P R IN T : Arts & Culture
4 $8» Wednesday, February 19,2014
Studying tips to keep you on top
Erin Carey
Arts & Culture Editor
I t ’s never too early to start
preparing fbr finals.
From my personal experience
in Advanced Placement and hon
ors classes in high' school and
in the classes I now take here at
Clackamas Community College,
I know a thing or two about
what makes good study habits.
Everyone has their own tricks
to conquer next week’s test, but
here’s a list of ideas that could
help you improve your study hab
its.
There are many people at CCC
whose job it is to assist students
with studying and productivity.
The math, science, and writing
labs located in Dye Learning
Center are all available for stu
dents — young or old — to use
when they need them.
There are even classes just to
learn how to be a better student.
“College Success” (HD-120) is
targeted to students who want
to gain skills in studying along
with many other useful things
like personal responsibility and
understanding self-management.
1. Study early.
Sometimes, tests sneak up on
us. Sometimes, it’s 10 p.m. the
night before that morning test
when you realize that you haven’t
studied anything. But for most
occasions, your best idea is to
study early. Your brain doesn’t
want to study chemistry equa
tions at 10 p.m., so get a start a
couple days before, making it a
equations. After a certain time
at night, your brain is getting
prepared to sleep, meaning a late
night cram session will hardly
do you any good. You need your
brain awake and ready to absorb
information.
2. Be aware of your anxiety.
Often people don’t consider
their anxiety levels when study
ing. And while tests are usually
cause for anxiety, you don’t have
to make studying a cause for it
too. Find somewhere quiet to
study where you won’t be dis
tracted and find yourself wasting
time. Also, don’t try and cram a
ton of information into your head
at once; your brain can only do
so much with what it’s given. If
you feel yourself start to get anx
ious, don’t try and push through
it. Take a break. Go pet your
cat, hug your mom or dad, make
yourself a sandwich, or take a
small walk outside to get some
fresh air. The higher yqur anxi
ety gets, the easier it is to give
up and let that downhill thought
process of, “I’m a total failure”
start to take over. You aren’t a
total failure, and you’re going to
be just fine.
3. Schedule in your breaks.
Time yourself so that you give
yourself opportunities for food,
water, those basic human neces
sities. Food is important to keep
your brain functioning, so a small
snack will help. Don’t try and
survive on a venti, triple-shot
mocha from Starbucks. Try for
fruits that have the sugar to boost
brain power, which have the nat
ural types of sugars that things
like soda don’t.
Most people don’t have time
in their mornings for an eggs,
bacon and toast type of breakfast,
and some don’t even like break
fast at all. But all those people
telling you that breakfast is good
for you have a reason — it is.
Eating breakfast keeps your body
and brain fueled for the day. But
do more than just a bowl of the
most sugar- coated cereal you
can find. Fruits often pair well
in breakfast scenarios, without
it having to be a huge ordeal.
Taking time to get yourself up
and make yourself breakfast will
pay off when you’re trying to
cram for the next big test.
5. Don’t fall into the trap of
social media.
We’ve all done it. You have
something important to study for
that shouldn’t take four hours,
but it does when you’ve spent 3/4
of those four hours on Facebook
complaining about how you have
to study. Close the Facebook tab,
the Twitter, the Tumblr, all of
it. Put your phone somewhere
where a constant stream o f texts
won’t hinder you, and just tell
your friends that you have to
study, and most likely they’ll be
more than understanding. It’s
often difficult to resist the allure
of the social media sites, so don’t
let yourself get distracted.
6. Don’t just cram.
If
you’re
studying
a
Shakespearean sonnet for a class
you have to recite it in, your best
bet is to shake it up a little. Chop
that sonnet into smaller chunks
to memorize, then recite them
to your cat in such a dramatic
fashion that even Shakespeare
things can be divided and con
quered, which makes it easier for
your brain to digest. Flashcards
are a life saver, no matter your
level of education. If thinking
up rhymes is your thing, do that.
Your brain works cohesively with
simple tricks to help the memori
zation process.
class to . arrange a study group;
often there are students who want
the same assistance. Be careful
when the groups get too big; peo
ple can often get distracted and
drag you in, too. Keep it down
to a minimum of two or three per
group. That way it won’t get out
of hand.
7. Find a good place to study.
There are places to avoid
when you need to study. These
danger zones Will prevent you
from getting anything done, and
it’s best to just avoid them entire
ly. Loud, crowded places distract
your focus from the book in front
of you, which will leave you star
ing blankly at your study mate
rial. Your bed is another danger
zone. Your brain will associate
somewhere like your bed or your
couch with relaxation time, not
a time to be alert and absorbing
information. A dining room table
often gives you tons of room to
spread out your work, and it’s not
so comfortable you’ll end up fall
ing asleep. Places like a library
are nice and quiet, and have tons
more information in case you get
stuck. Even places like coffee
shops can be annoyingly loud
and distracting, so sadly those
are pretty useless too. CCC has
many great places to study, like
DeJardin where it’s often a quiet
space for students.
9. Think positively.
Don’t drag yourself down
in negativity when it comes to
studying. This will often cause
a far bigger roadblock for your
brain than anything else will.
Everyone has his or her challeng
es, whether it’s English, math, or
science. But the less positively
you think, the more momentum
you’re losing. Putting yourself
in the right frame of mind and
keeping yourself there will help
you tremendously in the long run.
8. Study in partners.
If you find yourself struggling
to understand the concepts of
what you should be studying, a
partner or two can often, help.
Everyone sees and understands
things differently, so they may be
able to offer a different solution.
10. Be prepared.
Even if your science text
book weighs 50 pounds, it’s still
important and still worth study
ing out of. Bring a" sharpened
pencil, sticky notes in bright, eye
catching colors, and plenty of
paper to scribble your notes all
over. Flash cards, highlighters,
the whole thing. And while you
might not need all o f it every
time, they’re useful to have when
you do.
As students, braving the wil
derness o f studying, especially
when midterms have just passed
and finals are slowly creeping in,
is messy and disillusioning. But
keeping yourself prepared with
a few helpful tips and tricks will
help to conquer the process and
make that test seem just a bit less
terrifying.
■ijHeyof bo afraid to speak up in
Bro's Kitchen: Awesome French Sandwich
Chris Browarski
The Clackamas
Print
zhances are, as a col
lege student, you probably
suck at making food. I can’t
blame you either. Cooking is
intimidating. It’s pretty easy to
get caught up with Facebook
for a minute and then boom,
you’re eating burnt flapjacks.
Bummer.
That’s all right though
because here at The Clackamas
Print we got your back. We’re
going to set you up with some
awesome recipes and try to
make it hard for you to screw
it all up.
We’re kicking it off this
week with a budget version
o f something called Croque
Monsieur, or awesome French
sandwich, as I like to call it
Basically we’re going to
throw some cheese sauce on
your Plain Jane ham sandwich
and heat that boy up! This
recipe makes two sandwiches,
so you can save one for later
or show off to your girlfriend
how awesome you are.
For this recipe you’ll need
the following ingredients:
-butter (the real deal, no
margarine)
-1 tbsp flour
-3/4 cup milk (the thick
er the better, heavy whipping
cream works best)
-2 tbsp grated Parmesan
cheese
-8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese
(Really you can substitute any
white melty cheese here. If you
want to do it right and can
spare a couple bucks, pick up
a wedge of Gruyere and grate
about 1 cup worth.)
-4 slices of bread (You can
use white bread but . a thick
French or Italian loaf will be a
-Dijon mustard
-6 slices of ham
We’ll start off with making a
Béchamel, which is fancy French
talk for white milky sauce.
Preheat your oven to 350
degrees and melt 1 tbsp. o f butter
in a small saucepan on low heat
until it gets foamy. Add 1 tbsp. of
flour and whisk it quick for about
two minutes until it all turns
into a smooth brown mush. Now
gradually pour in your milk and
raise the heat a little. Stir occa
sionally until the milk thickens
just a little bit.
Next, dump the Parmesan
cheese along with a small hand
ful of your shredded Monterey
Jack (if you’re using something
nice like Gruyere then only use
about 2 tbsp. here).
Stir it until the cheese melts
and your sauce is smooth and
has a little thickness to it. Take it
off the heat, throw some salt and
pepper in there for seasoning, and
leave that off to the side.
(Pro tip: You can use this base
A Croque Monsieur is a French grilled ham and cheese sandwich. It is often considered a quick snack in French
bars and rextsiursint*
.
restaurants.
sauce along with whatever kind
of cheese you want to make mac
and cheese sauce. Just keep add
ing cheese, if you want to get it
extra thick.)
Next up toast your bread. You
can do it in a toaster but I would
recommend buttering both sides
and toasting each slice on a fry
ing pan on low heat. Either way,
after your bread is golden brown,
spread some Dijon on one side
of each piece o f bread. Use a lot
here. Mustard is good stuff, dude.
On a baking sheet lined with
aluminum foil, pile the ham on
the Dijon side of two o f the slices
along with a handful o f cheese.
Pour on some o f the sauce you
made earlier and cover with the
other two slices o f bread, mustard
side down.
Sprinkle whatever remaining
cheese you have on top of the
bread and cover the sandwiches
with the rest o f the sauce. Try to
get a good even coat on the top
and edges o f the bread so it’ll
keep it from burning.
Put your sandwiches in the
oven for about five minutes and
then move it under a lit broiler.
Keep an eye on them and take
them out as soon as the cheese
on top starts to bubble and turn
brown.
Bada Boom, you’re eating
the realest sandwich in the
room.
■ si
Editor’s Note; This is a new
occasional column dedicated t
to getting dudes in the kitchen
and being comfortable vtiih
cooking and creating meals.