As always, thank you for checking in and being a positive influence on our culture! Let’s keep it REAL, we can think of at least 50 things we would rather do than go to school or go to class. We get it. Whether we like it or not, as early as we can remember, we had to go to school. If you think about it, unless you get into some form of entertainment (sports, music, etc.), there are few industries that our society offers where you don’t need some proof of education at some level. Further, your position and how you move up in a company can depend on the level of education you received. Our society has forced us to pigeon-hole ourselves into either entertainment, which may only last a few years if we are lucky, or years of school we have to end up paying for with most of our future salaries. It’s a shame when you think about it; especially, when you consider the systematic oppression that negatively impacts our culture. This makes education almost a necessity for us to survive in this society.
Going to school for most of your life might not seem like the most preferred option, but if we’re being honest, it’s not about the education you end up getting at all. It’s about how you use what you earned. We like to call the degree the “freedom paper” because the higher level of degree you have, the more freedom society allows you to have. That is the unfortunate truth about the society we live in. The good news is that not only can you do education and entertainment at the same time if you want, but your educational journey will be worth it. You will not only have more freedom in life to do or be whatever you want, but you will also benefit from the freedom those degrees offer for the rest of your life. No one will ever be able to take away something you’ve earned. Now let’s get into some educational tips that can help you get what you need so you can do what you want!
RELATE to what you learn
Being able to relate to what you’re learning in school is a very smart way to go about your educational journey. It makes the content more interesting. Not only that, but it also makes the content much easier to learn because you have a reference you can use to help you relate to what you’re learning about.
We won’t get into specifics, but there is a way to relate every school subject to your life in some way. As you’re doing your homework, it might be a good idea to think about ways the homework relates to your life. Once you’ve come up with something, write it down as a note to yourself. You’d be surprised how much you remember things you write down. Not only that, but you will always have somewhere to refer to when you write things down. It starts to get hard to keep everything in your brain when more and more information comes into it.
A great practice you can do during class (assuming you take notes, which we obviously think is necessary for school) is to simply ask the teacher if they could explain the material in a way that makes it more relatable. You’d be surprised at how much their answer will help you. Asking questions, just like writing things down, will help you learn the material better because you are engaged in a way that will ultimately help you understand it.
The key to learning is applying what it is that you learned. If you learn something and don’t apply it, what’s the point of learning it? Who cares? This is something that’s slept on by a lot of students. Some students feel like what they’re learning about doesn’t apply to their life. We challenge you to figure out if there is a way it can. Think outside the box. You’d be surprised at what you come up with. The whole point of taking notes in class is to apply the notes on the test. Why waste your time taking notes if you’re not going to apply them? And why waste your time going to school if you’re not going to take notes in the first place? You might as well make the most of your time in school. Let’s keep it REAL, the whole point of most classes we take is to pass them so that we can move on to what we want to do. It’s okay to be honest and admit that. It’s also okay to decide to actually pay attention to the information you need to get the grade you need to pass the class. Trust us, it will make your life so much easier if you figure out how things you’re learning about in school apply to your life outside of school.
This tip is meant to encourage students to engage with what they are learning. Let’s keep it REAL, nobody wants to fail a class because that means you have to retake it anyway. Why waste time retaking a class we don’t like in the first place? Doesn’t make much sense to us. So take the time to apply what you’re learning about in school and you’ll be done with it before you know it. You’ll make it easier on yourself to get what you need and it might even make the content more interesting anyway. A win-win situation.
You start to create a process of thinking when you apply what you learn. When you see it on a test, your mind goes straight to what’s familiar to you. If you apply what you learn to something familiar to you, it’s easier to remember the concept of whatever the test question is. If you’re writing a paper, relating to your own life can help you think about the setup of the paper. Even if it’s a research paper where you can’t share personal details, you can still use your own experience as a guide to formatting the paper. We’ve found that this strategy makes it much easier to write a long paper. So regardless of what class you’re in or what subject it is, you can use this strategy to help you think about the content for the class and maybe even write down connections you make to your own life when you’re taking notes.
EMBRACE the end goal
To embrace means to cherish and appreciate positively. Ultimately, the end goal is our “why”. It’s the reason we need to care so much. It can be whatever you want it to be, but it has to be known. You have to be aware of this goal at all times because it will be what motivates you to continue the journey (especially when the journey gets hard). We think it’s best to write down your goal somewhere and put it where you will see it at least twice per day. Yes, we are keeping our theme of writing things down with this tip. It’s important to remember your goal because sometimes we get distracted (especially when the journey gets hard). Let’s keep it REAL, it only takes less than a minute to write a goal down, but it will mean happiness forever once the goal is achieved.
Another way of embracing the end goal is to set a few smaller goals that will lead to accomplishing the end goal. Let’s keep it REAL, $1,000,000 feels like a lot to us. But, when you think about it with a different perspective, that’s only $10,000 per day for 100 days or $1,000 per day for 1,000 days. We don’t know about you, but breaking down the numbers made it a little more possible for us. It really does make us want to figure out how to make $1,000 for 1,000 days, which is under three years. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to be a millionaire in under three years from today? The only other step left is taking action toward the smaller goals.
When you embrace your goals in this way, you force yourself to want to achieve more and more. The great thing about education is that you can take control of the goals you set by using school to your advantage. Let’s keep it REAL, what’s the point of being forced with boredom all day in school if you can’t use them to your advantage and get what you need? Again, we will continue to reiterate that you can involve yourself with entertainment and thrive in school at the same time! With that being said, your goals can mirror each other in this way as well. Why not become a famous rapper and a doctor? Or a star basketball player and on the honor roll? Why not be the president of the United States who also has pieces of art displayed at art museums? The tip here is to embrace the goals you have and make them achievable!
ALWAYS lead by example
Whether you like it or not, if you’re reading this right now there is someone out there who looks up to you. They see you as a role model for how they might want their life to look in the future. This is a lot of responsibility. Let’s keep it REAL, we don’t always remember this when we make some of the decisions we make. Think about the culture. Think about how you can impact that culture. Think about the example you can set, by being yourself. Certain negative decisions are made when we are not in the right state of mind. We are not always in a great state of mind when making certain judgment calls. We’ve all been there; but with that being said, everybody has leadership qualities.
Since we are all unique in who we are, we can all lead in our own way. While this is a big responsibility, realizing this can be so powerful. There is a sense of empowerment within us that develops and ultimately becomes who we are. When we realize our leadership potential, we have the power to always lead by example. Only positive outcomes can come from being ourselves and leading by example. Our culture is positive by nature, so why force negativity?
When we think about education, we all have to go through the system of elementary, middle and high school, unless we are homeschooled. Even for students who receive their education at home, students must be able to prove a certain level of understanding before they can move on. So, we all go through this process. Since we all have to go through it, we can help each other by leading by example. This does not have anything to do with the grades we get. This has to do with the amount of effort we put in. Leading by example means putting forth maximum effort. The good news about putting forth max effort is that you’ve literally done all you can do. Since there is nothing more you can do, you can feel satisfied with the results because that represents your best. That’s what keepin it REAL is all about!
LISTEN to LEARN
Let’s keep it REAL, doesn’t it feel good when someone listens to you, especially when you feel like you have something important to say? You’d be surprised at how powerful listening is. We consider active listening as the only form of listening. There’s a big difference between active listening and just hearing something. When you actively listen, you engage with what you are listening to in some way. This can mean asking follow-up questions, offering additional suggestions or even acting on what you’re listening to. Listening can also mean to simply agree with what you’re listening to, but even doing that takes an active approach. If you’re not engaged with what’s being told to you, then (by our definition) there is no way you’re listening.
The power of listening comes when you learn from what you listen to. That’s the whole point of listening anyway! So, the more you listen, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you earn. It’s as simple as that. Listening can also be done by observing actions made by others. Stay with us. It’s listening because you can learn from it. If you think about chess, it’s just a form of listening. You have to consider what move the opponent makes before you make your next move. Shouldn’t that same concept apply to school? Doesn’t it make sense to listen if you want to win? If a chess player never considers the other player’s moves, there is no way they will win; and winning is graduating from school in this case.
We get it. Listening is extremely hard to do when what’s being said or done is extremely boring; but let’s keep it REAL, teachers have to do their job, which is to help students learn. It’s only right then that the students have a job too. Their job is to learn. How do we learn? Yes, by listening. How do we listen? Be active. This brings us back to making the material relatable. Think about how it relates to your favorite movie, or your favorite TV show. Think about how you can even relate it to your own life. Try it out. It can’t hurt.
In conclusion, a lot of people ask, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” A good follow-up question would be to ask, “why?” We take this for granted sometimes, but the “why” is more important than the “what”. Think about this for yourself. Not only what do you want to be, but why do you want to be that? Knowing the answer to this question might help you understand the importance of Recognizing Education And Learning. There are endless benefits to appreciating education in the classroom and learning outside the classroom. When you understand their importance, you can be and do whatever you want. Let’s keep it REAL, rappers can have master’s degrees as well. Professional basketball players can become doctors. Doctors can become professional basketball players. Why not excel at both? Why not be great in the classroom and outside of it? Why settle for one or the other? We all have unique greatness that should be shared with the world, without limits.
Keep it REAL.
Recognize Education And Learning 