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    A Student’S Guide to Acing College: Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success
    A Student’S Guide to Acing College: Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success
    A Student’S Guide to Acing College: Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    A Student’S Guide to Acing College: Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success

    By Jeffrey Vaske

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    About this ebook

    Are you nervous about the rigors of college academics? Does graduating from college seem like an impossible dream? If so, A Students Guide to Acing College is for you!

    This motivational and insightful guide walks you step-by-step along the path toward academic success.

    Inside, you will find a multitude of tips, tools, and strategies designed to help you develop the essential skills necessary to succeed in college.

    You will also be introduced to several resources unique to the college experience that can assist you in achieving top grades.

    A Students Guide to Acing College gives you the tools to conquer the world of college academics and fulfill your dreams!

    Directly from the trenches: after having successfully navigated two challenging academic programs simultaneously, Jeffrey Vaske has provided a succinct and extremely useful guide for college students. Essentially, he demystifies the academic skills that students need to do well. If you have a child starting college, get him or her this book.
    Dr. Katharina Tumpek-Kjellmark, Chair, History Department, Grand View University

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateMar 23, 2011
    ISBN9781462001224
    A Student’S Guide to Acing College: Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success
    Author

    Jeffrey Vaske

    Jeffrey Vaske graduated from Grand View University in 2007 with a 4.0 grade point average while earning both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in History. As an undergraduate, he also participated in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, and was recognized as a Distinguished Military Graduate. Following graduation, he served as an officer in the United States Army Medical Department for eight years, both on active duty and in the Reserves. In 2013, he graduated from American Public University with a Master of Arts in American History, maintaining a 4.0 grade point average and earning a "pass with distinction" on his final comprehensive exam. Currently, he is working on his doctorate (Doctor of Education - Higher Education Leadership) at Maryville University in St. Louis and will graduate in December 2017. His dissertation research focuses on financial literacy with respect to student-loan debt. Jeffrey resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife, son, and daughter.

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      Book preview

      A Student’S Guide to Acing College - Jeffrey Vaske

      A Student’s Guide To

      Acing College

      Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success
      SKU-000421316_TEXT.pdf

      Jeffrey Vaske

      iUniverse, Inc.
      Bloomington
      A Student’s Guide to Acing College

      Tips, Tools, and Strategies for Academic Success

      Copyright © 2011 Jeffrey Vaske

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-0120-0 (pbk)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-0121-7 (cloth)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-0122-4 (ebk)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011903167

      Printed in the United States of America

      Cover photo courtesy of Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa.

      Author photo taken by Tim Vorland Photography, Des Moines, Iowa.

      Fallen Soldier Tribute and Prayer of Thanksgiving images designed by Noah Judson.

      iUniverse rev. date: 3/18/2011

      To my beautiful wife, Jeannine,

      who is a constant source

      of love, support, and inspiration.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1:

      You Do Not Have to Be a Genius

      Chapter 2:

      Mind Over Matter

      Chapter 3:

      Live an Organized Life

      Chapter 4:

      Go to Class (and Apply Yourself)

      Chapter 5:

      Establish a Good Rapport

      with Your Instructors

      Chapter 6:

      Maximize Your Study Time

      Chapter 7:

      Succeed Under Pressure—Taking Tests

      Chapter 8:

      Write Great Papers

      Chapter 9:

      Take Charge of Group Projects

      Chapter 10:

      Understand Online Courses

      Chapter 11:

      If All Else Fails

      Chapter 12:

      Stay Active and Have Fun

      Chapter 13:

      Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

      Chapter 14:

      Life After College

      Closing Remarks

      Appendix A: Ten More Academic Tidbits

      Appendix B: Poem and Prayer

      Appendix C: Reference List

      Introduction

      Imagine that it is welcome weekend for incoming freshmen at your college, and you have just finished moving into your dorm room or apartment. You say good-bye to your loved ones, and they begin to leave. The door closes, and after a few minutes it hits you for the first time: you are on your own, facing a monumental challenge. You must spend the next several years of your life earning a college degree.

      Your heart begins to race, and the anxiety and uncertainty of the unknown start to take over. What are my classes going to be like? Will I have good instructors? Will I have to write a lot of papers? Will the tests be difficult? Will I perform as well as the other students? Will I be able to get all of my homework done while juggling school, work, and a social life? Will I successfully complete my degree so that I can get a good job and not disappoint my loved ones? Will I …? Will I …? Will I …?

      Slow down, take a deep breath, and relax! This is a very common reaction to have during the first few days of your college experience. Moreover, these questions are all valid and relevant, especially when pondering the many uncertainties that accompany being a college freshman. However, luck and good fortune are on your side because fate has bestowed a copy of this book upon you.

      You might have acquired this book in one of several different ways: 1) it might have been a high school graduation gift; 2) you might have seen it in the campus bookstore and thought that it would be a wise investment; or 3) it might be required reading for one of your freshman seminar or introductory courses. Regardless of how you came to possess this book, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. If utilized properly, the tips, tools, and strategies in the forthcoming chapters will serve as the foundation to your academic success in college.

      At this point, you might be second-guessing yourself and your ability to do well in college. Sure, you were a good—or perhaps even a great—student in high school, but this is college! It is a completely different ballgame, right?

      Well, the answer is both yes and no. Of course, college academics are almost always more rigorous than high school academics, but the fundamental skills needed to master academics at any level remain constant. The key to success at the next level though, is to sharpen those fundamental skills and add a few new ones that are unique to the college experience. In doing so, you will be fully prepared to make a smooth transition into college academics.

      In this book, I will show you the path to academic success in college. I will present numerous tips, tools, and strategies that will help you improve your fundamental academic skills. Furthermore, I will introduce you to many resources that are unique to the college experience, which will assist you in achieving the grades that you desire. My hope is that you will use the information in this book as a blueprint of sorts to build a solid foundation so that you can achieve total academic success in college.

      Right about now, you might be wondering, Okay, who is this author, and what are his credentials for writing such a book? This is a completely legitimate question, so please allow me to introduce myself.

      My name is Jeffrey Vaske, and I graduated from Grand View University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Arts in History. I completed 209 undergraduate college credit hours and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA. I was named to the President’s List ten consecutive semesters, received numerous academic awards, and was a member of several academic honor societies. I achieved all of this while also participating in a very demanding Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. Since finishing my undergraduate degrees, I have also completed twelve graduate credit hours at Texas A&M University and have maintained a 4.0 GPA there as well.

      I am not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, and I certainly do not have a photographic memory. Nevertheless, I achieved complete academic success in college by developing, fine-tuning, and implementing a systematic approach to academics that I would like to share with you in this book. I was inspired to write this book because I believe that any student, when equipped with the proper tools, can reach and exceed all of his or her academic goals. In my humble opinion, college is just a giant game of chess: if you employ a solid strategy and always remain focused on your goals, you will dominate the game.

      Clearly, there are numerous books about college success on the market today, so what makes this one different from any of the others? First of all, most of the other books were written by authors who are much older and have a master’s or a doctoral degree. Indeed, I do not have a doctoral or even a master’s degree yet, but that is precisely

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