You walk into Wiggin Street Coffee, snag a booth (score!), and open one of the many books you have to read for class. Equipped with an iced Wiggin Street mocha, new highlighters, and a block of uninterrupted time, you are more than ready to make a dent in your to-do list. About three pages into your reading, however, you realize something: “I have no idea what I just read.” Instead of learning about nativism and philosophical empiricism, you spent ten minutes pretending to read while actually thinking about everything else you have to do today.
It’s okay. We have all been there before. At a liberal arts college like Kenyon, reading constitutes the majority of our work outside the classroom. Gone are the days our high school teachers requested superfluous worksheets for “participation points.” Now a concerning percentage of our grades are determined by tests—tests measuring knowledge primarily gained by reading texts. Making the shift from high school to college can be quite challenging as a result. Luckily, reading for class does not have to be as difficult or scary as it may seem, and after reading this article, I hope you can approach your mountain of books with a little more courage.
1. Learn where you work best.
While I am a huge fan of studying in the coffee shop, my best friend cannot focus amidst coffee-house chit chat. It is important to find out under what conditions you work best. Some people rely on white noise: a humming fan, dull coffee-shop conversation, classical music, etc. Others need complete silence. Temperature and lighting could also play a role in your study-space decisions. Once you figure out what works best for you, it is a lot easier to choose the places you study. If you prefer a quiet atmosphere but need a lot of natural light, for example, the Gund Commons computer lab may not be the place for you.
2. Use an active reading method such as SQ3R.
If I begin reading a chapter without surveying the entire chapter first, I tend to lose focus. I find it super helpful to read titles, subtitles, bolded/italicized words, and captions before I start to read. You can turn some of these things into questions to answer. For instance, in my psychology textbook, there is a section titled “There are Ethical Issues to Consider in Research with Animals.” To turn that subtitle into a question, I could ask, “What ethical issues need to be considered in research with animals?” Once I have a comprehensive list of questions, I can start to read the chapter from the beginning.
The SQ3R method works best if you read your textbooks in smaller chunks. You also want to avoid writing notes during the first read-through. After each chunk, you can recite the information using the questions you developed earlier. It helps to take notes at this point because you can jot down the answers to the questions you ask. Taking notes from memory rather than copying them verbatim from the page kickstarts the reviewing process. The more you review, the better you will know your information. If you can afford to space out your review over several days, your mind will retain the information you learn a lot better.
Of course, many reading comprehension methods require much more time than the average college student can spare. As much as I would like to use SQ3R on everything I read, I am often forced to pick and choose between my readings. From my experiences with SQ3R so far, I will say that it works better with textbooks, but I suppose you could give it a shot with a novel if you’re feeling particularly courageous.
3. If all else fails, it is acceptable to skim.
You’re only human. You cannot beat yourself up if your professors assign you more reading than your brain can process. As the semester progresses, you will (hopefully) learn which professors are more lenient about readings and discussions. I’m not saying that you should stop reading for their classes, but you could always fall back on skimming if your other professors have stricter policies (i.e. daily quizzes).  If skimming through a text does not feel right, you can promise yourself to come back to it later. Even if you do not make good on your promise to your future self, you will at least temporarily delay the guilt.
4. Never underestimate the power of a bribe.
No, I am not encouraging you to bribe your professors to give you an A+ for the semester. You are more than welcome to bribe yourself into reading for class, though. I once saw on Pinterest a picture of someone putting candy at the end of each paragraph. Theoretically, as soon as the reader finishes a paragraph, they can eat the candy. Note: this method requires a fair amount of self-restraint. If you eat all of the candy on the page before you finish each candy’s respective paragraph, you will no longer have incentives to keep reading. Unlike SQ3R, this method can be used for just about any reading—especially novels!
Coming to college, reading for class can be an overwhelming experience, even for avid readers. I hope that at least one of these tips are helpful to you. Remember that studying in college is all about trial-and-error. If you try one method and it doesn’t work out for you, there are dozens of other ideas online, or you can always apply skills from other aspects of your life to create your own!
Put down your phone, grab a textbook, and start studying. You can do this.
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Image Credit: Charlotte Smithson