What is Education?
Education is like an apprenticeship between student and teacher. Originally, the teacher provides example, direction, evaluation, and help.

However, as time goes on, students become more self- sufficient, more self-directed, and more self-critical. Finally, the student becomes teacher, his or her own teacher.

The goal is to become your own teacher.

From How to Be a Successful Student by Donald Martin

The responsibility for academic success lies with you, the student-athlete. You have the responsibility to ask for help when you are not doing well in a class. You have the responsibility to complete assignments on time. Ultimately, you have the responsibility to take control of your own learning process and to become an academic success.

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Tips to Academic Success

• Go to class-every class-with class! Try missing practice and see what your coach thinks and says.
• Sit in the front of the classroom.
• Stay alert in class. Don't yawn or stare out the door or window.
• Be familiar with course requirements. Read the SYLLABUS.
• Get a notebook and keep all notes, handouts, and syllabi together.
• Record in a calendar all test and assignment due dates, scheduled competitions, and meetings and appointments.
• Keep up with reading assignments. Don't wait until the night before a test to begin your reading.
• Get to know at least one other person in each of your classes. They can help you if you have to miss a class for a competition.

Managing Your Time

With the heavy athletic demands you have, it is very important that you manage your time wisely. Here are just a few tips to help you make efficient use of your time.

• Set aside a definite time for studying each day. This discourages procrastination and prevents work pileup.
• Make use of breaks between classes. Read over your notes at least three times as soon after class as possible. The information will "stick" better if you review while it is still fresh in your mind.
• If you are required to attend study hall then make the most of that time.
• Don't cram for hours the night before a test; instead, distribute your studying in hour segments over several days.
• Keep up-to-date with course work. College terms start slowly. They gradually get busier and busier, reaching a peak at final exam time. Paper due dates usually fall at the end of the semester. If you don't plan well, you may find yourself trying to complete several term papers when you should be preparing for finals.
• It is very important to keep up with courses where material learned early in the course is needed to under- stand later information. Accounting, mathematics, and foreign language are among such courses.

The Student/Professor Relationship

Most instructors are willing to help you any way they can as long as you show a willingness to do your part. Here are a few things to remember:

• Don't be afraid to talk to your professors.
• Ask for help and assistance on specific areas of study. Remember, teachers enjoy helping you learn. A student doing poorly who seeks a professor's help will rate higher in the professor's eyes than an indifferent student of any kind.
• Never say you need a grade, always state what you want to achieve from the course.

Studying the Professor

Students should not only know their professors, but they should know as much about each professor's teaching techniques as possible.

• Classroom participation and attendance are usually viewed as genuine interest while absences indicate indifference. While some professors may not grade directly on the two, they may for example push a high "D" over the edge to a "C."
• Find someone who has had your instructor already and discuss the professor's testing style.
• What parts of the course does the professor like most and least? Any time a professor writes something on the board and/or repeats a point several times, take note. The information will really appear on an exam.

Note Taking Tips

• Do not try to write every word of lecture! Professors speak approximately 150 words per minute. Use your own particular style of shorthand, but be sure to write clearly.
• Look over the notes of the previous lecture to connect with the upcoming one.
• Always date your notes.
• Always record anything the instructor writes on the board.
• Listen carefully at the end of lectures for summaries, conclusions, or clues to test questions.  Don't pack your books until the professor is finished talking.
• Fill in gaps right after class by getting with another student or asking the professor.
• Rewrite class notes to give you a second look at the material and provide the opportunity to recall information.