When I was in the university, a friend shared with me his secret on how he got onto the Dean's List for almost every semester. He had definitely studied really hard but he had also studied really smart.
He achieved his amazing results by making sure that whenever he revised for his exams, he would revise with a group of friends. Hang on a second, there are definitely a lot of people who study with friends, but we can be pretty sure not that many of them will be getting onto the Dean's List. And he told me that the difference was that he made sure his friends knew that he would be available to teach them whatever they didn't know something. And he wasn't simply discussing the subject with them, he would put in the extra effort beforehand to be about 20 to 30 percent more prepared than his friends. And since he was also known to be one who is consistently in the Dean's List, his friends knew he could be trusted and so during exam period he would usually be swamped with many people asking him questions. Probably … even more than the Professors teaching those modules.
I myself was also on the Dean's List but my productivity spike when I studied and revised in isolation. So I couldn't really understand why he did that because to me having so many people trying to get your attention and asking you questions all the time would be very, very distracting.
This was what he explained to me. He told me, when you start learning or revising a new subject, especially when it's Math or Science-related, there will always be gaps in your understanding because the initial perspective of this new subject is still going to be pretty narrow. It's new, it's unfamiliar, you have not been tested so … you can't possibly know what you don't know! But the moment when you start teaching people, it will immediately challenge you to think deeper and reveal any of your inadequacies, and your perspectives of the subject will broaden because you now can also start seeing from other people's perspectives. And if you can help them truly understand and apply the theories and formulas, you can then be 100% certain that you have master and solidify your own understandings and applications. And if you can teach your friends to know the subject better, they will most likely come back to you with higher quality questions and bringing together with them those tougher exam questions too, and this will in turn refine your understanding of the subject even further. He told me that it has never been necessary for him to go hunt for difficult exam questions to practice because the difficult questions would automatically come find him! And trust me that he did this not just to benefit himself but to also genuinely help his friends because more and more of his friends also started getting A or into the Dean's List in the subsequent semesters.
Youtuber, Ali Abdaal also mentioned this in one of this study tips. He titled that tip as “Teach what you are learning”.
So if you are a student trying learn a new Math topic well or if you are revising for your exams, generously share your knowledge with your friends, and work hard to know the subject at least 20% – 30% better than the friends around you so that they know you are someone they can trust to learn good information about the topic. And the more you teach and share, the more knowledgeable and well-equipped you will become.
This video is about how my friend was on the Dean's List ALMOST every semester, but I should probably make another video to share how I stayed on the Dean's List EVERY single semester.
Meanwhile, happy learning 😊