College is full of so many exciting new things: new people, new location, new food, new independence, new activities. Because of this, sometimes it’s easy to forget why you’re in college in the first place: to learn. Especially with required general education classes, it’s easy to view college classes as just a boring chore that you have no intrinsic interest in.
However, that mentality is often what gets in the way of reaching your full potential in college classes. Being engaged can often make achieving good grades significantly easier.
Treating a class as a hobby, something that you’re really passionate about doing can often trick your mind into putting more effort into the class and sometimes this mindset will help you genuinely enjoy the material you learn about.
Attitude is everything. If you go into a class thinking you will hate it, chances are you won’t find much enjoyment. On the other hand, if you go into a class eager to find something you’re interested in and to learn, you probably will!
For example, if you’re a biology major, and you’re stuck in an English class where you have to write a paper about a work of literature, try writing about a piece of literature related to what interests you. For example, you could write about “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and the context behind how her cells revolutionized medicine.
Even if you don’t necessarily like writing papers, you’ll definitely be more engaged learning about a subject that interests than some random piece of literature that your friend said was “easy to write about.” Many subjects are broad enough that you can find something that interests you. However, you probably won’t be able to get excited about learning if you go into the class sure you’re going to hate it.
