life & style // no. 16 theotherpress.ca

Study now, summer later

» Mastering your memory

Ayanda K. Gatsha
Contrioutor

he holidays are over, and we
hopefully had fun—but the :

academic season’s now kicked
off and we can’t afford to stay
on the bench. Some of us are
new, and others are veterans,
but nevertheless, one goal
bonds us: getting good grades!
Let’s consider perception.
What scientists who
specialize in psychology have
discovered through decades of
research and experimentation,
is that our body is built in
a way that collects all kinds
of information from our
outside environment. From
light to sound, the specific
“departments” our bodies are
divided into work in their
specialized faculties to grab all
of these outside stimuli. Then
our body takes all the collected
information and converts it
into electrical-type signals.
These signals are passed on in

the winner, because you get to
see, smell, and hear incoming
threats and avoid them. And
you do this without having to
plan it in the morning—it just
happens naturally from the

: moment you wake up to when
: you fall asleep. Isn’t that cool?

So when you see that
textbook, and get a whiff of
the print and a feel for the

texture of the pages, know that
: your body has gone to a lot of

: effort to make that happen. So,
E commando, the hostage takers
: have named their demand,

: and that’s seeing you fail! They
: haven't taken into account your
: resources—your instructors

: and course outline. They have

: all the intelligence you need.

You get exactly the

concepts you need to

: memorize, understand,

: and repeat in practice

: study sessions and grading

: assessments. From there,

: you do the actual job of

: sourcing those poor victims
: out and freeing them from

: their rhetoric-distracting

: hostage takers. Some people
: call this “studying,” you call

: it the beginnings of a great

E future career—or at least a

a relay process of which you are :

stress- and guilt-free summer.

: Yes, fun holidays can start,
: but only after you take care
: of getting that grade!

Now that you've got your

: material out of captivity, here’s
: the blueprint of the facilities

 

: that valuable information
: will reside in: memory.

The brain stores memory

: ina way that has been tricky

: to figure out—but we're

: human, we're curious, and

: we build cool tech that helps

: us see far away stars and the

: insides of our bodies. Our

: memory is built up of several
: parts, including our long-

: term memory. And because

: you shove factual information
: through your perception when
: you study, eventually, all that
: necessary study material

: gets in and stays there.

That part that counts

: when being assessed is recall.

You'll find that willingly

: remembering something can’t
: be necessarily done without

: some form of cue or trigger.

: A memory trigger could even

: be just being ina classroom

: under the impression you are

: writing an exam and you are

: seated in the same spot where
: you have been studying. The

: practice of remembering stuff
: is essentially your trial run, and
: if you keep practicing you will
: find you remember everything
: more accurately. That means,

: summer, here we come!

Image via thinkstock

 
 

Image via thinkstock

Giving your resolutions
another look

» Maintain those goals you set for 2016

Lauren Paulsen
Senior Columnist

W: are more than halfway
through January, so it’s a
good time to take another look at
our New Yeat’s resolutions. Have
you been keeping up with them?
Or, like the majority of people, is
your resolve petering out as the
end of the month comes closer?
Keeping a goal can be
difficult, but it’s not impossible. A
big key in managing to accomplish
your goals is to create new habits.
When you first start forming a
habit, it can be really hard to keep
up with it so because it has not
yet become one. This seems pretty
obvious, but it’s something to keep
in mind when you are trying to
form new habits. The more you
work on these habits, the easier it
becomes to do them. Sometimes
it’s all about mental and muscle

: memory. The way things become

: habits is that our body or our

: mind just gets used to doing them
: automatically—to the point where
: we feel strange or antsy if we don't.

An easy example is eating

: healthier. When you first cut out

: junk foods from your diet, it’s

: hard to resist eating them because
: your body is craving the sugars

: and fats it is used to. Keeping a

: strong will is necessary, and as

: time progresses your body will

: adjust and won't crave those chips
: or chocolate anymore. It’s that

: initial leap that is the hardest.

I’m here to tell you that you

: can achieve those goals that you
: set at the beginning of the year.
: All you need to do is persevere

: and get over that initial hump.

: Once you've formed your new

: habit, it isa much smoother

: ride to achieving your goal.

Peel a=

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