Life is one continuous lesson! You will always be learning something – whether it’s in the classroom, in the sports arena or in a social environment. As humans, we are perpetual students, constantly learning, with school and university being just another part of the learning curve of life. It is a privilege to be able to attend school, university or college to study. Accept and embrace this phase of your life, and studying will become a satisfying portion of your student life.

Of course, there will be times when studying will become overwhelming and stressful or you may have to endure a boring subject or teacher; but this is all part of the journey. And learning to love studying will help you overcome these obstacles.

I have always loved studying and acquiring knowledge, but it wasn’t always easy. I was always stressed and overwhelmed by the amount of work. But through it all I was hopeful and focused on studies. I have learnt many valuable lessons over the years and these lessons are important reasons to love studying.

1) Studying Gives You Purpose

Find your WHY (am I doing this?)– Go on a journey of discovery – look at what subjects, hobbies or sport interests you the most and find out what career paths you can take – use Google as your guide. 

Finding your purpose will give you hope and the motivation to endure the anxiety and stress. It will also help motivate you to study for those boring subjects or work through those projects you don’t enjoy. Making a positive association between the studying or schoolwork that you’re not enjoying, and the impact it can have on your life or how it’s helping you to understand music, sports or your friendships better will quickly change your relationship with studying.

Don’t wait for inspiration – create your own!

2) Studying Develops Your Character

Achievement generates self-confidence! 

Set yourself goals for the year, and then break them down into termly, monthly, weekly and even small daily goals, that you know you can accomplish. This will grow your confidence in your own abilities and inspire you to working harder toward achieving your goals. 

Track your progress towards meeting your goals. Always celebrate your small victories – they are the stepping-stones to greater victories! 

Find which study method works for you – more effective studying will be more enjoyable for you, and will help you to reach your goals faster. If you’re not sure how to study, or what your learning style is, BrightSparkz’ Study Skills Crash Course can help.

3) Studying Always Rewards

Persistent hard work will always pay off! Make sure you study consistently, assigning time each day to go over work you’re not sure about, to study for upcoming tests, or prepare questions for the following day. This will prevent you from becoming overwhelmed by only starting to study a few days or weeks before exams.

If you are struggling to study for a particular subject – make it fun! Form a study group with your friends who have different strengths. Or create a reward system for yourself; and treat yourself to your favourite snack for small achievements or a movie for achieving those big goals. Listen to music you enjoy while studying, or bring out your creativity with colourful study notes, diagrams and images.

If you are a parent with smaller children who are struggling to enjoy studying or homework – turn it into a game – children learn best when playing games and if it’s fun they will ask you to repeat it over and over until you get bored of it! 

Use studying as me-time, dedicating the time and energy towards improving yourself or your future. Or use your study group as a great time to socialize with friends, while achieving something!

4) Studying Broadens Your Horizons

Keep your future in mind! Studying toward a career will open many doors for you – if you just know where to look. Find yourself a mentor in the field you are interested in and gain knowledge from their years of experience and mistakes. Create a collage or mindmap of your goal, and put it up where you study. When you start to feel discouraged, remind yourself why you’re studying, and what your end goal is. 

By planning your studying effectively, you will have time to work part time, building up your skill set and references for your CV. This will make your intro into the working world so much easier, as you’ll already have had a few part time jobs!

5) Studying Gives You Options

Studying while you’re in high school, or even at university, might not seem that important all the time. But your good grades, and the study skills you build up, will only give you more options for your future. Working hard in every subject, even those you think you’ll never need, may open you up to university courses or careers that you’d never dreamed possible. Good grades will also allow you access to more courses, and your Matric 80% for a subject might just be the differentiating factor between you and another applicant for a job! Studying now allows you to become a better version of yourself in your future.

Take-Away Message

Embrace studying whole-heartedly and you will become a resilient and independent person. Studying will create future opportunities for you, and one day you will make positive changes to your field of choice – no matter how great or small the impact you make – your input will have a ripple effect and be felt throughout.

So strive to be a better version of yourself each day through your studies. If you need help studying, why not contact us to get a BrightSparkz tutor?

Written by Sarita Downing, BrightSparkz Tutor & Blog Contributor