Long-term skills

This semester has been one of the hardest academics challenge I have ever faced yet. All tests are cumulatively more than 80% of my grade, abysmal averages for tests, and endless homework assignments. For nearly a month and half straight. I was in the library everyday till 9:00pm studying or doing homework. However from my FYS seminar class I picked up some useful tricks and tactics that has helped get through this. Two quotes from my first two papers perfectly summarizes it.  

“if you celebrate small progress  It increases your motivation and your enjoyment of the achievement. Our brains also accelerate when we are close to finishing a task. So by recognizing our progress it can also make our brain aware of how close we are to finishing something thus giving you a boost of motivation.
”Setting specific goals helps you organize your priorities and makes them doable in small steps, and making them into a system makes them a habit….. Systems are an organized repeatable set of actions. Systems replace motivation with routine, and are more realistic and flexible.”

Everyday I go over and revise an online sticky note tracking all my goals, short-term and long-term, homework, deadlines, etc. If one those tasks is going to take a lot time I make it into a system. I try to tie in my emotions into goals. This is a habit that I will use the rest of my life.

A passion realized

Another thing talked about in our class was deliberate practice and its importance to mastering a skill. “Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance.”
While learning about this I can not think of anything better that encapsulates this process than working in a performing arts show, a theater or musical.  As person who once did a lot of theater. I did almost 3000 hours of theater per year for 3 years. Being in a show and working with the director. You are constantly working on your character, and you get constant direct feedback. You have to think of mannerism, tones, moods, what type of voice you are using, body language/posture, volume, movement. When you perform you are expressing a lot, and with my experience directors they have always have something specific in mind that I have to match or get to make my own.