Lanz Lebrilla Gr. XI – St.

Ignatius
A HEAD AHEAD

Sleepy and stressed, cramming at 11 PM with a cup of coffee by the side – the looks of a student trying to
encapsulate the last words of a chapter in a book with the brain hanging on its last few bars and only to
find out the next day drawing doodles on a test item singing country roads take me home because he
cannot remember what to answer. (Ladies and Gentlemen, friends of Mother Earth) These effects are
collateral and commonly caused by a mistake students usually make. Studying in advance should be
instilled in the minds of students to avoid cramming and staying up late, to enhance academic
performance, and to become a promising student to the school. Here is why:

Primarily, studying in advance has multiple benefits to the individual. First, it is a form of effective
studying. Often, people study in advance during their free time, and during this time the brain is fresh and
ready to learn. Reading a sentence once, it is quickly understood and absorbed well by the brain because
it has the energy to store the knowledge efficiently. And the pressure to finish studying a topic or two
does not exist because studying in advance does not require the individual to finish reading everything,
which makes it better. Second, the absorbed information becomes your background or stored knowledge.
The beauty of background knowledge is that it remains in you like a chip in your memory, and when in
question, it quickly emerges as a fresh new thought ready to be expounded. Through constant pondering
and realization, we process a subject or a concept to be part of our background knowledge. Third, you
learn. You acquire new ideas and were able to expand your knowledge. There is nothing wrong with
learning, as long as what you are learning is good, and for a good purpose. Fourth, it promotes
preparedness of the mind. Your head is ahead of the discussion and your understanding of the topic is
established, thus you have an idea or two whenever you encounter a question about the subject. This is
required for students most especially in higher education and those in Socratic teaching classes. Fifth, it
creates less stress. Every student knows that stress can wreak havoc in the mind, body, and well being of
a person. Doing work in advance greatly decreases the load and calms down the person to help him/her
focus with their obligations. Sixth, it improves mental health because it allows the brain to rest, to cool
down, and to undergo its natural process of storing of what was learned. This will significantly help the
individual to answer and remember important facts during an assessment because the mind is clear and
rested. And this leads to the last and the overall benefit – it enhances our academic performance.
Studying in advance gives the person a better understanding of the subject matter and prepares the brain
for wide ranging questions at any given moment. This also enables the person to brighten their life and to
achieve their goals amidst challenges of the 21st century and modern day education.

Reversely, being unable to study in advance leads to a chain reaction of negative effects. First, it mainly
leads to cramming. This unhealthy exercise of absorbing large volumes of informational material in a
tight timeframe only brings fatigue to the brain especially when it has undergone strenuous activities.
Only about 50% of what was studied the night or the hour before was understood. This effect is collateral,
as it involves the person to stay up late or stress in the last minutes during the day to finish a studying a
lesson before an important assessment happens. Consequently, This causes the person to have less rest
or sleep because of the time and energy consumed for cramming. This then results to a tired brain, not
being able to function at the expected level and failing to assimilate all the information and accurately
analyze situations and questions. About twice or thrice the reader will read the sentence in order for it to
be fully understood under the circumstances of a tired brain. Additionally, this is a form of ineffective
studying. Usually in these kinds of situations, what is being read goes out through an imaginary hole in
your head and sometimes, even bounces off if there is information overload. Half only retains in your
mind and does not become a part of background knowledge, as information learned by hasty
memorization or fast reading/scanning tends to fade quickly because it was rushed. Second, it makes the
person unprepared. Studying in advance equips the mind with new information to make it ahead and
prepared of the next discussion. Failing to do so makes the person unprepared for any test or assessment
encountered. Third, it creates stress. As mentioned before, stress can degrade ones personal life and
affects many aspects in the self. Not being able to study in advance increases the load of work because
studying for a quiz tomorrow for example, consumes a large amount of your time and work. Similarly,
this is an effect of cramming, or sometimes the attempt to finish all the requirements such as projects in a
rushed manner. This causes stress and panic in the person’s mind. Fourth, it affects the personal
schedule of the individual. The extra time allotted for cramming changes the schedule of a person. For
example, I stayed up late to clinch the final words in the lesson of ethnocentrism, and so I woke up late
than usual the next morning, came late to class, was not able to do the activity in the first period, and so
on. Collateral effects. And last, the main consequence is that it lowers academic performance. You
failed to answer questions asked by teacher, you were not able to give your thoughtful insight in the
essay, you became carless in your computations, and even worse, you did not even find the answer in
either A B C or D. The negative of effects of failing to study in advance more or less puts in you in a
situation close to a failing grade.

Finally, studying in advance boosts the performance of the school, as a community. First, It does not only
have positive effects to the individual, but also as a group. It boosts the reputation of a school because of
the students as a whole are getting good grades, which leaves a wonderful impression on the people.
Second, in the society, we are able to help people because of the knowledge that we have gained. For
example, even in the classroom, there are usually groups of three students or maybe four that clump
around a smart person who has a comprehensive understanding of the topic in order to be educated of
the topic. And doing this leads to creating a learning atmosphere that is beneficial to everyone.

With what has been said, studying in advance should be made into a routine in our daily lives. We should
put a head ahead of our obligations, not only for academic purposes, but also as a whole as it teaches us to
be prepared for whatever comes at us. As they say, expect the unexpected.

Outline

I. Introduction IV. Community scale

A. Opening words A. School
B. Thesis statement B. Assistance
C. Purpose C. Atmosphere
II. Benefits V. Conclusion
A. Effective studying A. Routine
1. No time limit
B. Background knowledge
C. Learning
D. Preparedness
E. Less stress
F. Mental Health
G. Academic performance
III. Negative Effects
A. Cramming
1. Staying up late
a. Tired brain
b. Less rest
2. Ineffective studying
B. Unpreparedness
C. Stress
D. Change in personal schedule
E. Low Academic performance