In your college career, you will encounter some very “interesting” professors. I had one that used to read his own essays on Victorian poetry out loud in class. He used the most obscure, pompous language that you could imagine. What was even more irritating was his giant comb-over.  His hair was past his shoulders, then he combed it over the top.  His favorite word was “ameliorate” which was what I could have done for that god-awful hair-do with a sharp pair of scissors. Sigh. These are the kind of people that make up friends to talk to on the phone just so it looks like someone has an interest in their drivel. I was often overcome with the sheer magnitude of his verbosity (translation: he was a giant wind-bag of b.s.)

This brings me to the real point of this post: sometimes college isn’t really about learning; it’s about learning to endure. You will frequently get fed up, and ask yourself if there is any real point in any of this.  You’ll be so tired that you feel like all the blood’s been drained out of your body. You might go through a phase where you’ll want to quit everyday. Just take it one day at a time, and you will get through. Don’t focus on how many courses, or years, or semesters you have left or you’ll go crazy. But you can get through anything if you can imagine yourself flipping off all the pompous asses as you take your diploma in hand. Do it for yourself, because you surely won’t be motivated by a lot of the meaningless assignments you’ll be forced to complete over the course of your degree.

Any tales of horrid profs you’d like to share? Do you agree that sometimes it’s more about enduring than learning? Do tell.

I just caught a headline that starting July 1st, a new program aimed at those low-income earners with outstanding student loan debt will come into effect. The program is the Income Based Repayment, and it will cap student loan payments at a level considered affordable after taking into consideration family size and income. According to the non-profit group the Project on Student Debt, payments will be capped at a level less than 10% of family income. As well, the program will forgive any student loan debt remaining after 25 years, and will forgive some loans in 10 years if the student loan debtor enters public service works.

Will the program apply to existing loans? Yes, existing loans in repayment will be eligible for the program, as well as as ones just starting repayment. Unfortunately, student loans currently in default, Parent PLUS loans, consolidation loans repaying a PLUS loan or private student loans will not apply. The program will be in addition to current forgiveness and forebearance programs. Contact your lender to see if you qualify.

For more information, go to the Project on Student Debt website for an explanation of how the program will work. This is most welcome news for those struggling with student debt, including myself.

Photo by Bev Sykes

If there’s one thing I love, but don’t get to indulge in very often, is a good nap. Now I feel vindicated for my love of the short power nap, because several studies have proven that short naps can improve memory. Quoted in The Daily Collegian, Penn state psychology professor Frederick Brown stated that napping “. . . [C]onsolidates your memory for efficient recall.” In other words, studying first and then napping will allow you to recall information you just learned far more efficiently than you would by skipping the nap.

A group of Israeli researchers reached the same conclusion in a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience found that participants in a study who learned material in a 90-minute session, then napped before engaging in a second 90-minute learning session showed markedly better retention the next morning after the sessions than those who skipped the nap.

Love coffee and napping? Well, you may be on to the most efficient study method ever devised! (Or at least one that covers both vices.)  It seems counterintuitive, but it takes about 20-30 minutes for caffeine’s wide-awake effect kicks in. If you down your cup of coffee, then have a short power nap, you’ll wake up rested and primed to take on even more study, reports Helen Ensellem, author of “Snooze or Lose! Ten ‘No War’ Ways to Improve Your Teen’s Sleep Habits.”  She also recommends setting an alarm if you can’t trust yourself to wake after this short of a nap. Too long naps make for grogginess, which will most definitely not enhance your study session. Ensellem says that if you find you need to nap too often, you should ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep at night.

I always found if I was studying hard for a test that I retained more information if I took the time for a short nap. This was particularly true if I was studying a subject where you need to retain a lot of factual information rather than a test that requires you to analyze information (say chemistry vs. English.) I really found a short nap helpful if I napped between studying for different courses. It just seemed to lock the information in better than if I had not napped at all.

So let’s hear it for nap time! Of course, those of you with little kids will find it hard to pull off study power naps, because if the kids are napping, that’s when you can actually get something done. But if you can, I highly recommend it.

Anyone else a fan of the study power nap?