Attention Training

How to think fast, find your focus, and sharpen your concentration.

by Joseph Cardillo

Ace Your College Classes: It’s All About Connection

Ace your college classes.

Published on January 14, 2010 by Joseph Cardillo, Ph.D. in Attention Training

graduation At one point “early” in my teaching career (thank the gods), I had over an hour’s drive getting to the college. You can imagine: fully caffeinated, bright sky, checkerboard driving down New York’s Adirondack Mountains until I reached the outskirts of Albany. The late night drive back into the mountains was just the opposite, except that it was equally as long, and that I needed a shower instead of having just gotten out of one. But I really enjoyed the rides—well, most of the time. They gave me a wonderful opportunity to stretch out my mind and think. One day while thinking over the days lessons, I heard a song come on the radio. And it really resonated with me, calling up sweet images from my past as well as from more current experiences. The tune was Sounds of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel. I listened attentively and for some reason my mind jumped—still attentive—to a poem by the poet William Carlos Williams, a poem I liked a lot and which had meant various things to me at different points in my life. The poem was The Red Wheelbarrow. I had been reading, with much enjoyment at the time, several books that linked physics and philosophy and had also been reading a lot of Joseph Campbell. And that’s when it hit me. When I combined these for myself—in my own head—each began to make more sense of the other. The effect was deeply satisfying—like orchestrating a favorite song by adapting it to your own arrangements. It’s still the same song, and anyone can recognize it as such, but it now also means something special to you. The effect began to feed on itself. The more I connected these contexts, the more sense they made; the more I connected them to my life, the more I wanted to connect them further. The more I enjoyed the process, the more effortlessly I learned about these artists and their work—and myself. My otherwise mundane ride turned into a dreamy sort of magic. I believe you can learn anything this way. It’s all about making the connections. Connections invigorate your mind, keep you from getting bored, strengthen your analytical skill, and give you a sense of deep joy that will feed upon itself to keep the process going. They also predispose your mind for organized thought.

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Here are a few ways you can use this concept in the classroom:

1. Listen actively; making connections to other contexts and within that day’s material—i.e. perhaps a story by John Steinbeck contains themes that can be applied to something you are learning about Carl Jung or Joseph Campbell. Or something you are learning in physics or biology could be applied, for example, to Virginia Woolf or a philosophy class. If your professor mentions a text that is related to the topic, seek it out; witness the connections, and draw your own. You may even bring these observations up in a future class or individually with your teacher.

2. Restrict your mind from wondering. Keep participating no matter what. Just like when your coach is telling you, “Don’t stop now—pour it on. “ Create words or phrases you can think to yourself during such moments like: stay with it; strong; focus; create a mental image of a goal you have in mind that is connected to that course’s context and use it during such moments to guide you back on task. Practice using these techniques regularly and they will become automatic. Do, however, give yourself a breath every now and then and lighten your focus.

3. Identify your professor’s goal—if he or she doesn’t state it outright. Ask yourself: What is the professor’s role in meeting this goal? What role does my teacher expect me to take on? Make sure you meet this goal.

4. Think of ways to relate the class’s contexts as closely as possible to your personal experiences, especially important ones. Outside of class, think about how the material can be used to help deepen your understanding of other personal life situations, problem-solve, and enhance your own life.

5. Daydream, incorporating what you are learning so that it scaffolds into your future.

It’s up to you to make the strongest connections here possible. You will notice that when you make strong matches between class materials and daily life not only will your academic interests perk, time will move much faster, and studies, in general, will become a lot more enjoyable. Your mind will become more creative, and thus more energized, interesting, and complex. And just like runners high, these characteristics feel good both mentally and physically. As such, you feel rewarded. And this pattern of activity will begin to feed upon itself. Grades will come easier. You will feel more secure, confident, and happy. The best news is that you will start transferring this mindset over to other areas of your life, deepening the connections there as well.

The story of Ace Your College Classes is about changing the way you process information. It’s more about you than you may think. Make your self the center of your attention.

Note: For a scientific adventure into the world of human attention see my newest book Can I Have Your Attention?: How to Think Fast, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Concentration .

(Image by flickr.com)