Qualities Of An A+ Student

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

It's a lot easier to be motivated to understand when you're learning about things that interest you. Wherever possible, take classes with subjects you're interested in. Take classes that you enjoy, rather than blindly selecting things to fulfill requirements.

Or if you have to fill a requirement, fill it with a class that you know you won't be totally miserable in. Taking Journalism over British or Classical Literature was one of the best choices I've made in regards to my class choice.

And I know that it's too late for you, but for any underclassmen reading this thread: you know what courses your school offers. Start planning out your future classes as soon as you can. Most states and schools don't require that you take a particular course in a specific year (keyword: most. Freshman English is obviously a class for freshmen), so if you begin planning ahead of time, you'll find that you can usually spread out the required classes that you really don't like over a few years. Don't save all of the "boring but required" classes for one year, or you'll just hurt in the end. Know the requirements for your state and school district and have an idea of where you are in terms of those requirements BEFORE you find out senior year that you have to drop choir to take health and a computer course, even though you're going to major in music.

My cross country coach always told us that students involved with athletics and extracurriculars tend to do better than those who aren't, because they learn how to manage their time. Being sure to do your homework every night is the first step to managing your school life better, and you seem to have taken that step. I don't know how much you procrastinate, but work on not doing that. Don't wait to start a paper due on Thursday until Wednesday night, when you know that you have prior commitments that will keep you out of the house until 10pm on Wednesday. You will feel so much better about yourself when you finish that paper by 9pm on Tuesday.

For study skills, talk to your teachers. They have a lot more experience with studying than you do, and at this point in the school year, they should have some kind of an idea of your personality and what study skills you should try based on that.

I don't know how to tell you how to motivate yourself: as iCurtis said (paraphrased), it's different for everyone. If you're the kind of guy who enjoys random trivia and hates it when people know more than you, try going on www.sporcle.com and see if it inspires you to pay more attention to who the presidential candidate for the Whigs in the 1848 election was.