How I became Rank 2 of the school from Rank 33 (Study Habits I Follow)
Asian education system are known for being top-tier and tough. It is an arduous journey where
you feel like entering in a pressure cooker with a maximum temperature on. Classes starts at 6:30am to
5pm with a 30-minute break. Lessons in 8-10 different subjects will drowned you. You will be given an
hour of lunch which will be spent on 40 minutes of falling in line to the crowded cafeteria and 20
minutes of eating. Asian classroom are like battle arenas where your memorization, analytical and
cheating skills are your mighty weapons to fight in the top of the so-called “Class Rankings.” Unlike in
some western countries where nerd people are often bullied which is depicted in their movies, smart
students in some Asian countries are celebrities and popular. Students in bottom rankings befriend the
top students especially in the exams week. The Thai movie “Bad Genius” depicts that reality. Many
students became competitive to each other. I can attest that since I live in the “Pearl of Orient Seas,”
Philippines. It is an archipelagic, Asian country located in the eastern part of the globe.
In my elementary days, I do not care about “Class Rankings”. I do not even know what that is.
I’m not good at multiplication nor division but I am good at playing hide and seek. I do not care about
failing in an exam but I am proud that I am considered as top runner in the “Game of Tag.” I simply enjoy
my childhood days. There are exactly 50 students in our class. For my six years in elementary, the
rankings for top 1, 2 and 3 never changes. The three students were able to secure their spots through
studying late at nights, going home early from school, and choosing to read a book rather than playing
with us. I do not understand why they keep studying, not until our elementary graduation day. I
witnessed on how the Rank 1 to 10 students of our school climbed the stage, recognized, applauded and
given medals. I saw on how their parents became proud as they stood on the sides of their sons and
daughters. Their faces are also printed in the front page of our school’s year book. I glanced to my side
where my mother sat. She’s smiling as she clapped her hands for the top 10 students of our school. I felt
sorry and guilty. I graduated as rank 33 among 500+ grade 6 students. Not a bad number but in our
school, like most Asian schools, no one cares about the rankings from 11 up. As I looked at the rank 1 of
our school, with medals dangling in his neck, I imagine myself standing there instead of him. The feeling
of being applauded; the sensation of heavy medals around your neck; the respect and fame you can
earn for being smart and lastly, the satisfaction for making your parents proud. On that day, I became
ambitious.
As I enter high school, I carry those ideals and ambitions. Like in elementary, high school classes
are composed of 50 students with total of 500-600+ in each grade level. Most of my old classmates
enter the same high school with me. There are also students that transferred from neighboring public
and private schools. I could still remember on how their faces are brimming with competitiveness. Their
bags are filled with books even if it is still our first day in high school. I saw on how they race to the front
rows of chairs in the classroom as we were ordered by our teacher to choose seats. Despite of lack of
confidence, I, a once carefree, playful and not so-smart boy decided to compete with them. I carried the
ambition of seeing my name listed in the top rankings of our school.
Write Your Own Notes.
I slowly change my habits as I entered in Grade 7. I started by writing my notes in every lessons
for each subject. I once read in a random social media post that writing is equivalent to seven times of
reading. Whether it has scientific basis or only aims to encourage lazy students to write, it simply work
on me. Writing the lessons is sort of studying too. Your notes are your weapons in exams. Having your
own notes is also better rather than depending on your classmates’ notes written in an abstract
penmanship. In addition, my most competitive classmates do not share their own notes and might even
be ready to sacrifice their own lives just to hide and protect them.
In the 21st century, the rise of technology became a trend. It makes our life easier.
Consequently, most of us became lax and lazy. In a classroom setting, when a teacher shows his
PowerPoint presentations of the lessons or write it in the board, my classmates automatically take out
their phones and take pictures. It became a default action for many students. I also do the same
especially when the teacher is discussing the lessons too fast that I do not even have time to write a
single sentence in my notebook. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, many students forget these
pictures as they are pushed down below the columns of their gallery due to the never-ending selfies.
Despite taking pictures of lessons, I still make sure that I write them in my notebooks. Thus, writing my
notes became one of my starting points to achieve my academic ambitions.
30 minutes or 1 hour of Studying Every Night
Obviously, studying is necessary if you want to be in the top rank of your school. Studying smart
is better than studying hard. Overwhelming myself with academic obligations is never been easy. I do
not want to spend all hours of my night facing and talking to my books. Instead, I only spent 30 minutes
or an hour in studying my notes every night. This habit is completely necessary and helpful especially in
exam’s week. The problem with many students is that they tend to study for only a week or maybe few
days before taking their exams. Memorizing formulas, concepts and practicing math problems is too
heavy and stressful if done in a short period of time. Forcing this loads of information and lessons in
different subjects might even mixed up and confuse you. You might end up answering “Hydrogen” in a
math problem during the exam. Thus, it is important to remember that studying in a short amount of
time every night while focusing in the day’s lessons is better than studying with piles of lessons for the
whole semester in just 1 week.
Furthermore, the perks of studying 30 minutes every night lessen my burden as I reviewed my
notes before the exam’s week. It became easy for me to retain the information and formulas since I
already studied them. “This part is familiar,” “Oh, I know this one since I studied it last month.” These
are thoughts that often run in my mind as I review few days before taking the exam. Another significant
advantage of adapting this habit is that you will be prepared in surprise tests. Many teachers enjoyed
and addicted in seeing their students’ shocked and surprised faces as they announced a surprise test or
quiz. Practicing the 30-minute or an hour of studying every night will make you prepared for these
events. You may not end up getting a perfect score, still there is an increased possibility of getting a high
score. As I practiced this habit, I often get 3 or 5 mistakes only in my teachers’ surprise tests.
Use Index Cards
Using index cards is another strategy I utilized to pave my way in school rankings. A lesson in
one subject may cover-up 2-3 pages of my notebook. Looking these long notes discourages me to read
them. Due to this, I decided to utilize index cards to summarize my notes. I only write the important
details of the lessons such as formulas, important dates, names of prominent people like scientists, and
significant terms with one phrase that define them. Adapting this strategy makes it easy for me to
memorize and study my notes. Furthermore, index cards are convenient to carry since they are small. I
often put them in my pocket a week before the exam. When I forgot some specific parts of the lessons, I
simply looked at the index cards to remember them.
Read Short Stories.
Class reports takes a large percentage in the grading system. You will be forced to stand in front
of the class and report about the topics assigned to your group. Philippines was a colony of American for
48 years, no wonder why we consider English as our second language. Many Filipinos understand
English. Watching western movies without subtitles is a proof for that. Yet, some are not proficient or
fluent in speaking the said language. This is the main reason why we use English in our class reporting.
You will be a subject of laughter in the class when you stutter or can’t even properly used the correct
pronouns or subject-verb agreement. To avoid putting myself in such situations, I often read books in
weekends or when I have free time. When I am alone, I read them loud to practice my pronunciations. I
am not a bookworm thus, I started reading small stories from the books I failed to return in the library of
my elementary school. From 2 to 10 pages stories, I begin to love reading novels. I have already read the
trilogy of “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” of J.R. R. Tolkien. Whenever I read a book, I always have
my phone dictionary which I used wherever there is an English word that I cannot understand. Through
this, I am able to widen my vocabulary which I can use during our class reporting. Moreover, being
proficient in English gives you more confidence in public speaking. This study habit became a stepping
stone for me to be accepted in the debating club of our school.
Use Mnemonics.
Memorization is a difficult hurdle that I overcome using an interesting study technique. The use
of “mnemonics.” It is a strategy where you tend to make a word to easily memorize the set of
information. I use it often in my History and English classes. Once, our exam involved memorizing the
early empires of Mesopotamia (Iraq). The empires includes Sumer, Akkad, Babylonian, Assyrian and
Chaldean. Using mnemonics, I am able to come up with the word or acronym “SABAC.” These are
starting letters of each empire. During the exam, we were tasked to enumerate the Mesopotamian
empires. Using the mnemonic word I made, it was a piece of cake for me.
Solve 1 or 2 Math Problems Every Night
If memorization is only a hurdle, Mathematics is a giant wall that difficult to climb to achieve my
goals. During my elementary days, I often see it as some sort of foreign language that can be understood
only by few. I even experienced scolded by my grade 4 teacher because I cannot memorize the
multiplication table. Despite of the fear and anxiety whenever I face a mathematical problem, I still try
to answer them. It is better to depend on some partial points in solutions rather than getting a zero
because you did not try solving it at all. As I enter high school, I face my fear in Mathematics.
Memorizing the formulas is not enough. Mathematics is more on analytical skills.
I practice solving 1 or 2 math problems every night based on the lessons. This method actually works.
Who would have thought that a student who used to hate and fear math will become a representative
of their school in regional competitions. In my Grade 9 and 10, I represented the school in various
contests. In math, it’s all about practice, practice and practice.
Join School Clubs and Orgs.
The education system in our country believes in the concept of multiple intelligence. It states
that there are types of intelligence aside from being logical-mathematically inclined. The other types
involves spatial, music, kinesthetic, intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence. This is the main reason
why grades are not only based on our scores in exams. Additional points were also given to students
who join various clubs and activities. These grading system encourage students to explore their talents
and social skills in various co-curricular activities. Because of this, I break the bubble of my comfort zone
and join different clubs and organizations. I decided to join the school choir and try-out for badminton
team. In those times, I discovered that I do not have talent in singing nor good at catching shuttlecocks.
Then I decided to run in a position in the student council. Using the respect and popularity I earned due
to my grades, I became the Vice-President of the school. Through my elected position, I honed my
leadership and social skills. In addition, I am able to garner additional points in various student council
activities which helps me to secure my ranking in school. Furthermore, I am able to gain friends which
add flavors in my high school journey.
Adapting a 30-minute/1 hour of studying every night, utilizing index cards to compressed the
lessons, reading books, using mnemonics, practicing math problems, and joining school clubs are some
ways that I have used to achieve my academic ambition. Using these various strategies and methods, I
am able to pave my way in school rankings. From Rank 33 in my elementary, I became Rank 2 in high
school. I am able to secure my spot for 4 years. I graduated as the “Salutatorian” of our school. Now, I
already know the feeling of being applauded; the sensation of heavy medals dangling around my neck;
the respect and fame you can earn for being smart and lastly, the satisfaction for making your parents
proud.
I transferred school in my Senior High. Still, I continue to practice and carry those study methods
and strategies. Proving its effectiveness, I graduated again as rank 2 or “Salutatorian” with only 0.5
difference in grades to our Rank 1. In graduation day, I have 15 medals dangling in my neck and 13
certificates in my hand. Using those study habits, I am able to gain knowledge and skills which helps me
to acquire a scholarship and passed the entrance exam to enter in the top university of our country.
Currently, I am now taking BS Chemical Engineering. I still practice those study habits and I do
recommend you to follow them too. I started as a carefree, playful, and not so smart elementary
student. However, due to some realizations which gives birth to my ambitions, I persevered and practice
those study techniques which paved way for me to achieve my goals.
Study or Play. Many top students spent countless hours of studying. Most even missed their
chances to gain friends and create memorable and amazing memories in their school journeys. Many
rarely go out in their rooms to study while skipping their opportunities to be with their families. We
cannot turn back time. We only passed this road once. If given a chance to choose between study or
play, why choose if you can do both. Remember to study smart than study hard. Following the study
habits presented will still give you time to spend with your friends and families. It may not give a
certainty or assurance that you can be in the top rank of your school, yet, it will mold you to become a
competent student. Study but do not forget to enjoy life for we only live once.
Written By: Sandro Rico Muyco