Writing it down: What I did different

Last week, while preparing to move out of my apartment, I stumbled upon the “summary notes” of all the courses I took during my MSc degree program. It then occurred to me that I was yet to share this as core of “what I did different” during all my academic pursuit. On several occasions, people have asked how I managed to achieve so many feats…seriously in most instances, I usually fail to find the right or convincing response. And bang! Today I can confidently say that the “summary notes” habit I developed almost 20 years ago played a pivotal role. So here we go…

Just to give a bit of my background and perhaps why you might consider to take what am about to share serious.   I graduated with a First Class Honours in Industrial Chemistry (ICH) from FUTO as the best graduating student of the department and faculty of sciences; those who know this university will agree that making a first class from ICH is near an impossibility. Furthermore, I will go on to graduate among the top of my class during my double MSc degree between Augsburg University (Germany) and University of Bordeaux (France). But far from all these, many years ago (I was about 10 years old), one of my class teacher advice that we should write down anything we want to remember. This stuck in my mind and from that day onwards, I created what I called “summary notes” of all the subjects I took. Not only was I an “honour” student for the entire duration of my secondary school education, but I will go on to graduate with the highest points in my school at the O-Level GCE exams. This habit stayed with me as I moved to high school, the first place I ever felt challenged because of the calibre of high performing students in our class. Again, and surprising to most people (I was less known), I will go on to graduate top of my class as well as the entire school during the A-level GCE exams; the very first time a non-cameroonian will achieve such a feat. Now that I look back, I cannot minimize the great impact my “summary notes” played in all these successes. Infact, I did share this technique with some of my colleagues and the outcome were astonishing. Most of them performed far better in courses/subjects where this “technique” was used.

I noticed earlier on that summarizing (compressing) my notes, made them very handy to carry them about, and also easier to read through repeatedly. Secondly and because they are very handy, I could always go through much faster compared to the notes I took during lectures. For me the most challenging part is usually to start summarising my notes, it can easily become tiring, especially when you look at the bulk of notes. To avoid this, I try as much as possible to summarize after every lecture to avoid accumulation. Therefore, the first step for me is to create a study time table. Normally, I wait till I have the school time table before creating mine, in this way I try to align both. This helps me to ensure that every course I take during the day gets summarized before I go to bed. I do not only relay on my lectures, therefore, for each course, I make a separate time table to study from recommended texts/ other materials, which equally get summarized. By summarizing my notes, I could easily identify what is not clear to me and quickly address them. In like manner, I usually advise my colleagues/friends/students to also quickly identify someone to explain what is not understood as early as possible.

Finally, how do I tackle my examinations? At the start of the semester, anyone who walked into my room will see the results I expect from each course clearly written and pasted in front of my reading table. I usually ask myself one question-what is the reason that I will not make the best grade (A in the Nigerian scale or 1.0 in a German scale). The answer to this question will get all my attention until it is addressed. This could involve studying more or seeking help from someone who has a better understanding in that course/subject.

At the end, I do hope those who apply this technique will get the same benefits as I did. As usual, nothing gives me greater joy than to see people succeed in what they put their mind to. I wish you all the very best in your academic pursuit.

Disclaimer:

I fully acknowledge that just as people are different, so is their understanding and everyone might have a technique that works best for them. In any case, identify what works best for you.