Hugo Engelhardt
How to be a champion in the classroom
In America, academic achievements and scores define a student’s “worthiness” to a college or business, as grades are a mostly foolproof system of finding talent in such a large pool of contestants. So, a student’s high school and college grades can directly affect their lives in the corporate world for years to come, making it imperative to know how to succeed in the classroom.
Shining in the classroom comes easier for some students, not because they are necessarily smarter or have a higher IQ but because they know what’s needed for success. And yes, some people are geniuses and won’t ever need to study for a test or presentation and still pass with flying colors, but this blog isn’t for them. This blog will instead cover how the average student can elevate themselves to become a fruitful learner. With the help of the book, The Champions mind by Ph.D. Jim Afremow, and other online sources, here are three ways to amass greater success in the classroom:
1. Don’t rely on skill
The single greatest mistake someone can make in the classroom is to rely on what they already know or are good at. Instead of banking on ones’ skills, “Investigate your weaknesses and target them like a heat-seeking missile” (Forbes). This will make you a better student as you focus on your weaknesses and turn them into strengths, that can’t be used against you negatively.
An easy and effective way to improve your performance in school is to be organized. Being unorganized creates unnecessary distractions like losing papers and having to multitask. By having a clean workplace and all your papers in order, you can effectively spend your energy on the task at hand without having to worry about extraneous problems. Staying organized can also keep a student from falling behind by procrastinating, which is the number one enemy of a student who is trying to succeed.
3. Why not you?
According to Jim Afremow, it takes talent to find talent, “If you can spot greatness in someone else, then you already have some of that greatness, because only a person with similar traits can recognize those traits in others” (Champions Mind pg.2). Every famous athlete, student, or president are, or were, people just like you, with most of them having no exceptional gifts, except for a good work ethic and grit. Being successful starts with asking yourself what you really want to achieve and what’s stopping you from accomplishing it.
Glossary
Fruitful: Something that produces good results.
Amass: To gather something for oneself.
Extraneous: Something that does not belong; external; foreign.
Works cited
Book: Afremow, James A. The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive. Rodale, 2014.
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