I just had a major "aha!" moment, and I had to share it with people who would get it. I've been working on a compare and contrast essay for my psychology class about different study habits, and in doing the research, I accidentally diagnosed my own problem.
For my entire freshman year, I was a hardcore proponent of "cramming." You know the drill: two days before the exam, you lock yourself in the library, chug an obscene amount of caffeine, and try to force an entire semester's worth of information into your brain. In my essay, this is one side of the comparison. The contrast to that chaos is "spaced practice" or "distributed learning," which is studying in shorter sessions over a longer period.
My initial thought was, "Yeah, spaced practice sounds nice in theory, but I don't have time for that. Cramming is efficient." But as I dug deeper for my essay, I realized how wrong I was. Cramming is like trying to build a sandcastle right before the tide comes in. You get a structure up, but it's fragile and the first wave of new information (or the stress of the test) just washes it away. You might remember things for the exam, but a week later? Gone. The comparison in terms of long-term retention is staggering.
Spaced practice, on the other hand, is like building a brick wall. You lay a few bricks every day. The mortar has time to dry. It's slower, but the structure is solid. The contrast isn't just about grades; it's about actually learning.
My compare and contrast essay is basically a love letter to my new, less stressful life. The argument is clear: while cramming feels like a heroic last stand, spaced practice is the quiet, consistent work that actually wins the war. Has anyone else made this switch?
For my entire freshman year, I was a hardcore proponent of "cramming." You know the drill: two days before the exam, you lock yourself in the library, chug an obscene amount of caffeine, and try to force an entire semester's worth of information into your brain. In my essay, this is one side of the comparison. The contrast to that chaos is "spaced practice" or "distributed learning," which is studying in shorter sessions over a longer period.
My initial thought was, "Yeah, spaced practice sounds nice in theory, but I don't have time for that. Cramming is efficient." But as I dug deeper for my essay, I realized how wrong I was. Cramming is like trying to build a sandcastle right before the tide comes in. You get a structure up, but it's fragile and the first wave of new information (or the stress of the test) just washes it away. You might remember things for the exam, but a week later? Gone. The comparison in terms of long-term retention is staggering.
Spaced practice, on the other hand, is like building a brick wall. You lay a few bricks every day. The mortar has time to dry. It's slower, but the structure is solid. The contrast isn't just about grades; it's about actually learning.
My compare and contrast essay is basically a love letter to my new, less stressful life. The argument is clear: while cramming feels like a heroic last stand, spaced practice is the quiet, consistent work that actually wins the war. Has anyone else made this switch?