Hello
there!
How
have you been doing? I’ve had a week with some ups and downs but I
got to figure out a lot of things and plans in the end and tomorrow
I’m going to do a short trip with my family to close up summer time
and I’m telling you, expect something coming out of this experience
as new content.
Today I
wanted to do a short post about the coming back to classes on a
non-ballet edition.
The
thing is, dancers spend a lot of time in the studio and when we’re
young we might believe that school is not that important but believe
me that I know that later on, all knowledge is valuable and a
treasure that must be saved forever.
I was
one of the nerds that kinda loved to go back to school for many
reasons apart from coming back to regular ballet classes. The thing
about school is that kept my mind busy and I had no time to spare. I
needed to be organized in order to achieve all of my goals for the
school year.
For a
long time my main goal was to get the best grades but I now realize
that, specially on my last year in regular school, my goal was set on
really absorbing all knowledge I was given and acquire different
interests that I might’ve not known if I hadn’t studied at all.
For me,
I think I’ve already said this, but I fell for art history and
philosophy although this second one was not one of my best subjects
at all. But anyway, they connected with my personality and my
believes and I think that’s such a wonderful thing because, you
see, later on I know I want to create, to speak through a different
perspective by choreographing in the future. To do so, you should be
interested not just in trends, but also in what has happened before,
what has created what we have today through art, historic events,
political divisions and society growth. Just like that you can shape
your own mind, you can have a speech of your own and know how to
defend it publicly.
Studying
consciously gives you that freedom. Being able to read, speak and
write is something that not all human beings are able to do,
unfortunately, and while we can have that taught to us, we should
value it as the treasure it is.
Well,
the deep talk is now done and we can step into more practical things.
If
there’s something I really appreciate from my education is having
been taught to be constant and having a set schedule. That will save
you no matter if you’re a full time dancer or a soccer player.
When I
got home since I was a kid, my mum specially taught me three main
things to do before I even begun any sort of homework or study
session:
1.-
Clean your space.
2.- Set
an order of priorities before you start.
2.-
Prepare and have on hand everything you need for the task you’re
about to start.
Very
simple yet really effective. It’s amazing how a clean space can
change so much your mindset when wanting to concentrate and focus a
100% on any task. So, nowadays I would take out off my view any extra
pens or notebooks, put my phone on airplane mode and have water and
maybe coffee on hand so I didn’t have to move too much unless it
was necessary, for example.
Another
really valuable tip that worked really well for me was to do a
summary of each theme I was studying. Every student has their method
so, if that’s not your favorite, pick up the one that works for you
but stick to it during the year because that will help you to get all
knowledge of each subject as a full unit instead of separated themes
which is vital for when you’re having final exams that has six or
ten themes together in just one test.
I loved
doing recaps because I was writing them by hand and reading them at
the same time which was two ways of assimilating the concepts. Yes,
it was time consuming but it worked for me!
Also,
and that’s a personal opinion, but I believe that study groups are
a myth and don’t help you to actually study. It can be a fun
afternoon plan but really, don’t say that you’ve actually studied
next to your friends because the day of the exam you won’t have
your study group to clarify doubts. For me, I really needed to be on
my own and the only partner I really wanted by my side was my mum or
dad depending on the subject because they really really helped me to
focus and learn what I needed to.
Last
advice, when doing a thesis or a final project kind of work, keep all
bibliography and fonts updated from day one. I assure you, it’s not
pleasant to do it on the very last day and that’s a thing my mum
reminded me all the time and now I really appreciate it. It can be
tedious and boring to say that only one sentence was taken out of a
certain book but later on, your work will have a better result
because it’s been done in a much more professional way. And anyway,
remember that you would like to get credit if anything you create is
taken for a future written work, interview, research, etc.
So,
that’s some of the small tips I have for you dancers and others
that might be going back to school, high-school or even college! Take
studying as the great thing it is and don’t be scared of having
difficulties, you also learn a lot from them!
I hope
you have a lovely afternoon and I’ll see you very soon.
Love,
Muriel
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