Be a Graduate: Ace Your Assignments and Exams Without Burning out in Easy Study Formula.

Copyright © 2021 by Yolanda Hiew, PhD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1     Why College Students Drop Out

Chapter 2     What Is Your Goal

Chapter 3     What to Expect in College

Chapter 4     How to Start Your New Semester

Chapter 5     How to Manage Your Time

Chapter 6     How to Tackle Assignments

Chapter 7     How to Collaborate in Group Work

Chapter 8     How to Prepare for Final Exams

Chapter 9     How to Remember What You Learn

Chapter 10   How to Handle Relationships

Chapter 11   How to Live a Healthy Life

Chapter 12   What Is College Depression

Chapter 13   Where to Get More Help

Inspirational Success Stories

Bibliography

About the Author

FOREWORD

The brain is like a parachute. It’s only useful when it’s open.

The reason why most smart students fail is they don’t know how to study, so the brain shuts down when they try to study. Nothing gets retained, facts forgotten, blank during exams, and smart students fail!

That’s the big difference between knowing what to study and how to study!

The question is, how to open up the brain?

Albert Einstein’s famous quote Curiosity is more important than knowledge reveals the truth. Curiosity leads to interest that instigate attention and staying focused, which gives better retention and improved marks in exams.

That’s my aspiration, to spark a deep curiosity for learning, and I can give myself a pat on the back if the learner who sits in my class walks out of the classroom with a curiosity to continue learning and becomes a lifelong learner!

It is my passion, over the last two decades, to inspire lifelong learning in every student. When I left my five-year teaching profession as a secondary school teacher to start my own education center in Singapore, I knew it was not going to be a typical learning center. Genius IQ was born out of that deep desire to help students learn how to study and offer emotional management tools for maximum success. Part of that holistic approach is to educate parents on positive parenting skills so they can also support the child in learning how to learn to improve their school grades and well-being.

Another signature program that I have been conducting is the Secrets to Exam Success that has helped over one hundred thousand primary and high school students internationally in the past twenty years for greater self-esteem and belief in their own potentials by upgrading their minds to think out of the box.

As the saying goes, A good teacher provides knowledge and information, but a great teacher inspires learning!

In this book, Be a Graduate, Dr. Yolanda Hiew truly inspires and empowers tertiary students to ultimately pass the exams and get a degree, which is every student’s dream. She shares her story of achievements in her own educational journey and her mission to empower students’ academic success holistically. I’m beyond thrilled as we share a similar vision on the true meaning of education!

The author is the epitome of an educator, given her shining credentials. She continues to unlearn and relearn and is the ambassador of a lifelong learner. Being an active student in my programs, she is one who walks the talk; first, transforming her profession through personal development to become a life coach and entrepreneur, and then as a parent, to enhance her skills in positive parenting.

This book is indeed a unique study skills guide for students’ academic excellence. It is not simply a book for college students to score in exams, but also a life manual, a dire need in our changing and challenging times in the millennial generation; one that addresses education beyond just academics but as a synergistic interaction of study skills and the emphasis toward the mind, emotion, body, and health, as a tool to excel in higher learning, personal growth, and beyond.

As a nutritionist by profession, I believe nutrition plays an important role in the brain development and supporting the immune system of each child so they grow healthily. This book brilliantly presents a chapter that is essential for college students to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle with proper diet while studying.

From tackling assignment and exam preparation to time management and handling relationships, this book comes in handy for students who are burned out, depressed, and unable to focus on their studies. The author diligently includes a chapter that explains well on college students’ depression and how parents and teachers can assist to prevent it.

While using herself as an example of a graduate in her book, Dr. Hiew covers all the elements of what is needed exactly for a college student in this era to survive and excel in study and in life. Clearly written, well organized, and enormously practical, this book should be in every college’s and university’s professional library, a must-read for those who aspire to do well and obtain a bachelor’s degree qualification.

Suria Sparks

Celebrity Nutritionist

Founder of Genius IQ Positive Parenting

PREFACE

Your brain will work tirelessly to achieve the statements

you give your subconscious mind. And when those

statements are the affirmations and images of your

goals, you are destined to achieve them!

—Jack Canfield

I aspire to help students become a graduate and high achiever in life without stress or burning out in the shortest time possible. I am sure you want a solution to your study problem that you are facing right now. I want to share with you how I completed my tertiary study successfully in every course, and I want to teach you how you can do the same by following my step-by-step guide. I am indebted to the study skills of best-selling author Stella Cottrell, whom I have learned from her Success Skill Student Handbook when I was studying at the University of East London in 1997 and I have attended her lecture. Stella’s handbook has helped me in my study to the finishing line. I obtained a second upper class honors degree.

This book, Be a Graduate, is targeting freshmen or school-leavers, preuniversity and undergraduate students like you who may have difficulty in reading fast and taking notes during lecture and challenges such as getting your assignments done, working as part of a team, remembering what you learned, and relationship problems.

I was not a straight A or top student. I was an average student, but I know, with the right skills and determination to succeed, you can get through your study much easier. I have been studying, teaching, and learning all my life and have not stopped learning since I finished my formal schooling up to gaining a doctorate. My principle is that once I start a course, I would complete it in time no matter what happened. You can do it, too. I can help you to become better at studying, achieve higher grades in exams, and to be more confident in your life. The basic survival skills you learn in this book also help you build a habit in your lifelong learning for personal development after graduation. It is my duty to impart my knowledge to help you and many students to be successful in studies and in life. My wish for you is that you achieve your goal, get the degree you deserve, embrace your values, keep on learning, and live your dreams!

What triggered my interest in the content of this book is the high rates in students suicide statistics around the globe. Thus, depression and suicide are of increasing concern on college campuses, with one in four young adults aged eighteen to twenty-four diagnosed with mental illness. In a survey, 16 percent of college students reported being diagnosed with a depressive disorder, many within the last year. Over 90 percent of students who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. Research study shows during the 2019 to 2020 school year, over one-third of university and college students in the US screened positive for moderate to severe symptoms of depression.

Student suicide cases are on the rise worldwide, and it caught my attention few years ago. I heard the shocking news about a student who plunged to his death at his university campus when he didn’t get the exam results he expected, and feeling too embarrassed to face his parents and peers. I was saddened by the news. A recent survey by Boston University reveals depression in young people now reaching its highest levels, a sign of the mounting stress factors due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a survey at BestColleges.com, 95 percent of college students have experienced negative mental health symptoms as a result of COVID-19-related circumstances.

Many parents don’t know what to do when their college-going children face the challenges of college depression, apart from other personal matters like relationship and money issues the students face. I wrote two e-books and published via an online platform to create awareness on student stress. My main purpose for the e-books was to eliminate further suicidal attempts, and I was hoping that more students, teachers, and parents would read and understand why college students drop out. I believe these students have a dream and are with high hopes, but they couldn’t make it to the finishing line.

Thus, the main purpose of this book is to teach students how to survive in college and university, helping them to help themselves get through their studies. Learning about study skills for higher academic levels is crucial for you as a student, which gives you the opportunity to develop the personal skills that are transferable to employment after graduation. Students who dropped out of college are either a genius pursuing their dreams or lacking knowledge in their study and personal skills. Once you know the secret of how to study and cope with exams, you will get through all your struggles and become a graduate before you realize it! This book emphasizes not only the skills required to succeed in college, but also includes the importance of knowing what to expect in college, how to handle relationships, how to live a healthy life and to be mindful of matters that blend into a student’s life, where most study skills books don’t cover.

The ultimate aim of higher education is not getting straight As or a first-class degree, but learning how to learn and focusing on what you do at the present moment is a vital life skill here. I spent hours scouring study techniques books and research journals to find the best ways to learn more effectively. Hence the existence of this book. I’m a lifelong learner, and I have since completed my highest formal education. Over the course of my academic career, I have used most of the tips outlined in this book and taught them to my students, who have also benefited from the techniques. I can ensure that these learning techniques will work for you if you follow through! Have faith. Be thankful.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I dedicate this book to the memory of my father, Stephen S. K. Hiew, who embraced hope, patience, and perseverance. His love of life, positive mindset, and generous spirit were a continuous source of inspiration to me. I’m thankful for his love, trust, and encouragement toward my academic success journey.

My deep appreciation for my beloved daughter, Jade, for being a huge part of my personal