It Ain't Easy Being Cheesy

[Picture]Let's be honest, we all envied those kids in high school who could sit in class without writing a single note and ace tests. Memory has a lot to do with their unfair success. I was so jealous (still am) of students who could get away with this that I actually tried their ways (no notes, no studying) and let's just say that I'll never try it again. I should have known what the outcome was going to be due to the fact that I rarely can remember what I wore yesterday.



Coming to terms with my lack of memory, I adapted a technique that helps me the most to remember; writing it over and over. It's a tedious task, but it works. The only problem is, I don't have time in the day to re write all of the notes I've taken several times to study for an exam (I'll use PSY 205 as an example). Rewriting 10 pages, front and back, several times, is just an unrealistic way of remembering the everything for an exam. Also, it takes FOREVER.



So, I'm trying something new out for my PSY 205 exam that's next week. It's called the Link System. Basically what you do is link a word you need to remember to an image. As this sounds more like what a visual learner would do (which it can be), it's also for a kinesthetic learner because I'm writing the words and also drawing pictures. As you can see I'm not the best artist, but my cheesy pictures get the point across (at least to those who can interpret what I'm trying to draw). This strategy of remembering words is just for you. So, be as detailed or as simple as you want as long as you understand the link between each word!

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I also used this strategy for BIO 123 in my past exam. There are many words to remember in that course and only so many you remember "right off the bat". For instance, I was really confused between the difference off antigens and antibodies. Drawing a picture that ultimately told me that the body produces antibodies made it easier to answer a question that came up on the exam. Being able to answer that question correctly made me appreciate how well of a strategy this really is. So, if you don't mind drawing cheesy pictures or making up ridiculous words that represent important terms on a test, then this strategy is for you!