“All my life I’ve stumbled, yet up here I am, just perfect. Perfect as I’ll ever be.”–Marie Digby, “Spell”.
Let’s get this clear–I am posting this with absolutely no intention of bragging, but I’ve promised myself that if I get better grades than those I received in my first year of graduate school, I would share how I did it. So, here I am.
To be honest, I am still in a state of disbelief. That I was able to do it. That I was able to perform well in graduate school and in the university nearly every Filipino wants to study in, no less. However, I have to believe it, because a lot of hard work went into it. And for the first time, the grades were commensurate with the effort I put into my studies.
So, how did I do it? It wasn’t an easy process. It took dedication, determination, and discipline to get it done. I’ll be sharing my process, which you can try and tweak.
- Make sure that your health is in good shape. This covers both mental and physical health. Eat healthily–make sure that you eat fruits and veggies. And get an adequate amount of sleep. My philosophy: I’d rather sleep early and wake up early to study than to stay up late and burn the midnight oil.
There’s a little science behind that. Jalali and his colleagues have pointed out the effects of sleep on academic performance, and their study reveals that students who do not have adequate sleep do not perform as well as their contemporaries who have enough sleep. Sleep allows your brain to recharge and repair.
Milojevich and Lukowski revealed in their study that sleep is closely associated with the mental health of students. A large number of students with sleep problems also suffer from mental health issues. Listen to your body and brain: if they are tired, then go to sleep. You can’t tweak this. Sleep is definitely not for the weak.
