02/16/2012

Lesson #47:  If you’ve really learned your lessons, you can’t make the same mistake twice.

Looking back on the 46 days since I started this New Year’s resolution—to write down one thing I learned every day—it’s hard to believe how much I’ve already learned this year.  (Click here for a look back.)  And it’s only a little more than halfway through February.  -__-  It’s important, however, not only to remember what you’ve learned, but to commit it to memory.  You haven’t really learned your lesson until you’ve taken what you’ve learned and applied it in some way.  In the same sense, it becomes impossible to make the same mistake twice.  The first time, it’s a mistake.  If you’ve really learned your lesson, the second time, it’s no longer a mistake.  It’s a choice.

02/17/2012

Lesson #48:  Learn how you learn.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced/am still facing in college is trying to re-discover how I learn best.  In high school, the only thing I really learned was how to do the bare minimum needed to get an A.  (If you’re chuckling right now, you did it too.  Haha.)  College is a different story.  There’s no such thing as doing the bare minimum and getting an A (unless you’re one of those incredibly gifted exceptions).  Most of us, however, are faced with the challenge of re-discovering how to learn—what works best for you to develop a comprehensive understanding of the material.  Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and I’m still learning this one—-taking baby steps and making small progress here and there, and hoping to get there sooner rather than later.