Even though this is, as I’ve already titled a previous post, a “year like no other,” the holidays will still provide a welcome break from your studies, whether they have been virtual, in-person, or a combination of both. While you may be anticipating your celebrations, whatever form they will take, while planning to give little to no thought to your studies, there is a better course of action to take if you wish to improve your study skills and increase your chances for success in the new year and beyond. Whether you have been given assignments to complete over your break or not, there are things you can do to work on your study skills while still enjoying your well-earned vacation. As always, the suggestions provided here are an incomplete list – hopefully, they will serve as a starting point for you to take the opportunity to come up with your own ideas. In no way are these suggestions meant to keep you from making your vacation your own – instead, they are meant to encourage you to take the chance to use the time you have to learn on your own terms, so you can find creative ways to build not just knowledge and skills, but your love of learning, too.
My first suggestion should not be at all surprising, and is probably something you have heard already – read! Obviously, if you are already an avid reader and that is not what causes you to struggle to develop your study skills, keep doing what you’re doing, and enjoy the opportunity to read for pleasure without having to make time for assigned reading. If you are someone who struggles with reading, or who doesn’t like to read, try to find books on topics that interest you, and don’t concern yourself with staying on your assigned reading level. A vacation is the perfect time to read lower-level books – maybe even younger siblings’ Christmas gifts! You can also take the opportunity to read classics you’ve missed or struggled with in the past, or find audio versions of them, or find a series, whether on or below-level, that you’ve never tried or haven’t finished. When it comes to vacations, unless you need to catch up or decide to read ahead, it’s not what you read, but simply that you read, that counts.
In addition to reading or listening to books, take the time to learn new skills, and make sure to find ways to make it fun, too. Do some research online, or find a tutorial. Ask someone in your household to teach you something new, or better yet, connect with a grandparent or other faraway relative who has an interest or skill you’re curious about and ask him or her to teach you. If the person you reach out to is someone who is not as tech-savvy as you are, you can always learn over the phone, but if he or she is willing, then you can teach him or her to Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype. Teaching someone else a new skill is just as important a way to build your own study skills as learning a new skill yourself is, because it helps you learn to communicate better and to have patience. This year in particular, it also has the added bonus of making up for some of the lost time with loved ones that we are all facing right now, and as good as that will make you feel, I can pretty much guarantee you that it will make not just the person you reach out to, but your parents, too, feel even better.
In addition to reaching out beyond your four walls, make sure to reach out within them, too. Yes, this year has provided you with a lot of extra family time, but if there’s anything you haven’t gotten to do yet, now’s your chance. Hopefully by your next extended break, things will be looking up for all of us, and you will have more opportunity to do the things you’ve been missing and make your vacation more closely resemble what you are used to, but in the meantime, enjoy sharing your knowledge and skills with family members, or suggest that you all learn something new together. If you have younger siblings, try to find ways to teach them new skills without being pushy. Play their new games with them, talk to them, do online research with them- anything you do with them, do it in such a way that you both have fun with it. You’ll be glad you took the time, and they’ll think you hung the moon – it’s a win-win.
These are just a few of the many ways you can turn your break into more than just a vacation, and obviously, they will be much easier to find time for if you don’t have assigned work to do. If you do have assigned work, you can make time to balance it with taking some of these suggestions by spreading both them and your work out over as many days as possible instead of saving all your assigned work until the end of the break. If you are able to do all your work at the beginning of your break, great, but if you save it until the end, you not only risk not completing it in time, you also risk missing out on family time or other activities you might have the chance to do, whether in-person or virtually. No matter how much work you have to do, how many of my suggestions you are able to take, or how many of your own ideas you come up with, the holidays are still the holidays, and the most important thing to remember, both this year and any year, is to find ways to be with the ones you love and make your holidays as special as you possibly can.