so i was at kaplan training session #2 last night, and we were watching some silly video about how to answer some of your students’ questions the kaplan way. great. on the video, some girl with a pointy face and matching attitude asked the nerdy model kaplan teacher, “how much am i supposed to study?”. i thought this was sort of funny, because she asked it in a very mean and threatening way, but i was sort of interested in what they were going to say for the answer.
“well,” said the kaplan guru (seriously, this guy looked like he had spent the last 8 years programming in a solitary cubicle, away from all sun and news of current fashion trends), “there’s no set amount of time that every student needs to be studying. it will vary depending on your goals and the time that you have. but let me give you some tips . . .”
i started to get a little nervous. because i’m in the middle of studying for the boards, but i really haven’t been doing a good job lately. i’ve been working haphazardly, not really keeping up with my plan, studying very passively, and over the last week i was constantly distracted by the desperate urge to upload songs onto my computer and onto my iPod. really, i couldn’t help it.
“first,” said kaplan man, “make a plan, and really try to follow it.” uh oh. i did make a plan, but it’s starting to fall apart in a bad way.
“schedule your study time in so that it’s a priority in your day.” again, oops. i must admit that somehow, even though i’m not even in lab these days, classwork-projects-and-random-internet-escapades have been slowly but surely eating away into my days. not even counting the iPod-fest.
” . . . and, importantly, focus on your weaknesses.” yeah, i’ve been avoiding mine.
sigh. but it was kind of a nerdy wake-up call. i think i’ve been really down this week because i’ve felt guilty about the amount of progress i’ve been making (ie, very little). but this is going to change. i have 2 months left (which is a lot), so i might as well use them. thanks, kaplan! maybe someday they’ll let me star in a video of my own . . .
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
exciting things i plan to do this weekend:
* work on a paper!
* work on a presentation!
* study, for real
* shop (not for me this time)
* attend a pre-thanksgiving extravaganza
* see luna in concert (maybe)
* see sideways and drink lots of wine to match
No Comments