 Hello, everybody. Andrea here with Dental L. In this video, I want to talk to you guys about how to study and really manage focused studying while you're still in college. So either studying for your dental assisting program, dental hygiene program, really any program, but I'm going to teach you guys how to study properly and make the most out of your time. I went to dental assisting school. I went to dental hygiene, a restorative hygienist. I've been in school a lot. At least I feel like it. So I definitely did the same things in all of my programs and it really helped me so much so where I would have study groups at lunchtime, after school when I had time just to kind of help other students really do the same thing. And I don't have a photographic memory. I have a bad memory. And it was always really hard for me to stay focused. But when I did these couple things, it really helped. And remember back then, kind of aging myself, we didn't really have cell phones, we didn't have YouTube, we didn't have the internet as much as we do now. So it can make it very difficult. First of all, I want to say, listen to what your body tells you. You might think that sounds kind of corny, but it's so true. If you just don't feel like studying or you're sick, or you're not feeling well, you just spent six hours in class, you're exhausted, you have a full time job. Don't study that day, your body needs a break. Your body is completely valid and that is okay. So that's the first tip that I want to give everybody is pay attention to your body. Now the next tip is the amount of hours that you study is really important. So you should always be studying. I'm going to tell you when you're in college, when you're in your dental program dental assisting dental hygiene, whatever it might be. When you're in your program, you should never have a night where you're saying to yourself, there's nothing to do. What do I do. That's impossible in our dental programs trust me there's always something to do. That's the recording for a second you guys could you tell I just had to let the dogs out that's what happens when you work from home, and you don't edit out your videos this is live I don't do editing if you haven't noticed. So talking about studying again. So if you're thinking oh I have nothing to do tonight I have no homework no projects know nothing. Something's wrong there's always something to do well you're in your program. What you need to do and this is another tip so actually no sorry guys let me go back. I want you guys to study two hours a day minimum for your exams and your quizzes, things like that two hours a day minimum upwards to six hours now studying while you're in college is different than studying for the board exam. If you were studying for the board exam, I would say two to six hours every single day of studying. While you're in college two hours at least for studying, but I want to say two to four hours at the most. I don't want you going home at night studying for six hours for your anatomy test that you're taking tomorrow or next week whatever it doesn't matter. That's actually too much because you're in school all day long. You're going to be tired for those of you guys who do have to work after school. That's just a lot going on your brain can only retain so much. But if you're going home again so bringing me back to my next point if you're going home saying I have nothing to do. Find something to study for for two hours if there's really nothing to study for if there's no tests or exams for the next three weeks lucky you then work on a project work on an assignment something that you have to. That brings me to my next point you should all have a calendar, whether it be an agenda on your phone iPad computer you can do anything these days. You should have a calendar with a schedule, mark down when your tests are exams projects are due this is due this presentations do all of that. For every quiz for every exam for every test, if you will, try to study at least one week before you take that quiz sometimes instructors don't give you that much time they might give you four days and say you have a test in four days. Maybe you might say you have a test at the end of the month. I don't want you guys studying for that test for four weeks. That would be too much. You're going to forget what you learned, but a week before that is good. If you find you're studying a week before but you didn't do well on that test, then maybe study two weeks before you might need more time, but a week is usually fine so your problem. And most of you probably aren't studying a week beforehand are you try that I promise you and this is how that studying goes. So let's say you have a test next Wednesday in anatomy so today, Wednesday will say, you will study for an hour for that test. You will read through your PowerPoint notes however you want to do it, but study for that anatomy test. After that hour I can promise you you're not going to know anything, you're not going to retain anything. Don't be discouraged, don't study for another hour, study another hour for something else, another topic, another exam, whatever it is, but don't study for two hours the same thing and I'll tell you why. The next day you're going to study an hour again for that anatomy test. And guess what you're still not going to remember too much, but as you're reading through the notes you're going to start to remember a little bit you're going to say oh I read through this. Yesterday okay I'm picking out these key points so read through the same material, you did the day before but then I also want you to take another hour, and then read through the rest of the PowerPoint notes, whatever so you're always going back first what you did the day before studying that first and then studying something new for the same topic though. Does that make sense at the end of that week, you will probably be studying anatomy for half an hour. Towards the end of the week, and you will be going through everything it will be a quick read through, whereas the first few days the first two to four days you're going to be reading over those notes, and you're going to be saying to yourself oh my gosh this took me like an hour to study all of this, and I feel like I didn't remember anything that will happen but towards the end of the week. You'll be studying for half an hour reading all of the notes like you'll be going so fast and then going like I get this, but it doesn't happen overnight you guys you need to allow yourself to study for at least three days. An hour each time maybe even two hours if you feel you need the two hours, and then you will start to retain that material that's the best kept secret ever. And I did well I was in school, that's what I taught other students, every student said to me Andrea that's crazy I'm not doing that, but if they did it, they think to me afterwards and they said I not only memorized what I was doing but I understood it better I was able to retain that information and when they have that final exam at the end, they all said to me I remembered a lot of what I went back to read. So that's the key. The thing about college is you get so overwhelmed because you'll have four tests this week for exams the next week to projects also do. Oh, you're in clinic from nine to five or whatever. There's so much to do in such a little amount of time. The key is to be organized take out that calendar write down everything that you have coming up, and even take it a step further even maybe on another calendar, say what you're going to do each day and cross it off after you've done it, check it off and that will make you feel pretty good. I definitely do that. So there's going to be so much but if you study a week before every test, you will get a good mark if you get a good mark you feel confident, and it's much easier to keep studying if that makes sense for other tests. If you fail your pharmacology exam, you're just going to be so unfocused and it's going to be hard for you to study for other tests. It's going to be hard for you to focus in school all all of that is going to be so hard because you're so mad at yourself for failing that pharmacology test so study a week before any test any exam and I promise that will help you do a little bit every day. So if you have four tests, the week after you're going to be studying a lot, but you will get better and better but again listen to your body. So if you're studying for anatomy today for two hours and then you say oh my god I'm exhausted. I should be studying for pharmacology but I just can't. Don't do it because you won't retain anything and it's just a waste of your time. What I used to do is I would literally study an hour or so before I would go to bed, because one, I would feel like okay I'm going to get this studying in. It's going to make me feel good it's going to help me sleep because I got studying and but it also made me tired so I had a great sleep because I was able to get to bed, whereas I found if I didn't study before bed I feel guilty. And I'd be like, I should be studying it like it would keep me up at night it was just crazy. So, but different schedules work for different people you might find you study better, waking up a little bit early in the morning that never worked for me I never studied in the morning. On weekends study more when you're not in school. If that's your full time job you guys on weekends studying is going to be your full time job. Okay, I hate to say it, but what always helped me get through school was to remind myself it's not forever. I've told you guys if you haven't seen those YouTube videos I have told you guys, I hated dental hygiene college I cried every day I did it was stressful we had clinic we had class we had tests we had exams. We had teachers who hated us, we had teachers who liked us, then we had more projects more exams it was overwhelming I worked full time after school, I had to I didn't have a choice. It was awful, but it was worth it. It's not forever. Let me help you be a lot less stressed. Okay you guys. Thank you for listening comment below of any questions and if you are in school and need help. I do offer a full student Academy prep course, where I do offer you tutoring package all kinds of things while you're in school tutoring as a group to help everybody save money so you're not paying a fortune for tutoring it's going to be as a group because there are other students just like you who need help who want the help, all of that. Okay, I'll leave the link for you guys down below let me know if there's any questions, and I'll talk to you guys very soon.