Finding possibilities, solutions, creation, and understanding does not come from a miraculous trait you are born with. To know how to solve issues or develop anything with any sense of creativity, you have to learn and become subject to things first.
My dad is the smartest person I know, with the ability to maintain 4.0s and above in college while working laborious jobs, writing a book, and taking care of three children. He taught me to never stop wanting more answers. His biggest advice to me is to be genuinely curious, care for myself, and have empathy. Talk to all kinds of people and get to know them. Entertain yourself with educational pieces. Write down your own thoughts and keep journals. Never stop thinking. Eat nutritious meals. Stretch and exercise. Meditate.
What to Learn
Teaching yourself to become more curious is not a one-and-done activity. It takes time and allows you to have healthy, disciplined, and consistent habits. Start with finding topics that spark interest, you find beauty in, and care for. Then, find people who are experts in that field.
Websites to start your search:
- Environment
- History
- Philosophy
- Space
- Political Science
- Art History
- Psychology
- Economics
- Marine Biology
- Journalism
- Sociology
- Vocabulary
- The Amendments
- Free Yoga
- Stock Simulator
- Climate Change
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- Insight Timer
- Our World in Data
- How a car works (basics)
- Goodreads
How to Learn
The beautiful aspect of campus is that it makes it possible to find professors, students, guest speakers, or alumni who may have some sort of expertise on a topic. In my experience, having conversations with all these different individuals has made me more motivated, understanding, and hardworking than ever.
“Never be the brightest person in the room; then you can’t learn anything”
-James Watson
Not only can you have one-on-one discussions, but implementing different educational mediums can be remarkable. So, take advantage of the advanced library search, which offers short documentaries, articles, and books, as well as the rest of the internet.
Averting quick screen time and replacing it with educational content helps you learn new concepts, theories, perspectives, and definitions. The crucial component is to make sure it is factual by looking for references, using trusted organizations, and utilizing fact checkers used in college classes when matters tend to be fabricated.
How to Understand
Locating the articles and videos is the easy part, but the way you begin learning and remembering is the fundamental element. These steps can help with learning any valuable information, especially for an exam:
- Schedule time out of your day to study or research
- 10-30 minutes without screentime (walking, coloring, stretching, etc.)
- Find a consistent studying area (library, Starbucks, fountain, etc.)
- While you study, take breaks that don’t include your phone
- Eat nutritious foods and drink water
- Connect new information to what you already know
- Create unique examples and explain (be able to teach it)
Being able to explain it and connect the dots is the most essential part. For extremely passionate topics, you can create whole journals for yourself. In my case, I have pages of information on journalism, a notebook on my own thoughts, a notepad on languages, and a journal on random pieces of information. Einstein himself had many personal journals he wrote for his eyes only.
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
― Albert Einstein
Adding daily or weekly habits that induce learning, no matter the subject, will prepare you for future compelling projects and complicated tests. My biggest tip for wanting to learn more is to go out and ask questions and take advantage of the college events. Learn the benefits of the topic and the negatives, and be open-minded. Be able to absorb, ponder, and use the information you learn, whether it is something you publish or it is written somewhere in a personal journal. Curiosity is how you reflect and question the information you find, and it is the trait that develops the world.
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Edited and Reviewed by Kien Powell
