When I started school this past semester, I had a very difficult time managing my schedule at first. Unlike a lot of first-year students, I had to work to support myself, and I still do. In the beginning, I found it very difficult to fit studying in when I was waitressing four nights a week. Most students do their studying at night, but I was usually at work. When I got home at around 1 AM, I really didn’t feel like opening up my books. I tried to cram all my work into my days off, but I sometimes didn’t get it all done, and if I did, it seemed like it was done in a rush. It was very rare that I’d manage to get a good grade on an assignment or test. I wasn’t sure what to do—I wanted to stay in school so I could get a better job in the future, but it didn’t seem like I could find the time to study properly unless I quit my part-time job, which wasn’t an option if I wanted to eat.
A classmate of mine, after hearing about my troubles, directed me to “Max Grades Min Effort.” This is a study help program created by a civil engineering graduate, Jacky Truong. Apparently, Jacky struggled with school too, but then he completely revamped his study strategies and managed to move into the top 5% of his class by his graduation. I checked out the website for his program (http://maxgradesmineffort.com/), and after seeing that the product was being offered at an introductory price of $47, I decided that I could spare the cash. I ordered the program and downloaded the five e-books, the time management software, and the 14-day Action Plan. I didn’t have time to go through the program fully until I had a few days off at Christmas, during which I went to my parents’ house.
At my parents’ house, the first thing I did was start reading the e-books, which dealt with topics such as goal setting, time management, and avoiding procrastination. My parents were pleased that I had found something to help me with my academic performance, since I had complained to them throughout the first semester about my troubles. Not having been to university before, they didn’t know exactly how to help me.
The most important pieces of information I got from the e-books were about how to complete my work more quickly. When I returned to school, I followed Jacky’s instructions regarding how to read at a faster pace—I hadn’t known that reading every word is counterproductive, and I should only read the most important words, skipping ones like “and” and “the.” I read the summaries at the end of each chapter before delving into the body of each chapter, as Jacky recommended, so I would have a general idea of what I would be reading about before starting. This, combined with not having to read every single word, made my reading material seem much more interesting. I also experienced success with another strategy which worked for Jacky, listening to up-tempo music while reading. By using these new reading techniques, I was actually able to complete all my assigned reading during my first week back in class! I also made good use of the chart provided in one of the e-books, which allowed me to enter the amount of hours I spent working and in class each day in order to determine how many hours in a week I had left over for school work. I discovered that I had more than enough time to finish everything; my free time was just stuck between classes or between work and class. I took Jacky’s suggestion of keeping a textbook with me to read whenever I had a spare minute, and this allowed me to focus more on my major assignments when I was at home.
Thanks to “Max Grades Min Effort,” I was able to pick up my working pace and be more productive on the days I had to work. Using the Gantt Chart time management software which came with the program also helped me stick to my schedule. Once I started scheduling all my tasks, instead of just doing them when the mood struck, I was even able to fit some social time in. I’m so thankful that my classmate recommended this program to me, and I now recommend it to every other student whom I know is struggling with balancing work and school. On average, my grades went up 20% in my second semester, after I started following the principles I learned through the program, and I have happily registered for my second year of college classes. If you want to improve your school performance, too, go to the website I mentioned above and order Jacky’s program; you can pay with PayPal, your credit card, or your debit card, and it’s still being offered at the introductory price of $47
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