“I’ve never been an A student . . .”

Some of my students have been A students finding themselves in a tougher program or school, not knowing how to get the grade when there are tougher standards, more intense work, and keener competition.

But many would say    with Kim, “Steve, I’ve never been an A student!” *

Kim’s goal wasn’t to get the 4.0 GPA. It was to get the diploma. Kim returned to a diploma/certification program at age 40. Never having done all that well in school on the first round, school was not a favourite environment. And Kim had a life with a lot of other commitments. Getting the work done, having family time, and even having Kim time was not happening.

It took several sessions to pin down where Kim’s approach was sabotaging school goals and a balanced life. We tried several schedules, several approaches, until settling into an approach that limited, rather than extended, the time spent on each course. Setting reasonable standards, rather than perfectionist standards, then limiting the amount of time spent on each course before moving on to the next course was the key for Kim. No longer was only one course at a time getting over polished while other courses in the program fell behind. Instead of juggling between panicked deadlines for different courses, Kim worked to a balanced schedule. 

    Keeping balance meant building in breaks, building in “me” time, identifying Kim’s most effective work times during the day, and scheduling non-academic commitments with flexible boundaries. For Kim it was important to spread the work throughout the week, so that what was learned on Monday wasn’t forgotten by the next Monday.

    The grades started to go up. The practicum and the term are finished, and Kim is going into the next term with good grades. Kim’s remarks were music to my ears as the term went on,

“I’ve never been an A student before.”

“I’ve never had so much time on my hands before.”

“I’ve got time for myself.”

“Steve, I’m getting 90s!”

    Kim is a classic example of working smarter, not harder. It took several weeks for us to analyze and adapt to find what working smarter meant for Kim, as “working smarter” will be different for different students in different circumstances.

    If your course work has you in an overwhelming crunch, contact me to work out a program that has balance for both school and a life. [email protected] 

*Kim (pseudonym) has given permission to tell this experience.