Back to the books
Making studying feel new again
By Capucine Cordina
You’ve spent countless hours poring over textbooks, charts, and reading through the hundreds of questions in each written exam question bank. The idea of sitting down for one more day and carrying on feels like a monumental task.
You’re stuck. That’s OK. Try these ways to make studying interesting again.
Study with company.
Pick reliable friends to study with who will make sure you all stay on track. Bonus points if you can try to teach each other the material, which will cement the information. Or create study sessions with other students at the flight school. You can keep each other accountable with regular sessions and even make new connections and get fresh perspectives.
Go to a cafe or library.
Sitting in a comfortable space where everyone else around is being productive can only motivate you to focus. Some people even find the background buzz helpful.
Make it a game.
Some study websites like Quizlet can create games with the material to keep things interesting. Or you can even team up with others and create your own Jeopardy or “Heads Up!” game.
Mnemonics.
Put a spin on classics like A TOMATO FLAMES. I once wrote myself a little jingle about this guy and his boat, the SS Advection, a fishing steamboat, to help me remember the types of fog.
Pace yourself.
It’s easy to try and power through two-hour-long study sessions and burn out halfway through, forgetting everything you read after. The Pomodoro Method was made to prevent that by setting up a schedule where you focus for 25 minutes, pause for five, and keep going, with a 15-minute break every hour. Having scheduled shame-free “scrolling” breaks helps resist the temptation to pick up your phone the rest of the time.
Join an online community.
There are dedicated spaces on each social media platform dedicated to studying and learning. People share #aesthetic notes, tips, study challenges, and make connections with others in the same situation. Follow creators going through flight training themselves. Seeing cool pilots living their lives is motivating for sure, but following someone going through what you’re doing and seeing them persevering, well doesn’t that just make you want to hit the books?
Studying is hard and tedious, but there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be able to do it, so keep at it, those FARs will stick soon enough.
Capucine Cordina is a former assistant editor for AOPA who is now studying for her CFI.
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