Austrian monk Grego Mendel, who combined mathematics and biology to create a new science.

5. Form relationships; make connections between dissimilar subjects.

Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the connection that sound travels in waves. Samuel Morse invented relay stations for telegraphic signals when observing relay stations for horses.

6. Think in opposites.

Physicist Niels Bohr believed, that if you held opposites together, then you suspend your thought, and your mind moves to a new level. His ability to imagine light as both a particle and a wave led to his conception of the principle of complementarity. Suspending thought (logic) may allow your mind to create a new form.

7. Think metaphorically.

Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, and believed that the individual who had the capacity to perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them together was a person of special gifts.

8. Prepare yourself for chance.

Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. That is the first principle of creative accident. Failure can be productive only if we do not focus on it as an unproductive result. Instead: analyze the process, its components, and how you can change them, to arrive at other results. Do not ask the question "Why have I failed?", but rather "What have I done?"

Adapted with permission from: Michalko, Michael, Thinking Like a Genius: Eight strategies used by the super creative, from Aristotle and Leonardo to Einstein and Edison (New Horizons for Learning) as seen at http://www.newhorizons.org/wwart_michalko1.html, (June 15, 1999) This article first appeared in THE FUTURIST, May 1998

Michael Michalko is the author of Thinkertoys (A Handbook of Business Creativity), ThinkPak (A Brainstorming Card Set), and Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Geniuses (Ten Speed Press, 1998).