Last summer, I was really excited to be going off to university, because I love football and I was offered the opportunity to play for the school football team, while on a full football scholarship. I wasn’t concerned about balancing school and sports, since I’d carried a full course load while playing on my high school football team, and had even managed to get As in most classes. However, when I got to university, reality hit me hard in the face. The university football practices were much more intense than high school football practices, and us players were required to work out for several more hours per week. I also had trouble adjusting to academic life, since course material progressed at a much faster pace than in high school, and there was just so much assigned reading. Additionally, I had to fit things into my schedule that my parents had often taken care of for me at home, such as getting my own meals and doing my own laundry. Furthermore, I was required to maintain an A-minus average in order to keep my scholarship. After a few weeks of being at university, and after receiving Bs on my first few assignments, I realized that I was in trouble—I just couldn’t keep up with everything I had to do. I didn’t want to quit football, but it looked like I might have to.
Fortunately, I decided to talk to my football coach before making any rash decisions. He recommended a program to me which teaches effective study skills, such as time management and speed reading. The program is called, “Max Grades Min Effort,” and was created by Jacky Truong, a civil engineering graduate who struggled with school in his early years, but revamped his studying methods and graduated within the top 5% of his class. After looking at the website for his product, I decided that Jacky probably knew what he was talking about, and would be a good “coach” for me on the studying “field.” I immediately ordered his program, which includes five e-books, Gantt Chart time management software, and a 14-day Action Plan, all for the low introductory price of $47. After reading the e-books, the main thing I realized was that I needed to learn to work more quickly. In high school, I had always had enough time to work at a moderate pace, since I spent less time working out and practicing then, and I also didn’t have as many chores to take care of.
In order to speed myself up, I used the speed-reading techniques that Jacky recommended, and managed to do my required readings in 75% of the time I had taken previously. Specifically, Jacky says that you must read only the important words of a text, and skip the little words, like “and” and “the.” He also instructs students to read from left to right, and then right to left in a zigzag pattern, instead of constantly reading each line from left to right, since a zigzag pattern will enable faster reading. He recommends that you read the chapter summary at the end of a chapter before starting the chapter, since you’ll get an overview of the chapter’s information from the summary, and will therefore be able to digest the information more quickly when you read it.
The night before a football game, I always visualize myself scoring the winning touchdown, and my team jumping up and down in victory. This gives me the confidence I need to go out on the field and actually try to score. After reading one of Jacky’s e-books from “Max Grades Min Effort,” I learned that the same visualization process can be used in relation to academics. Jacky instructs students to visualize themselves achieving their goals, whether those are very short-term goals, such as getting a good grade on an exam or test, or long-term goals such as graduating and landing their dream job. Before my first final exam in December, I visualized myself writing intelligent, well-crafted answers to all of the questions. When I went into the real exam, I conjured this image up in my mind, and actually was able to produce great answers. I then decided to visualize before the rest of my exams, and got good grades on all of them!
Overall, I managed to do well enough in my classes in my first and second semester to keep my football scholarship. I’m quite certain that I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the help of “Max Grades Min Effort.” Sure, going through the program took a bit of my time in October, but it turns out that it’s saving me tons of time now. Now that I’ve arranged my schoolwork in a formal schedule, as per the Gantt Chart time management software, I’ve noticed that I never stare into space, wondering what to do next anymore. While I may have only done this for a few minutes at a time, those minutes add up over a number of days, especially when you’re as busy as I am. To all you other busy student athletes out there (and to those students who participate in extra-curricular activities other than athletics), I strongly recommend that you purchase “Max Grades Min Effort” if you’re having trouble balancing school and your hectic schedule. If you’re anything like me, you’ll feel an extreme sense of relief when you find yourself able to use the principles you learned from the program to take control of your life again. You can purchase the program from http://maxgradesmineffort.com/, using PayPal, your credit card, or your debit card.
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