What kind of learner are you?

Do you color-code all your notes? Do you record lectures to listen to as you fall asleep? Do you re-write everything the professor says, then never look at your notes again? 

Figuring out your learning style is probably one of the most important things to do if you're a student (be it high school, undergrad, or med school). Especially in fast-paced, high-stakes situations (cough MEDSCHOOL cough), you don't have much time to experiment with different styles, or take a lot of time to internalize and regurgitate information.

During my med school orientation, one of the professors told us to go to this link and fill out the survey. At the end, it spits out some plain text numbers and letters that looks ridiculously complex to decode, but if you take some time to see what everything represents, you might be surprised to find out what type of learner you actually are. I came into med school thinking I was very auditory; I would sit in lecture, listen to the professor, and generally be able to remember everything he/she said. I usually judged those kids that sit in lecture with a box of colored pencils, four highlighters, and a drawing pad (ok…maybe not a drawing pad, but you get the picture…pun intended). However, when I took the quiz (and was truly honest while answering the questions), while it did confirm I was partially auditory, a big chunk of my learning style was visual. Though I was hesitant, I figured I should take every advantage I could get, so I decided to try it out. However, I was unsure of how to go about "being" a visual learner, so I asked some of my friends (who I knew were 100% visual) what they did. They're suggestion? Colored pens/markers, colored highlighters, and colored post-its. I went out and picked up those things, and within two weeks, my anatomy textbook looked like a rainbow vomited at the sight of the back musculature and I had about 10 color-coded study guides and flow-charts. 

I've only been in school for a little more than a month (and learned WAY more than I've learned in my entire life), so I'm still figuring some stuff out, but for now, I'm a proud visual learner. Thanks to being honest with myself and my learning goals, I've been doing great in school, and feel like I'm internalizing information far more efficiently than I had in the past.

So at this point in the summer when school is starting up again (wherever you're going), take a couple minutes to figure out what kind of learner you really are. Chances are, you'll thank me for it (I accept cash, check, Paypal, and gluten-free baked goods).

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