Things Every Student Should Have and Do

By Bryce Cullinane 

1. The first and most important thing for me is a dictionary with a thesaurus. Whenever you come across a word you don't understand, you have to look it up! Having a dictionary is the best way to expand your vocabulary and be a successful student.

2. Find a comfortable place to study. Whether it is where you live, in starbucks, or at a library, find a location that you enjoy studying at-it makes a huge difference.

3. Develop your own efficient system of organization. Whether you type your notes on your laptop or a notebook, whether you use shelves or drawers, find a system of organization that works for you. You need to be able to know where your book, notes and other important things are. It shouldn't take you 10 minutes to find your things.

4. Make a schedule. Have a schedule and stick to it. If you read your history textbook every Monday and Friday morning, stick to it. Your work will be a lot easier if you get in a habit of doing it.

5. Provide yourself with rewards. Studying for a really hard test can be a lot easier if you know that after three hours of reading you are going to treat yourself to ice cream.

6. Use your time efficiently. If you are waiting at the doctor's office for thirty minutes, if you have nothing to do for an hour before class, or you have an hour to wait before your friends come over, use the time to get something done. Bring a book to the doctor's, or while waiting for your friend, do an assignment. If you use your extra time you can get more done. 

7. Use your syllabus as a roadmap. The way to succeed in your classes is simple, just follow the syllabus. Many teachers give you a syllabus because they want you to succeed.

8. Communicate with your teachers. Teachers are not mean people, they actually care a lot about you and your education. If you found a class session really interesting, stay for 10 minutes after class and speak with your teacher about the topic. You will learn a lot about your teachers and they will get a good impression about you.

9. If you have time right now, do it now. The biggest mistake you can ever make is to leave something you can do now until tomorrow. Leaving something until the last minute will only stress you out and diminish the quality of what you do.

10. Be passionate about school. Many teens treat school as if it's dumb and boring. But if you think a class is fun, if you find a book exciting, don't hide it. There are hundreds of people out there just like you.