Study Skills for Real Life

CollegePlus! student Amy Kent completes her accelerated bachelor’s degree to pursue God’s purpose for her life.

By Kelly Negvesky

Amy Kent needed a bachelor’s degree. And she needed it fast. Years older than the typical college student, Kent felt a sense of urgency to the calling God had put on her life. 21 months later, she has a mere 9 credits remaining to complete her bachelor’s degree in Social Science and History from Thomas Edison State College and is already fulfilling her God-given vision by overseeing the education of her foster siblings.

Kent knew that five or six years on a college campus was too long to see her vision come to reality. “There seemed to be a lot of prejudice towards a certain ethnicity in our community,” she said, “and I had a heart and a dream of starting a Christian school with my family that would target them.”

A Timely Discovery

Kent’s research on getting a degree led her to CollegePlus! “I knew the focused studying could help me achieve my vision,” she said. “I showed it to my parents and together we decided it could work for me.”

In January of 2007 Kent began her college career with a CollegePlus! coach as her guide and all the tools and study skills she needed for success as a CollegePlus! student. These tools included the Dynamic Memory and Study Skills Course and Howard Berg’s Maximum Speed Reading Course.

Speed Reading Skeptic

Before Kent embarked on her study skills coursework, she was incredulous about their ability to help her, especially about the speed reading course. “I had friends who had tried it and claimed to see little success,” she said.

Although Kent was a little skeptical, she decided the many testimonies of other CollegePlus! students made it worth investing her time to learn. “Once I tried it myself I found that it did boost my reading speed,” Kent said. The course didn't just boost her speed but actually doubled it!

Kent also found that some of the techniques taught could be adjusted for her personal study style and this made them more effective. “I had to be willing to look at myself and decide how this skill could work best for me and then make the necessary adjustments,” she said.

It’s a Brain Thing

Kent noted that the Dynamic Memory and Study Skills Course taught by Brad Voeller offered her tips and information on how her mind actually works. She found that this insight into her own memory gave her an important edge in her classes, especially the coursework she has completed for her social science degree.

“With dynamic memory techniques I could look for specific information instead of reading straight through the textbooks,” Kent said. “This gave me more time to study the material [instead of] reading all the text and then studying.”

In the Know

Kent also found the Dynamic Memory skills very helpful when taking CLEP exams. “With the multiple-choice aspect to so many of the tests,” she said, “I always felt like they were trying to trick me.” However, when Brad taught her to rule out answers by a process of elimination, she said, “I found myself relaxing, thus doing better on my exams.”

A Clearer Vision

With 111 credit hours already completed, Kent is well on her way to completing her degree in Social Science and History. Kent began fulfilling when her family recently took in three foster children whom she plans to help educate at home. “I was homeschooled and I am so excited to work with my mom and offer the same home education to my new siblings,” she said.

Kelly Negvesky lives in Orlando, loves her husband of 13 years and educates their 3 children at home. A CollegePlus! graduate, Kelly recently earned her BA in Humanities from Thomas Edison State College.