Who and What are we Studying for?

by Jade Polay 

It's that time of year again - finals season. As students camp out at university libraries around the country, crunching numbers and cramming facts amidst stacked piles of books and endless amounts of paperwork, a glimmer of hope dangles in front of sleep deprived 18-22 year olds: winter vacation. 

The promise of a holiday break, full of lazy days with hometown friends and the opportunity to sleep in is often a motivational factor for students to get through their assignments. But what exactly motivates students to succeed on their exams? What drives students to in fact want to read that 400 page book that  they've been assigned? Is it the promise of a glorified 'A' on their transcript? The desire to brag to friends and family about academic success? Or, do students genuinely spend all of their time cramming for the greater benefit of learning and to enrich their sense of self? 

OK, the posing of the last question is somewhat humorous, but it is a notion that I have often pondered and started to take more into account, now that I have one semester left of college. While I have learned a great deal here at my time at GW, I have also mastered the art of skillfully and successfully studying. Having the ability to "effectively" study is a critical skill, but it seems that students simply study in order to get the grade and forget what it is that they are in fact learning.

I was reminded of this prospect when I was reading a post on The Huffington Post this morning. The post included this image: 

I laughed at the image, considering just how many people I know who spend more time figuring out how they can get an 'A', when they could be studying or immersing themselves in the material. Although this is not a scientific chart by any means, (it is meant to poke fun at students), I couldn't help but realize just how applicable it is to people that I know. 

All too often it seems that students, particularly at GW, become entirely caught up with doing well, that they forget about the process of learning. One of the things that I was somewhat awry about in coming to a medium to large sized university like GW, was the possibility of being lost and becoming another student in a lecture hall. Some small liberal arts colleges have other means of assessment come December that allow students to truly explore and apply what they learned, versus simply taking a multiple choice exam. 

While it is true that professors need some way to assess their student's performance, it would be beneficial if some classes could give students the opportunity to step outside the box and perhaps apply what they are learning in more "real-life" applications. I am not speaking on behalf of any of my professors' means of teaching or assessment, however, I do think that students could have more ways to express and show what they have learned, so that they don't simply memorize words and phrases to attain a specific numerical value on their transcript.