interview-observation

English 1200/ Section 40
19 January 2012
Study Habits for Non-studious Students Receiving a letter under your door marked “URGENT” is never something a young college student wishes to see. Well, not too many days ago, the first of hopefully not many was slid under room 302. “Christopher Lane, your presence is expected in the third floor common room for an important meeting.” Suddenly my heart sank as I thought to myself what I could have done to be mandated to this random meeting the second week of school. The evening had finally arrived, as I grabbed a seat in the room (towards the back) and waited for a tall, grey-haired man centered at the front of the room to speak. He glanced at us and asked “Why do you think you are here”, the room was silent. He spoke again, “You’re here because you may need tips on how to study, because most of you have never done it the correct way”. At this point I was thinking this guy must be a jerk, to come in here and tell me I have never studied correctly. However, I soon realized I was totally wrong. He was a man with a plan, asking us to try it, and his name was Bill McCarthy. This study plan McCarthy introduced will help students achieve higher grades in lecture classes by helping manage time in a reasonable manner and promote a hardworking attitude. As McCarthy began talking about his background I quickly found out that he has plenty of credibility. Working at numerous colleges across the country he has gathered astronomical amounts of information that he has compiled into one study plan for college students. First and most important, McCarthy stressed over and over again that going to class and making it there on time is such a vital aspect of being successful not only in school but out in the real world as well. McCarthy was so distraught on the fact that families pay an abundant amount of money on college but then their kids do not even go. I knew at that point what he was trying to say, it was all about motivation, but what about those kids that are here on full scholarships, where is there motivation? Whatever that matter, he said, just go to class and that would at least give you some knowledge on the course just by listening. Part two of Mr. McCarthy’s plan was my least favorite but definitely very important, this was reading. All he asked the group to do was to read two chapters a night, yes only two! The only condition was that the two chapters were each from a different class. By reading two chapters a night from Sunday until Thursday the student would be able to get ahead of what was going on in class and therefore be ahead of other students. Reading seems like a daunting task to most, including myself, but really if you look at it like McCarthy said, two chapters a night should take about an hour, this means watching one less T.V. program than you normally would. The last step in Bill McCarthy’s program all relied on excellent note taking. He gave us various strategies to try while taking notes but it all boiled down to how much in depth your notes were. The step called for reviewing all of your notes from each class you had that day, preferably at night before bed. This means, on a Monday say you have three classes and take notes for each of them, well that night you would review all of the notes you took. Then Wednesday, after taking new notes for each of those classes you would review Monday’s and then Wednesday’s. Eventually, when it comes to the test day, this strategy will ensure that you master the notes you have taken time to write in class. Now that McCarthy had talked about both of his steps he guaranteed our grades will rise if we followed them. Again, he emphasized going to class, reading, and note taking were essential for quality grades but you must know how to do all tasks. As Mr. McCarthy ended his speech, the minimal crowd of seven sat astonished that these simple tasks could be completed every day and would raise their grade point average. None in the crowd were more excited than the resident attending from room 327: Cullen Owens. “This spectacular program will save my behind from getting sent off to military school” exclaimed Cullen. Not only did McCarthy present the information in a simple way but he also tried to make it exciting for the students who were attending, although this was not evident. As I spoke more with Cullen he informed me that for his biology major he has loads of lecture, writing-intensive courses. But with this new program Owens said “I should have no problem anymore, with all these great tips I have become motivated by knowing it only takes a little bit of work.”
As I continued my interview I noticed all around the room there was a new energy. No one was sitting there confused as to why they were there; all the students were excited to try out this new program and prove they can get better grades, just kidding. For some reason nobody (besides Cullen) seemed enthusiastic about this program. Here again, I thought to myself why. The only reason I could think of was that these kids were forced to be there. Most times in your life if you are forced to be somewhere, you will not enjoy what is going on. This was definitely the reason during Mr. McCarthy’s program. Near the end of his speech kids were slouched down in their chairs, texting, and even talking to those next to them. These circumstances showed that although this program could be helpful it did not encourage citizenship. By forcing the student to attend the program, they will pay no interest and take nothing from it. A solution to this would be to have some sort of incentive for those who did attend. Food is always something on a college student’s mind and would definitely elevate attendance as well as citizenship.
Study habits to improve grades are something that every college student should utilize. Bill McCarthy’s three step program will ensure higher grades. His program also promotes a hard working ethic but only requires a minimal amount of effort if followed correctly.

Works Cited
Owens, Cullen. Personal Interview. 18 January 2012