My Story

by John Flores

Why I Did This

When I first drafted this how-to, it was in the midst of a hot summer heat wave that beat down on us in the middle of July.  Living in California, it is assumed by many non-Californians that I live by Venice Beach and surf every day when not drinking margaritas on the deck of my beach house, waving at Baywatch girls who patrol the beaches with their own flotation devices.  Unlike the Hollywood stereotype, I live in central California, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, in a little/big city called Fresno.  The best description I can give of our locale is that it’s a civilized desert, a region known mainly for the 49ers, the prospectors that panned for gold in the mid-1800’s about an hour or so from where I live today, or Mexican bandits like Joaquin Murrietta, who scoured the valley floor about the same time period with his banditos just a few miles west of me.  Each had their own goals of getting rich, just different techniques.  Some worked hard, and other’s tried to get something for nothing.  But each requires the same amount of mental effort.  School success is like that.  Every student desires good grades, but have their own idea on how to do it.  Some can work hard, like the prospectors, which may or may not be effective, as many learned, or they can resort to some activity like the banditos, trying to get something for nothing.  In either case, the goal is the same (success), but the results are not (failure).  

So, while we in the Valley have the wonderful summertime activities that accompany temperatures that parallel the surface of the sun (Arizona residents laugh at our “misery”), we do have the heat-defying activities that come with it, such as swimming pools, vacations (far away from this furnace we call home), central air (a must), barbeques, MLB All Star Game, and summer television shows like Wipe-Out and Big Brother, which feature preselected hardbodies for their programming, which are interspersed with the ever-increasing number of back-to-school commercials.  And that’s only if it’s summer.  Winter is easier - you’re probably recovering from the holiday season and overloading on college football bowl games, and trying to lose the weight you put on.  Whatever the season is, there is always that excitement and apprehension that accompanies the beginning of a new school semester. 

One sweaty day while standing next to an inferno of a barbeque grill, my friend and I were cooking meat and lamenting about our kids, which involved the usual stuff – inattentiveness, focusing only on their social lives, forgetting to do their chores around the house, losing their cell phones, many of the usual things that brain-dead kids do.  He told me that his son was having a hard time in college and that he needed some direction on how to get on track.  I could completely relate to this story, because I remember my dad having the same conversation with his friends.  I had the same results as a kid, but one day I came upon a method to help me correct course and have some success in college – that is, until I dropped out to provide for my family.  I said to my friend that I did have a system that worked until I went into the work force, and that I believed that these principles could work just as well today as they did years ago. 

After writing up my thoughts and emailing it to my friend’s son, I decided to take my letter and post it on-line for his own future reference and for others who might need some help in the area of getting off to a good start and managing their college workload. 

Today, as I type and update this essay (I try to keep it up to date as I learn new things), I am also using it for my own purpose, since I am now a college student once again.  Since these principles worked for me in the past, I had no reason to doubt that they would work again. 

After my first semester back in college and achieving a 4.0 grade point average, I am utterly amazed at how much simpler it is to get the results if (and this is a big IF) one is willing to put in the effort.  There is so much in the way of resource information available at the touch of our fingertips to not accomplish anything. 

This essay will dispel the myth that college is too hard. 

About Me

I want everyone to understand that I am not a rocket scientist, although (from all reports) I was a bright kid.  I was able to read newspaper headlines at the age of 2 and had the ability to read sentences by the time I was 4.  For some reason, I had the ability to look at words and understand how they were pronounced.  My dad was pretty excited about the prospect of having a genius son to brag about and he bought things to help facilitate my fantastic future.  He purchased a set of World Book Encyclopedias and a set of Childcraft Encyclopedias when I was in kindergarten.  I guess the investment was worth it because I read them all from front to back.  I even read the 1966 World Book Encyclopedia Yearbook, which chronicled the highlights in world events from the year 1965, which is why I can remember the names of famous people who died that year.  Having the ability to read and a preoccupation with people dying (which apparently is common at that age) made it easy to remember when Nat King Cole died.  But not much else from that book stuck in my head.  I could read and I could spell, but I really didn’t know what a lot of it meant.  That’s why phonics, spelling, and vocabulary were easy for me.  I could put the sounds together, but it was putting the meaning behind them that was tough for me to do.  So don’t be dissuaded by thinking “Well, that explains it!  He’s gifted!”  Being able to read and spell didn’t help me much in math or science.  It’s was good to have those skills, but it didn’t complete the package. 

I guess my parents thought I was ready for school at an early age, so I started school when I was 4 years old, and turned 5 years old a couple of months into the school year, which meant that I was younger than all the other kids in my class and created a confidence problem in me due to the fact that I was smaller than most of the other kids (especially girls), and didn’t have the emotional maturity that a 5-year-old needs to have the social skills needed in that environment.  In fact, since girls mature faster, it’s a common belief that most 5-year-old girls are at the same maturity level as a 6 or 7-year-old boy.  So, as a 4-year-old, I was already behind that curve. 

Over the years, being smaller, slower and less coordinated also caused problems in my rationale for thinking that I was competitive in the grade pool.  Since I was spending most of my time trying to measure up to those around me socially, I learned to do what else was natural to me, which was telling jokes and being the class clown.  Every class has one.  I was the kid who made fart sounds with his armpits and who flipped his eyelids inside out.  Needless to say, after the jokes and the eyelids, the next thing that has to happen in order to be a good class clown is to get your name on the chalkboard for after-school detention, which was easily achieved by not doing homework assignments or not participating in class. 

I also had a third problem.  In addition to being emotionally immature and socially inept, along with being the class clown, I was an incessant daydreamer.  I was bored with school and I spend my day thinking about places that I’d rather be.  I remember my third grade teacher writing on my report card, “John is a daydreamer!” 

So I had nothing going for me in the school scene.  I was a B and C student.  Sometimes I’d get an A, and sometimes a D, but mostly B’s and C’s.  I never had straight A’s throughout my time in public school.  The best GPA I had was 3.4 in my last semester in high school, and that was mostly because I had three band classes and three other easy classes.  I should have had straight A’s but, again, I focused on being the class clown and daydreaming, but at least my social skills were better since I was really good at talking to girls. 

Getting a date was a different story, though.  But, that’s for another time. 

So, as I mentioned, my public school average grades were exactly that – average.  So, in order for me to get into the local four-year college, my SAT score had to be great.  That makes no sense, however, because if my grades weren’t that good in high school, what’s to think that my SAT grade would be so great?  And, as it turned out, my score was as high as the temperature of International Falls, Minnesota, in the dead of winter.  I think I only got my name correct on the exam.    

College Try and Fail

Since I lived in Fresno, California, the only four-year college that was available to me was California State University, Fresno (better known as Fresno State).  They they were so impressed with my GPA and my SAT score, they recommended that not call them for awhile and try my hand at Fresno City College (the local junior college).  In reality, I wasn’t too upset about this because I lived about four blocks away, which was kind of convenient.  I had wrecked my car, and my dad took me off the insurance, so I was without any transportation anyway, so walking four blocks was more appealing than taking a bus across town. 

I called the junior college and they mailed me my paperwork, which was about an inch thick.  This was before everything was done on-line (it’s so much simpler now).  After filling out the required forms, I eagerly waited for registration day, where I took my binder of papers and punch cards and stood for three hours in what seemed like a five-mile line, ending at the college cafeteria, where we waited inside in a serpentine line for what seemed like another three hours, until I got to the front of the line, and before I knew it I was enrolled in a whopping 12 units for the fall semester of 1977:  Band, English, Business Math, and Introduction to Business. 

I was a college student!  I was in the big time now. 

My schedule was perfect – my first class was at noon, and I was out by 4:00 p.m. each day.  It allowed me to be a little less disciplined with my bedtime so I could sleep in until 11:30 a.m. and still make it to class.  Thirty minutes to get to school was plenty of time for me.  When you’re a teenager, a half-hour is an eternity: you can shower, get dressed, eat, look for your missing shoe, stare at a bug on the wall, and write an essay before your thirty minutes is up.   The problem was that I needed forty minutes - I would still show up late to my first class.  This commitment to excellence inspired my instructors to look back upon their lives and be thankful for the sacrifice they made to mentor me…or regret their decision to become teachers.    

Four months passed, and at the end of the first semester, I totally wowed my educators with my commitment to excellence.  I had a whopping 2.75 grade point average, including a “D” in Introduction to Business.  I had an “A” in marching band, but that’s because I played only the bass drum and cymbals.  It did help that I was the only percussionist who could read music; they had no one else to play xylophone.    

End result:  I didn’t do that great.  I even cheated and it didn’t help.  Average once again. 

Because of my incredible skills and knowledge, university recruiters were drooling over the prospect of me transferring to any university other than their own.

Thanks to some family drama, and given the fact that I wasn’t making the dean’s list, I decided to move to San Antonio, Texas for a fresh start.  My mom lived there and she had a new husband (my stepfather) who was totally agreeable to have some house ape that he hardly knew come in and move in with them.  It was tough to leave those I loved in Fresno, but moving to San Antonio was a very good move for me, and my stepfather was actually able to help me get my head on somewhat straight.  It only involved him threatening to clean my clock only once, but he was a great influence to me on how to look at life and to not sweat the small stuff.

Even Bigger Fail

While here, I decided to try my hand at school once again, and to my benefit (or so it seemed), there was one university that didn't know about my academic prowess, which was located in San Antonio.  A few years earlier, the University of Texas had opened up a brand new campus there (UT-San Antonio) and were happy to enroll new students, including students like me.  But I actually had a game plan by this time.  I wanted to go away to college, and I wanted to go somewhere between Texas and California (since my mom lived in Texas and my dad lived in California).  I enrolled at UT-San Antonio with a plan to transfer to Arizona State University the following year.  It was a strategic location – a one-day drive away from my mom or my dad, and I could alternate holidays, vacations, et cetera.  Like UT-San Antonio, the fine people at Arizona State University didn’t know about my previous college history either, and sent me a letter of acceptance, complete with all the paperwork necessary to process my student package.  If there was one good thing about living in the pre-computer era, it was that it took FOREVER for documentation to travel from one place to another and sometimes it never got there.  I knew that there was no way that the schools would know about my wonderful record in Fresno, and I made the half-hearted commitment to do better while at UT-San Antonio, while I awaited my transfer to Arizona State. 

At UT-San Antonio, I learned two things and failed to learn a third:  (1) I learned not to drive in the rain because of the low water crossing on the way to school, and; (2) I learned the location of the nearest bar, which was across the road from the university; (3) I failed to learn anything in my classes. 

When I was done that first semester, my grade point average was comparable to Bluto from the movie “Animal House,” and I was put on academic probation.   No problem, I thought.  I’d be on my way to Arizona State and they’ll never know about my UT-San Antonio meltdown because of how documentation never gets to one place from another.  Of course, in this case, the postal service picked a fine time to work correctly and they actually did their job: Arizona State quickly received my transcripts from UT-San Antonio.  After receiving the good news about me, the wonderful people in Tempe, Arizona, sent me a short letter telling me since I basically had a brain made of a soft substance with a short name, and that all parties would be best served if I didn’t make the trip to Phoenix.  In fact, to this day, it was the only time I received a one-page letter typed in all capitals.  It reminded me of those World War II telegrams that widows received when one of their family members died in battle.    

So, up until that point, my total college grade point average was around 1.5 or so, give or take...

A Second Chance

Since college wasn’t the answer, I decided to give up the “old college try” for a few years, and work with my hands and drink beer with my lips.  Since I excelled in Texas, I decided to move to Florida to work and drink beer there as well.  However, in Florida, my life changed.  I met my wife, and a few months after marrying, we moved back to California as newlyweds, and me with a new responsibility.  With this high level of responsibility, and a little bit of maturity, I started over:  I re-enrolled at Fresno City College, got my class schedule, and skipped over to the college bookstore in pursuit of overpriced textbooks, Scantron sheets, a can of Pepsi and a couple of Chick-O-Sticks. 

While perusing the aisles, I saw one book sitting in a rack, similar to the type of book racks found in supermarkets.  It was a nice, cute little book with big letters on front.  I don’t remember the exact name of this book, but the title said something about “getting good grades and having fun.”  This book was right up my alley, so I spent a couple of bucks and bought the book.

The book contained a lot of “duh” information.  Go to class; take good notes; do your homework.  But it also had information in there like don’t spend all your time studying.  Spend no more than a couple of hours a day.  Or, talk to your teachers and find out what they’re going to test you on and what to study for.  The book presented it in such a way that it actually made school look like fun. 

So, in addition to my overpriced textbooks, Scantron sheets, a can of Pepsi and a couple of Chick-O-Sticks, I left with a small paperback book that would change my life.   

Astonishingly enough, after applying the principles of the book, my GPA that semester was 3.8!  I was very excited about the prospects for my future.  Unfortunately, life got in the way and I had to drop out of college.  

College of Hard Knocks and a Third Chance

I became an insurance agent and took life underwriting courses that are required for insurance agents; I topped out in my class.  I decided insurance sales wasn’t for me, so I started classes to become a court-reporter, and killed it in all my academic subjects.  For some reason, I couldn’t get past 160 words-per-minute on that silly stenographer machine, so I left after two years.  I tried my hand at sales, and worked for years as a medical transcriber, putting my court reporting school experience to use.  I took a few classes along the way when I had the time and money to go back to college, and when I did go back I would still get mostly A’s and did get one “B.”  The “B” was from a work experience class that I took at Fresno City College when I worked for my dad in his business.  We had an argument and I quit before the semester ended.  He told the instructor to give me a “B.”  That was a bummer. 

The good thing about it was that the principles still worked from those that I learned years ago.  

And Now...

Regardless of what the field of study was, or whether it was in school or on the job, the subject material was mastered by the application of what I had learned.  When I went back to college for what seems like the tenth time, it worked once again.  I started with four classes and 13 units.  This time, I received a 4.0 GPA and I averaged 103, 99, 98, and 98 on all exams and assignments in my four classes. 

Again, I’m no rocket scientist. 

I incorporated the method taught and have since added a couple of principles to my own method of study.  This method works but, like any other method, you have to work it!  So, here it is:

Time Strategies

First of all, I’m not going to talk about time management and all that it affords.  There are enough resources on how to do it, that I don’t need to rehash that material that most people don’t want to hear anyway.  The only think I want to say is this:

Don’t spend more than two hours a day studying, unless you really like it.  

Then knock yourself out and spend as much time as you like.  But if you’re busy, then allow yourself two hours a day and do a little bit each day.  The two hours allows for homework, projects, and chapter reading.  I won’t lie – sometimes you may have to spend a little more time on a project that requires more time, but if you’re not absorbing anything after two hours, take a break! 

Also, weigh your courses by the number of credits and the material needed to cover.  If you’re taking a 5 unit class, then that’ll require more time than a 3 unit class.  Also, if you’re taking a simple subject like speech, you may not need as much time to study as you would in a biology class. 

Be sure to get plenty of rest, eat right, and drink plenty of water.  Stay away from Red Bull, Monster, RockStar, the stuff that can get you wired.  I would actually encourage you to drink when you’re not tired, and the crash won’t be so bad.  Coffee has the same effect, but I love coffee and it would be blasphemous to tell anyone to not drink coffee.  Again, all these drinks do is set you up for a crash later.  Make sure you get plenty of sleep at night.  Eight hours usually works well for me.  

Classroom Strategies

ATTEND ALL CLASSES.  Attending all your classes is like saying, “breathe if you want to live.”  Attending all classes is the ultimate no-brainer.  Aside from the obvious disadvantages that come from missing classes, such as not being able to take notes, getting specific instruction on assignments, lecture material, answers to questions that you may have, there is also the failure to bond with other students.  Part of the greatness of college is being in the same boat as other students.  You’ll find that as you make friends with other students, you’ll enjoy seeing them every time and hopefully motivate each other in doing well.  The instructor also appreciates students who are serious about attendance and getting the work done and you’ll see that many instructors will bend their own rules when it comes to turning in late work or make up exams to those who have a good reason for needing those accommodations.  A good student will, in most cases however, not need to make up work, but it’s good to know that some teachers will make concessions if you need one from time to time, and if you make arrangements ahead of time.  For example, one of my instructors counted tardiness against a student’s class participation grade.  Every two tardies constituted one absence, and I was tardy about four times this semester due to parking and difficulty walking (I have a challenge with my back, making it hard to walk).  Yet, my class participation grade was 100%.  I always let her know that I was on my way when I was running late.  She wasn’t like that with some of the other students, who were trying to skate through the class.  If you work for them, they’ll work with you. 

Set a goal to be there 100% of the time.  That means you GO even if you're not feeling good; you will not die – and if you actually die, then it’s an excused absence.  If you cannot be in class due to a reasonable excuse, make sure you communicate with your professor AHEAD OF TIME and get what you need to cover.

SIT UP OR NEAR THE FRONT.  Aside from the obvious, such as not being distracted by people in front of you, and seeing the chalkboard (or whiteboard…it’s been awhile for me), and hearing what the professor is saying, sitting in front increases that important connection between you and the professor (you’ll be in higher favor with the professor and sometimes you can hear them discuss test questions with those who finish before you on tests).  Don’t worry too much if you can’t find a seat or unable to find a good seat up close (I have physical challenges in getting to a small seat in front, so I sit in back), but do the best you can if possible.   

TAKE GOOD NOTES. There are a lot of different techniques on taking notes; most popular methods are Cornell, SQ3R (similar to Cornell), charting, outlining, mapping, and sentence method. You can look these up on your own. Find what works for you. Listen to the professor for hints in the lecture, such as when he says, "This will be on the test," or "The most important point here is…", or if the professor repeats the main point over and over. I used the sentence method of note-taking, which involves writing each new thought, and then I would sort out the good stuff from the junk.  Download all information that’s available to you from the teacher to study (PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, et cetera), and have them available at your fingertips. 

STUDY YOUR PROFESSOR. What does he look for? Take the time to get to know your professor and find out what it is he wants you to study (see Number 2).  I began to go up to my professors and ask them, "What exactly should I study or how should I study for tests?"  The most amazing thing happens when they get asked this question.  Most of them are willing to tell you because they’re amazed that you would ask; plus, they like to teach. You'll find that many professors are more than happy to take to time to teach individually. Some are jerks, but they're few and far between. Ask them questions. They are human too. They are paid to teach you, so take advantage of it. Other things you can do is study the class syllabus for hints, along with talking to others who you know that had this professor before.

STUDYING TEXTBOOKS.  Textbook objectives will tell you: "When you read this chapter, you will learn to do (blank)." Summaries will tell you: “Now that you have read this chapter, you should know how to (blank)." Read those first, and when you get to the areas discussed in the Objective/Summary areas, they will stick out like a sore thumb.

Another thing I like to do when studying textbooks, is type the key words and/or phrases from each chapter onto a study guide that I can use rather than having to skim through the whole textbook again and it also eliminates the need from having to drag my books with me throughout campus.  Utilizing web-based sites like Quizlet and StudyBlue (see below) make it helpful along with cloud storage of my notes to have accessible to me at any time. 

DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND PROJECTS. This really should be listed second, after attending all classes.  This is another no brainer. You develop study habits by doing your homework, learning by doing. Prioritize your time to get your homework done. Most homework can be done within 60-90 minutes, whether it's reading or completing a project. You'll normally have a day in between classes and weekends are a bonus. Do this before anything else in your social calendar. If you have no homework or projects, study anyway. Study your weakest area. If you have all A's (and you will) and a B in Basketweaving, then take the time to study Basketweaving if you have nothing to do. Take care of your pressing assignments, and then go over the remaining subjects for at least ten minutes. For example, let's say you have five classes, you have homework in Chemistry and Math, and nothing assigned for Economics, History, and Basketweaving – get the Chemistry and Math work done first, and then if you have any remaining time, spend an equal amount of time on the remaining classes, whether it's just studying the O/S sections of the textbooks or studying your notes. Commit to spending 90 minutes a day. The good news is once you've hit 90 minutes, you're done! You can't spend more than more than 90 minutes studying because you're brain won't work after that. So spend 90 minutes a day during the week and 2 hours on the weekend (yes, study on Sunday too; it won't kill you). This is how some people cruise through the semester and others cram. They just do a little bit each day. They have the Edge (some people will understand what I'm talking about).

OPEN BOOK QUIZZES = FREE A.  Since a lot of quizzes are done online and at home (which means open book), I was amazed how many people refuse to take open-book quizzes because “they have no time.”  Two of my classes had the same quiz module online, and the quizzes took about 10-15 minutes to complete.  I also failed to mention that the quizzes were set up to take as many times as we wanted and the highest score would be recorded.  Free A.  Another one of my classes allowed the exam to be conducted in class online (it was a computer class, so we had access to the Internet), and we were given three opportunities to take the exam, open book, with the highest score recorded.  Free A.  My finance class that I recently took enabled me to take the exam online twice at home, with the best score recorded.  Free A.  Some of the quizzes accounted for 10% in some classes, others 30-50%.  Free A, people.  Free A.  Are you getting this?  Do the quizzes. 

MY FAVORITE – BE LAST TO FINISH YOUR EXAMINATIONS IN CLASS.  First reason for this is to be sure that you have all your T's crossed, so you can check for mistakes, or review those questions that you're unsure of. The second reason is that I have found that when you're last to finish, AND SITTING IN FRONT, you get to hear the conversation between the professor and a student who just turned in his examination, and the student will ask the professor "I wasn't sure about question 4; can you explain that to me?" A lot of times the question that stumped the student is the same that stumped others, and me as well. I would sit there with "A" marked off on my Scantron and I would listen to the teacher explain the problem and then say "so you see, the answer is obviously "C" because…" And I'd change my answer sheet from "A" to "C" and get the answer correct. It sometimes made the difference in letter grade. Besides, the teacher is paid to be there 90 minutes to test you. Why give him a break?

Social Strategies

CUT DOWN TELEVISION AND SOCIAL MEDIA DRASTICALLY. 

This is another one of those no-brainers that our parents have told us over the years, to which we paid little or no attention.  Notice I didn’t say cut it out altogether.  We need some time to compress and television and checking out what are friends are doing on Facebook is good stuff to do while compressing.  I would recommend, however, to cut it down to at least half if not a fourth of what you’re doing right now.  Limit your social media time to no more than an hour a day or check it during your in-between time where you have nothing to do.  Home should be your uninterrupted study sanctuary and allowing the outside world to come in will do nothing but disrupt your studies. 

With the advent of DVR recording and online and on-demand programming, there is no reason anymore to be a slave to the television network schedule in order to watch your favorite shows.  Online sites like Netflix allow people to watch entire series at one sitting (that’s a long sitting or a very unsuccessful series run), or through an entire weekend.  I’m hearing of countless people who spent a weekend watching a complete series when they’re sick or just being lazy.  Many of the new shows can be recorded for watching at a later time.  If you want the television on when you study, put it on a sporting event or cable news, something that will not require 100% concentration by keeping it on in the background, while still keeping your need for entertainment satisfied.  Since I’m a business major, I put my television on one of the financial news channels (CNBC or FOXBusiness) and keep up to date on the financial news.  Sundays are football, and summers are baseball games, though. 

STAY HOME ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK.  This is a new one for me, since I have a college-aged daughter.  My wife actually came up with this one, telling my wayward daughter (wayward in that home is the most boring place to be for her) that staying home once or twice a week will allow her to become more focused on the goals that she had laid out at the beginning of the semester.  By spending her time here to only sleep, she allowed the social lives of her friends dictate where she would spend her time, and her grades suffered.  If home is so “bad,” why is it when people travel to some wonderful vacation spot like Hawaii or some other paradise, the first thing they say when they walk in the door is: “It’s great to be home!”  Is home so much better than paradise, where the problems of the world once again converge on you with the bills, the crazy family, the job, the responsibilities, and so on?  Of course not!  But home is where the heart is.  And where the heart is happy and comfortable, a centering of your spirit takes place where you’re able to look around you and recognize your own point of reference, from where all dreams and goals are made.  It’s like meditation without meditating.  In meditation, we find our center by going to our place where it’s peaceful.  Home is still peaceful in spite of the junk in our lives.    

DON’T GET INVOLVED IN EVERY STUDENT CAUSE OR DRAMA.  There are plenty of causes out there, and some students get more involved in the cause than with class.  It’s understandable because they want to make a difference.  Do you want to make a difference?  Follow the advice in this essay, get good grades, graduate, start a fantastic career, and be an influence on others.  You’ll change the world more by doing that instead of having people fill out petitions to “Save The Moonbat” or to support the “Social Cause Of The Day.”  Most young people wind up frustrating themselves because the world is not changing fast enough because no one signed their petition.  When I first started college in 1977, the same people and the same causes were in the same spots, with the same types of petitions and with more enthusiasm because activism was such a popular thing to be a part of back then.  Now, not so much.  Most people regard social activism now as a platform to give slackers an excuse to not succeed in life, while blaming everyone else.  If you have a cause, make sure it’s something near and dear to your heart.  Earlier this semester, we had a demonstration consisting of backpacks laid out throughout the campus each with a picture of someone who committed suicide.  Some things are worth pursuing, and most of the people that were involved had experienced a close family member end it all.  If it’s near and dear to you, you’ll have the proper perspective to keep everything in balance. 

Most people have drama in their life.  I found that with a few new friends I made this year.  Some of it is legitimate – financial situation, single mom, living in a trailer, abused physically, unemployed parents, living with mom at 50 – very real situations that I encountered from six different people.  I helped when I could, encouraged them often, and helped them with their studies when I could.  Fortunately, these students were very focused on getting through with classes and didn’t allow the circumstances to keep them from finishing.  But there are those with self-imposed drama or need someone to constantly hear their sad stories, and frankly, many of us have no time for that.  Choose your battles wisely, help when you can, but don’t carry their cross for them. 

FIND A GOOD PLACE TO STUDY WITH GOOD PEOPLE.  Libraries are a good place to study, as well as study halls.  The cafeteria at the college used to be a good spot, but now it’s a place for kids to play cards and make lots of noise.  Coffee houses like Starbucks or restaurants like Denny’s can be a little loud with too many distractions.  Get some quiet time and get it done.  Also, get a serious study group together (note the word "serious").  Serious students are like a mastermind group. Success breeds success.

READ YOUR COLLEGE ONLINE BULLETIN BOARD AND COLLEGE EMAIL DAILY.  Because of technology, colleges use some type of online learning management system (LMS), such as Blackboard.com for example, in order to get the latest information to students regarding college subjects.  Take the time to log in and find out what’s happening in your classes DAILY: once in the morning and once in the evening.  This type of system can help you to communicate with your teachers on a regular basis in addition to learning what specific instruction you may need for your classes that day.  Download everything that you can from your teachers that they put on these platforms, such as Word documents, Excel files, PowerPoint presentations, PDF files, et cetera.  Many teachers will attach their teaching aids onto these learning systems for your review.  Take advantage of the technology that’s at your fingertips.  Download the LMS onto your smart phone and keep up through that medium as well. 

Check your email account daily.  All colleges require their students to have a specific student email account to communicate with instructors.  Most instructors will not take personal emails from Yahoo or Gmail accounts because they keep their school emails dedicated to student activities.  Smart phones make it easy for keeping tabs on special instructions given through email as well. 

Enter your instructors contact information into your email address book or smart phone contacts list as well.  Get as much information as you can about your instructors so that you can contact them if needed.  They are your lifeline if you’re to receive a good grade.  Communication with them will be of utmost importance to you.  And, while you may not need to use it, it’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. 

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE INTERNET WITH ONLINE STUDY SITES AND FILE SHARING.  I roughed it the first semester back by relying on some of my old skills, which worked well for me, but then I learned about some online study sites that work really well in helping to prepare for tests and for helping with my retention.  Sites like Quizlet.com and StudyBlue.com are excellent sites to set up flash cards and pop quizzes to take yourself and can be done over your computer and/or smart phone.  I’m always with my iPhone, so I use Quizlet to help me with my study material when I’m in a place where I have to wait or even if I’m watching a football game or a television show (when I have time).

Another tool that is useful are cloud storage sites, such as Dropbox, Skydrive, and sites that are usable for storing files from your personal computer to access from your laptop or other locations.  You can edit information anywhere when needed.  Try limiting your files to school-related information only, though.  You don’t want your ultra-personal information floating around too freely. 

Utilize USB flash drives as well for storage of your files.  It’s good to have a backup for a backup. 

Personal Strategies

STAY AWAY FROM NEGATIVE INFLUENCES - DRUGS, ALCOHOL, PEOPLE.  College is fun. I found that Beer 101 was "funner.”  At UT-San Antonio, the first thing I learned was about was the bar across the road, which was named "Skipwilly's,”, and I willingly skipped across the road whenever I could to partake in my Beer 101 class. Most of the time, I was enticed by those who were looking to bring me down, and I was only looking for acceptance by losers. Don't waste your time in that. Be a leader and an example. Let people remember you as the person who had it all together rather than the one who could chug a 12-pack in 12 minutes (ouch - you don't want to do that, believe me).

I would also say, and this will be a sensitive subject I’m sure, but if you’re trying to get through school, don’t get involved with someone unless they're in the same boat as you, trying to finish the same course as you. Avoid them, especially if they have no goals.  Take this with a grain of salt, and just be truthful to yourself.  The last thing you need is more drama from some loser. 

PRAY, THEN KEEP ON PRAYING.  I believe in a merciful God and a Son who loves us all.  I believe He will guide us to wherever He leads us, and I don’t believe school is a path where He’d never lead us.  I don’t believe that God will do it all for us, though.  In anything we ask of Him, I believe that miracles happen not because of the big shazam blessing that comes down from Heaven but because of the many different things that come together that bring about the result.  Sometimes the miracle is getting out of bed and making it to class.  Sometimes the miracle is finding a way to school.  Sometimes the miracle is getting your homework done with a flashlight because the power was turned off. 

The miracle is getting it done. 

My Miracle

The day before I was to start back to school, I was at home getting ready to go to the gym to work out.  In addition to starting back to school, I’m also in the process of regaining my health due to some health problems that I encountered a couple of years ago.  As I pulled out of my driveway, I noticed some water underneath where my truck was parked.  I went to the gym for an hour and when I started my truck, I noticed a strange sound coming from underneath.  I was kind of worried, but I thought it would be okay, and would call my mechanic the next day.  Late that night, around 1 a.m., I got up and decided to double-check underneath my truck and saw that there was fluid traveling down my driveway and into the gutter.  So, the next morning, I got up at 5 a.m., called a friend (who I knew was up at that hour) and asked him if he could give my wife a ride to work and my daughter to her first class.  We were with only one working vehicle, and that was no longer working.  I took my truck to the shop when they opened at 8 a.m. and had my mechanic get me to school in time for my first class, which was at 10:30 a.m.  I found out that the bill was $400, which I didn’t have so I called my dad for a loan, and he covered the cost.  I was getting ready to take the bus to the shop but my daughter’s boyfriend was in the area and was able to get me to the shop in time, just before they closed, and when the day was over, I had a working truck, I had one day of school under my belt, my daughter finished her day, and my wife was able to make it to work.  So many things had to happen for that to come to pass, and call it God or call it the effort of a desperate man, but things happen if you put the effort into what you need. 

So, it took a few years but I did go from 1.5 to 3.9....and by doing the above, you'll find that you'll have more time for other things, and still have good grades.

Good luck and party on!  If you found this blog informational, and would like to support my college experience (it's expensive to attend full time), you can follow me at My Donation Site.



John Flores
Fresno, California

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