I (18M) will be coaching tennis this summer as part of a camp for at-risk kids who may benefit from additional support and positive mentorship. I have around 120 hours of experience coaching tennis camps over the past few years, but I understand this environment may come with different needs and experiences among the kids. I want to be thoughtful in how I approach coaching, especially when it comes to supporting kids who may respond differently to structure, challenges, or group settings. My goal is to create a fun, inclusive, and supportive environment where all participants feel comfortable and engaged. My question is what are some tips or things I should know when it comes to something like this. Additionally, what are some things I should be aware of?
u/Akward_Child
A couple days ago I got my macroeconomics exam back (ECON 102: first year uni econ) and I got an 80% as my final mark. I was okay with it since the average was a 61% and I heard my friends getting in the 70% ranges, however when I asked my friend that I studied a lot with, he got a 93%, and one of my other friends who I studied a bit with got a 99%. How is this possible? I understand some people are naturally smart, I understand that sometimes some people do better on exams than others just cuz of whatever chances or what not, however me and my friend (93% guy) studied in a very similar manner. It made me upset because I wish I did as good as he did and I know I deserved a mark like that because I was helping so many people and I knew the material very well. Nonetheless I noticed that my friend was more comfortable with the material than I was. He memorized the material better than me, thus was able to answer questions more flawlessly (especially short-answer questions)
Anyways, I was reflecting upon my studying and here were some flaws I found: I’ve realized that some of my study methods weren’t as efficient as they could have been, and I also wasn’t fully focused, both while studying and during the exam. I relied too much on passive studying instead of actively engaging with the material. Moving forward, I need to focus on truly understanding concepts at a deeper level and being able to recall them easily, rather than just recognizing them. Creating a cheat sheet could help reinforce this. I also noticed that taking word-for-word notes from the textbook wasn’t very effective. Additionally, I don’t have a good strategy when it comes to responding to short-answer questions as it’s hard to predict what the TAs and the prof wants from the responses.
I think my biggest flaw however was not fully commit to practice questions. I think that if I took the time to thoroughly work through practice problems and think critically about them, it would’ve helped me identify gaps in my understanding and even discover better ways to approach answers. When I came across questions that seemed easy, I would skip over them without practicing how to properly write out the answer. As a result, during the exam, I struggled with clearly explaining ideas I actually understood, which likely caused me to lose marks on short-answer questions. I probably missed key details in those short-answers simply because I hadn’t practiced articulating them. I also believe that putting myself in a realistic test environment would significantly improves my performance, so incorporating more of that into my studying will be important going forward.
Through all this reflecting, what I’m asking now is what were studying hacks which helped you understand the material better, and thus receive better grades? What specifically changed in how you studied or practiced? What do top students do differently when it comes to actually writing answers and performing on exams? I’m really just trying to find a more efficient way to understand course material, and being more exam ready.
I am in somewhat of a personal dilema. I want to go to law school after my undergraduate. Right now I'm trying to major in econ in a BA at UBC (with a masters of management dual degree, B+MM). I like econ but it doesn't excite me, however I'm majoring in it because it's a math-heavy subject (I like math a lot) which incorporates real world context, making it more interesting than a theory-based math course. My concern however is my GPA will not be as high as it would be if I did another major. I know economics is notorious for being difficult in the upper years due to the complex questions they have on the final exams. However, I don't want that to be the reason I don't get into law school when I could have chosen another major. I was thinking of majoring in Philosophy, and I know it would be easier to get a higher GPA in, and thus a better shot at law school. Nonetheless, I'm more into math-based stuff, thus Economics in the top choice here to major in, however should I major in Philosophy instead (something easier to get a higher GPA from) just to have a better shot at Law school (in Canada). I just finished first year with a 3.8 GPA, and got well above average in my ECON 101 and 102 classes, however, my highest mark all year was PHIL 220 (93%).