The Blog Of Chris Bâby

Unlike you dear reader, I have seen the movie the Bucket List, in theaters no less. I also made a bucket list with some friends after seeing it. We set it for things we wanted to do in a decade. Remembering the bucket list that I made it was about very superficial items. The list was basically to have a million dollars in the bank, sleep with super models and learn to surf, get a six pack of abs, travel to Europe, and volunteer with the Surfrider Foundation. I only did one of these things in that entire decade. You’re welcome Surfrider.  This last semester was pretty rough on me for a large variety of reasons. In order to get back on my feet I did a full reevaluation and reset a bunch of goals in several different categories. I’ve had varying degrees of success but having goals that are SMART (specific, measurable,attainable, relevant, and timely) can really impact the likelihood that you achieve them. Some of my smart goals were: Finish Bachelors- Register for cl...

   Which type of monkey student are you? College can sometimes feel like you're just hitting random keys on a type writer and hoping your professor thinks it's Shakespeare. In her Times Magazine article about Ken Bain's book "What the Best College Students Do," Annie Murphy Paul provides a nice summary of his theory. Now I don't have to buy your book Ken ! (this isn't an affiliate link, maybe I should start doing that.) And now you don't have to read Annie's article ! To quote Annie paraphrasing Ken "there are three types of learners: surface, who do as little as possible to get by; strategic, who aim for top grades rather than true understanding; and deep learners, who leave college with a real, rich education." Which monkey student do you think matches with which learner? Annie thinks that the deep learners are the most successful and should emulated the most. Obviously, I think that the  monkey student on the right i...