STUDY STUDY

I'm tired.
It's right in between Week 6 and Week 7. So we're winding up for the end of the term. This is surprising for me because I feel like I've been doing midterms for weeks and yet I still have more to take. Therefore it's odd to be thinking about the end of term and finals. Luckily for me there aren't any major projects or papers due at the end of term, just exams. So I can study how I want, when I want, where I want, etc.

I found the best way for me to learn the information I need to learn is:
1. Go to class.
2. Stay awake in class.
2.5. Pay attention in class/take notes in class even on the mundane stuff. You never know what might show up later.
3. Type up notes.
4. Read through notes, marking things you know for sure you have no idea what they are.
5. Reread notes again.
6. Reread notes again paying careful attention to the information you flagged in #4.
7. Reread notes again.
8. Make flashcards of the notes.
9. Go through the flashcards.
10. Have your brother quiz you on flashcards/notes until you know them cold.
10.5. If #10 wasn't the night before the exam, do #10 again on that night.
11. Do NOT open your notes/go through your flashcards the day of exam. In the middle of the test you WILL start doubting what you got drilled into your head the day before because of that 5 second peak that morning. If you don't know it by that day, looking once more isn't going to make it stick.

And after all that, a couple of weeks later I still know the information.
("Strata volcanoes, such as the ones in the Oregon Cascades, are only found at subduction zones, such as the Juan De Fuca plate and North American plate off of the Oregon Coast, and have andestic magma, which is intermediate-a mixture of felsic minerals (ex K-feldspars) and mafic minerals (ex olivine- one of the most common minerals on earth)...")
Still knowing this information weeks after the last test WILL come in handy not only in life (I mean, come on. Who doesn't need to know the type of minerals in the magma found at various tectonic settings on a regular basis?) but also for when the final exam comes around and I still need to know all that information.

GregUr: If your reading this - I have a geology midterm on Friday. Want to come over Thursday?

On another note:
As I'm studying statistics, I learn a chapter and then allow myself a ten minute break to go look at a map somewhere. GoogleEarth, state topographic map websites, maps in my textbook, geography quizzes on sporcle.com, the giant Corvallis quadrangle on my closet, etc.
It turns my frown from the statistics work upside down.