Students need to have time to succeed

Everyone learns at a different pace and in different ways. I feel like I’m not learning at all. College is supposed to be hard; it’s supposed to challenge you and make you into what you need to be for what you want to do with your future. But it’s also supposed to teach you. 

So why does it feel like I’m always grabbing at air trying to learn. And when I finally grab onto what I’m supposed to learn the teacher is saying we have a test coming up and we’re going to put some extra brand-new information in it. 

So, I study and forget to eat and ignore everything else while I try and figure out what I’m supposed to know. Only to go into the test knowing every person I’ve talked to about the test also says they don’t know what’s happening. Or after the test saying they went in pretty confident and left almost equally confident that they did not get an A. 

But they can’t focus on that because we have two more quizzes this week that they need to focus on plus homework that’s due Friday night that they’ll probably have to push off until the last possible minute. 

Then a couple of weeks after those quizzes we’ll be given a test, which shouldn’t be so bad if we’ve been studying for quizzes or doing the homework right? 

Most of the time when students are facing this problem it’s because it’s midterms or finals week. Which are supposed to be the two times school is really stressful not every other week. 

That’s not quite how it’s been working though for students. 

Students stress and cram for quizzes or learn what they need for homework and aren’t able to retain the information. Cramming doesn’t create long term memory but when students are so busy and stressed cramming is all they really have time to do. 

We’re told we need to maintain top grades but also be involved because that looks good if you apply to anything. But how are we supposed to be able to be involved, take a full course load, do well in those courses, and learn things long term? 

To learn long term students need time to actually learn and let things set in. 

Most people would struggle with that list of things, let alone if we decide to acknowledge that students are actual people with lives and not little robots that walk around campus. 

Students have to sleep and unless they want to burn themselves out, they have to take care of themselves. 

How are students supposed to be able to do everything they’re expected to and have time to do anything other than cram when they study. And if they aren’t learning things long term then how is college preparing any of us for what we’ll be facing in our future. 

Is studying and constantly stressing with barely enough time to breathe really how students are expected to learn to skills they need for the rest of their life?