The virtual study session hosted by GRF Sam was a surprisingly very productive co-working “space.” I loved his implementation of the pomodoro study method where we worked for 45 minutes straight and then had 5-7 minute stretch breaks. Since this study session took place right after all of my semi-final examinations, by that point I only had one more project left to do and this co-working session was the perfect balance of productivity and socialization I needed in order to get the motivation to get my project started. Moreover, I plan to implement the pomodoro technique more often because I realized that if I’m able to get work done for 45 minutes straight- with full focus and no distractions it’s a lot more productive than dragging an assignment out for 2 hours, that can easily be done in 1 hour. All in all, this was a lovely study session and I’m glad I learned a new studying strategy!

Attending the Thursday virtual study session was a great reminder during the semifinals period that school was not over. Fortunately, this semester, I had no semifinals to study for or projects to finish, so the week off from classes felt like a great break. However, because I also happened to move out of campus at the start of that week, being back home felt like the semester was finally over. While I enjoyed being home, catching up with my family, and overall resting, I felt very lazy and unmotivated to complete any work. Therefore, attending the study session forced me to get back into the study-mode and plan ahead for the rest of my semester.  

Additionally, it was interesting trying out the Pomodoro (20 minutes work, 5-minute break) study technique. Since my freshman year, I’ve been fairly consistent with my study techniques and planning methods. This usually consisted of working for hours straight until I felt unproductive and took 20-30 minutes to take a nap or browse social media. I realized sitting for so long is not beneficial, so I’ve actually changed up my study methods quite a lot this semester, and the study session allowed me to try something new as well. I haven’t tested out the Pomodoro technique since the session, but I will definitely be trying it out again! 

Tonight we had a study session. I usually like studying by myself but I decided to try this out and study my scientific names for my Field Crops lab practical tomorrow. We used the Pomodoro method where you study for 20 minutes and then take a break for 5 minutes. I had never tried this method before but I thought it helped me stay more focused and I learned the scientific names quicker. I think that I will definitely try this method again in the future when I have other tests to study for.

I’ve just completed a nice study session on zoom with some other Rose Scholar participants. We used the Pomodoro method, which involves studying/working for 20 minutes and then taking a 5 minute break. This is a nice way to study, especially for someone who, like me, gets distracted easily. 20 minutes is a very doable amount of time to work and then one is rewarded with a nice break to stretch, move around, or scroll through social media. Usually I try to study for long periods of time but end up getting distracted and working very inefficiently. I think I will use this method more when studying on my own from now on.