Becoming a Confident Student - St. Vincent's College

Becoming a Confident Student –
An essay by Shelby Dillman, first year student at St. Vincent’s College

It is essential for all students to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and once
that has occurred, improvement is possible which will lead to confidence and success. As well
as knowing what one is good or not good at, setting goals and learning new ways to study,
along with maintaining health and well-being are extremely important. After reading through
the book, The Confident Student, by Carol Kanar, I was able to discover what type of student I
am, better ways to study, and learned many tips on making the most out of my day to day life.

The first step in making yourself a better student is to know how you learn best. I liked
how readers are able to discover their learning style at the beginning of the book. If it was a
task towards the end, it would not have been very useful because the parts that come after,
such as how you think and how you prepare for class, all tie in with what type of learner you
are. The book is set up in a certain order as each section is a building block to the next. The
class made me aware that I was actually a mixture of three learning styles: kinesthetic,
auditory, and visual. Before looking at the surveys and reading the text that the book provided
for each type, I had never really thought about what type of learner I was. Before, I just studied
how I studied without thinking anything of it, and thought that that’s what everyone else did
too. It never crossed my mind that there was a categorization of how people learn. I hope that
more people are able to realize what type of learner they are so that they don’t waste time and
frustration trying to learn one way because they think it’s the only way.

What readers encounter next in the book are different ways of thinking and how to set
goals as well as solve problems. I learned the difference between creative thinking and critical
thinking and when is best to apply both. It was made clear to me when the book stated,
“…critical thinkers decide to think.” (p.54) Creative thinking involves, like the word itself,
creating. I definitely need to work on my creative thinking skills because I more often find
myself thinking rationally and not as much “out of the box.” I need to add more of a personal
touch sometimes to make an idea my own instead of just analyzing someone else’s. The
exercises in the book are helpful in making me more aware of different ways of thinking. Now
that we are thinking, the book leads us into the topic of goal setting. I feel that setting goals is
the key to success. Without them, what do you accomplish? I don’t always sit down and write
out my goals. It was nice that we studied this chapter because it let me write out my goals
(both long term and short term) and even set a reasonable plan on how to accomplish them.
Seeing everything I want to get done alongside how it will get done makes it much less
overwhelming. However, many times I have found that I encounter problems along the way.
The COPE strategy was suggested for solving problems, and I think that although it makes
sense, it may not always be the best method. Sometimes it doesn’t take all of those steps to
overcome a problem.

Becoming an active reader and studying and learning from textbooks were covered in
separate chapters. I think they could have been grouped together because if you learn the skills
of active reading, then you can already study from a textbook. Active reading is crucial in
making school easier and in improving time management. Fortunately the surveys showed me
that I am an active reader, and I’ve learned in high school what reading/note system works best

for me. This chapter would also prove the significance in active reading to someone who thinks
they don’t already. It’s great that the book provides pointers on how to improve your reading
skills. So I think that if you are reading efficiently, you are already making the most of your time
in the studying aspect. It was good for me to see where my time goes so that I can adjust
spending time socializing and studying, and to try to balance everything in a healthy way. I
definitely procrastinate and there is no excuse for it. It was made clear that my daily life would
become less stressful if I didn’t, so I will work on that.

Controlling your attention and memory, creating a study system, and preparing for tests
are also chapters that go hand in hand. Maintaining attention is only possible when there are as
few distractions as possible. That is true for me and I’m sure the majority of other students. It
was nice to write down my ideal study place and I strive to create that as often as possible.
Knowing what environment you study best in will only help you make your life easier since
where you study makes all the difference. I think it can be rather difficult to control your
memory, but you can improve it by constantly studying and testing yourself. You can do that by
the way you study. The book describes how and what to study for different courses, and I
thought it was wonderful how it was broken down. For example, in a math class they suggest
repeating sample problems and reviewing steps, while they suggest studying authors and their
works while practicing explaining themes in literature classes. It really could not have been
presented in a better way. Once you know how to study, you can then prepare properly for a
test. I personally have a lot of test taking anxiety, so the book helped in giving strategies to
settle my nerves. Developing a routine for before, during, and after the test is something that I
thought was good for someone that gets nervous when testing. Once I have a schedule that I

stick to, I will become more and more comfortable knowing how I will tackle the test. The more
comfortable I am, the more confident I will be, which leads to more personal success.

Without being able to communicate with others, there is not much that someone can
accomplish. The ability to effectively communicate is what I think is one of the most important
life skills. The book pointed out that listening is just as important as speaking, and I did not
know that there were different types of listening. I thought that the activity following the
description of listening types to be helpful so that I can fully understand when to apply different
listening strategies while at the same time I was able to grasp this new concept. Even pointing
out the basics of communication like posture and eye contact, were things that I was glad to be
reminded of, and I will keep them in mind. I feel that body language is a huge part of
communication and I’m happy that the book didn’t overlook that since it can be tricky to catch
yourself slipping in. I have encountered the different types of behaviors like aggressive, passive,
manipulative, and assertive, and by pointing them out individually, I was able to determine
people who behave in each type and could think of examples of myself behaving in each type.
The chapter has made me more conscious of how I act when trying to resolve conflicts.

There is not much more important to an individual than their health and well-being. A
balanced diet is very important on keeping you healthy and energized, but I don’t think it’s the
key to being a successful student. Sometimes it’s the bag of potato chips that helps you get
through that tough chapter. I do think however, that avoiding harmful substances such as drugs
and alcohol is essential. Exercise, like eating healthy, makes you a healthy person, but not a
student. The combination of the two do, though, provide the energy that you need so that you

feel good and motivated to study. Coping with stress can be challenging, but the book provides
tips on how to reduce it. I feel that managing stress must come from within yourself so it might
be hard to look at the list of ways to stop it in a textbook and believe that they will work. The
ability to calm myself down and to follow some of the steps in the book would work for me.

Facing your future with confidence was placed, most perfectly, at the end of the book.
Once you are aware of everything else explained in all of the previous chapters, then you are
ready to dive into your future. I am certain that I have chosen the right major and career for
me, but I don’t know what paths my career will take me down. If I am future oriented, I can set
goals, make plans, think of the next generations, and all while maintaining a positive attitude.
So wherever I end up, I will be prepared. I just have to keep in mind all of the study and
communication skills that I learned in this book to get through school, and then I will begin my
career with confidence.

Preparation is what leads to confidence. By reading through the chapters of the book, I
learned study skills, testing strategies, problem solving, communication, stress relief, and more.
The more comfortable I am with these skills, the more prepared I will be for whatever comes
my way. And because I now have this information, I will become an even more confident
student. With that confidence, there will be success in the future.