How Students Really Feel About Study

Do you enjoy study? Do your friends enjoy study? Do students in general enjoy study? What do you think? My feeling based on years of experience is that sadly, they do not. Study tends to bring up feelings of dread and even fear in many students. Rather than enjoying study, many students actively hate it! In order to understand why this is so, let’s look at some of the problems typically encountered.

The good news is that we no longer have to speculate about the problems students face with study. In years gone by, students who didn’t enjoy study might simply have been labelled as ‘lazy’ or ‘non-academic’. Thankfully, this is no longer the case. Empirical studies have documented the fact that multitudes of students (not just a tiny minority) have a very negative perception of their academic work. One problem in particular, academic procrastination (the persistent putting off of important study-related work), has been identified as a major problem. This delaying of study makes the student feel guilty, lazy, and generally just horrible inside (perhaps you are nodding your head in agreement at this point?).

Generally, the research indicates that even though students recognize the importance of academic work, they simple cannot seem to engage with it consistently. One thing that seems certain is that the problem of academic procrastination is widespread, with various studies suggesting that anywhere from 70-95% of students have significant problems consistently doing the required work. Moreover, this trend shows few signs of abating and may in fact be worsening.

From talking to students about how they perceive study, there are a few very common complaints I hear. The typical experiences I hear described include things like…

1. As students progress through school, they typically experience higher workloads and ever growing levels of stress.

2. Many are preoccupied with meeting the expectations of parents and teachers. Thoughts of getting the grades they need are ever present.

3. To manage all this mental stress, many students feel they need to put in incredibly long study sessions. However, they frequently fail to follow through on this.

4. Because of a failure to follow through on important academic work, students often report feelings of worthlessness and feelings of guilt.

Another indication that students find study stressful and even traumatic comes from a slightly quirkier source. Ever wondered what’s the most common nightmare people have? Chances are, if you are particularly anxious about exams, you may well have it at some point! One very common nightmare people have is of being in an exam hall, feeling completely unprepared, and failing the test. According to Psychologist David Fontana in his book The Secret Language of Dreams, examinations can be among the most stressful experiences in life. As such, it is hardly surprising that they make frequent appearances in our dreams. In these dreams, you may find that you cannot answer any of the questions on the test, that the test is in some foreign language or that your pencil keeps breaking. Perhaps time is running out and you cannot complete the exam in the allotted time. Or perhaps, you arrive late and miss the exam. These factors all contribute to failing the ‘dream test’. In my opinion, the fact that exams are the focus of many people’s nightmares indicates a major problem in how study and exams are commonly perceived and processed psychologically.

At this point, I’d like to ask you a question: does any of this seem like much fun to you? Constantly worrying about meeting expectations. Not doing work when you know you should and feeling guilty as a result. Dreading the thoughts of long, dreary study sessions. Sacrificing anything that you deem to be ‘fun’ in order to get things done. Having upsetting dreams often years after finishing school! I think there is something very wrong with this picture.

Surely there must be another way of achieving what you want in terms of study while also having fun and feeling good about yourself in the process. That is essentially what Next Level Learning is about. The Next Level Learning approach offers you a way out of the ‘typical student experience’. The take away message from this article is simply that if you don't enjoy study, there's nothing wrong with you! But you don’t have to suffer and struggle to be successful. In fact, as we shall see, only those who are consistently happy in what they do on a day to day basis, ever achieve real success. What we want to achieve is to take you from the place you are right now (perhaps not particularly enjoying your study experience) to a more inspiring reality (loving study and using it to serve your own life goals). This is a real possibility for you. Keep an open mind and you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

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