Student Blog: Learning Can Be Fun? WHAT!?

What does academic integrity mean to me? Well damn. That's a tough one, because it is such a broad term. Personally, I believe it to be, honoring the journey of your education and your peers by prioritizing academics and treating them with respect and honesty.

How do you maintain academic integrity? You prioritize it. I also think once you remove the sense of school work being a “burden” that's when you can really start to thrive and learn. Expanding your knowledge can open doors for you!  I think a lot of the time it feels like you’re memorizing material rather than truly understanding, and retaining it. And who knows, maybe if you actually do the reading that was assigned, rather than just reading the summary on SparkNotes, you might actually find you’ll enjoy it. 

I know for me personally, making studying a group hangout was always helpful. The class I struggled with the most this past year was music theory. I had to prepare a lot  for the exams, and I had to study more than I ever had previously for other classes. To motivate myself, I organized a little study group and we would meet up in Washington Square Park when the weather was nice. We created tricks to remember the endless material we had to learn, and then made quizlets so we could have a little cram session before the test. We would bring food, have fun, and actually start to understand the material together. I also would go to the library with some friends and we’d all do our individual work. It was nice to feel a sense of community, and it inspired me to actually do my work. I know sometimes if I was in my dorm room I would be easily distracted, so going to the library would help me focus. We took breaks and chatted and it made the work feel less daunting and actually made it (somewhat) fun. 

Here's the thing, how you handle your education is up to you, but wouldn’t you rather really dive in and commit to your learning? Why spend thousands of dollars on college for classes that are going to help you earn a degree in a major that you picked (and hopefully are passionate about!) and not put in 100% of your effort. If you stay open minded with all your classes, you might even find another area of interest! Your college years only last so long, so you might as well soak up all the knowledge you can.