Scientists have proved that it takes three weeks to form a habit. As you can then infer, it takes time to develop good habits, and good study habits are not an exception. Those students who have good study skills have most likely had dozens of errors in developing these skills, but they kept at it. In today’s world, many teenagers appear to simply give up on something when they have spent only a day or two trying it out. Study skills, however, are valuable and are necessary for life in general.
The best way to develop good study skills is to motivate yourself. My freshman year in high school, I did pretty well because I was naturally intellectually inclined. I received all A’s and B’s even in subjects I hated, simply because I have a good memory. However, I only spent time studying subjects I enjoyed or liked. Math, forget it. I did the bare minimum and that was it. Then I decided I wanted to become a veterinarian. Everything changed. I wanted to do well in school because I needed to if I was going to go to a good college and then get good grades to get into veterinary school. I had motivation that was so strong. I spent so much time studying and took so many classes I could barely breathe. I added extracurriculars, even though I was already in sports, such as community service and various student organizations at high school.
I tried very hard to do my best and I gave everything my best effort. I often stayed home on one of the Friday or Saturday nights each weekend because I had so many projects or homework to do for all of my classes. This was something other students had already been doing, those students who have Ivy League parents or parents who want to have Ivy League children. I hadn’t ever worked this way in school before, though, so it was new to me. I developed great study skills because of my motivation. I was willing to mess up so many times and keep going because of my dream. I think for study skill habits to be learned it has to be something that the student wants to do and it has to be something they are very motivated about. True motivation is the key to success in this world, so find your own motivation!
