How I went from a C- to A+ in my first-term mathematics module at university

I wasn’t the best student in high school, I used to do a lot of revision and I didn’t really put much effort into the exam itself, my work ethic was all over the place. I never studied for an exam more than a month before. In my first term at university, I figured that I could do the same thing as when I was in high school but the first term final exam was approaching and I still didn’t know how to do any of the questions. The exam was approaching in 3 weeks so I got to work and here’s what I did. <br><br>**Using zeros to keep track of my progress** During a lecture, I found out that one of my classmates had some notes on zeros so I decided to go check them out. I immediately got hooked on what I saw. A list of all of your tasks and notes with zeros in the background which you get rid of throughout the day depending on how much time you spend on a task. You can check it out yourself on google, this is just a very quick summary of what it is. Basically, it’s a to-do list with a lot of zeros. I was basically spending the whole day doing aspects of one task. I used to do things such as going to the gym for 30 minutes, pausing for 30 minutes, and repeating this. With zeros, I noticed that I could keep track of how much time I had spent on each task. I would plan, I would study, I would regularly check my notes and I was able to track my progress in a more efficient manner. I started to see that my work ethic was improving dramatically. Zeros got me through my exam, and it got me a grade that I never thought I would get.<br><br>**Put your laptop away** I used to go to the library and study with my laptop. I would use my laptop to simply open some powerpoints that my lecturer had given us. I used to minimise them and play some anime at 5x speed in the background while listening to the loud noises of the anime, not the study music that students normally listen to. I did this for every study session, and my work ethic was going front and back all the time, I just wasn’t focused enough on the idea of studying. Eventually, I decided to print out all of my notes and I started to handwrite any notes that I wanted to write that I didn’t already have. I would take time to not only read the notes, I would read them out loud and I would use a highlighter to summarise what I was writing. I used to sit there and rewrite the notes and give myself a summary of what I have written. I would ask myself questions and I would make sure that I could answer them. I found that if I could answer them, I had truly understood the content that I was reading. <br><br>**Mental health** I used to work out a lot. I just loved it. I was at the gym every single day. Normally, I would work out for 90 minutes and I would come home and I would be too tired to study. I would just be lying in bed. I didn’t have enough time to study. I thought that if I didn’t go to the gym I wouldn’t feel physically and mentally well so I decided to do yoga instead. I started doing yoga and it has been an amazing experience. It’s much different than going to the gym, it’s like a whole different sport. It lasts for only 30 minutes and I can study any time after that. I’m really glad that I made this decision as I feel a lot better. <br><br>**Getting help** I used to be against getting help from students. I always thought that they would just write out the answers for me when I couldn’t do a question and I knew that it wouldn’t help me in the long run. With the zeros, I was very different. I knew that I was going to have to simply ask for help. I would ask another student how to do a question and they would tell me to do this first, do that next. I would do that and I would come back with the next problem that I was having and they would help me. I did this for every single question on the past paper, and I was able to frontload all of the questions. The first question, the second question, the third question, I was more than prepared to answer them. <br><br>**Staying on track** Well, the first day started out great. It takes a lot out of someone to write out 15 pages of notes. I was only 5 pages in. But, every day after that I noticed that I had 2 less pages to write. I noticed that every day I was tiring myself out less. Revision started to feel like this normal thing that I was doing every day. It didn’t even feel like revision anymore because it felt so normal. Just like going to the gym, just like eating dinner. I had truly understood the concept of revision and I was able to make it a part of my daily routine. I am now able to study a lot efficiently and a lot faster. <br><br>**Getting into a routine** You can’t simply wake up one day and decide that you want to study. You have to put yourself into a routine. You have to learn to live with it. Live with it. You have to learn to love it. You have to learn to get better at it. You have to learn to make it a part of your daily routine like brushing your teeth, or going to the gym. You have to make it a part of your daily routine. <br><br>So, I was able to get a grade that I am truly proud of. I wasn’t the best student in high school. But this time, I was able to get a grade that I am truly proud of. I would like to thank my lecturer for teaching me about the concept of front-loading. I would like to thank my study groups and friends who were able to help me with the questions that I couldn’t do. I would like to thank the technology that I used to help me study. And lastly, I would like to thank the zeros who got me through my exam.<br><br>Good luck in your studies. Do not give up.