Study habits...

Even Gracie likes Newcastle!

So, it was an absolutely beautiful day here in Charlotte: sunny and in the high 70s. I got to enjoy a little bit of it but unfortunately that was while I was pacing around the back parking lot at RTS stuffing my brain with knowledge for my Hebrews-Revelation midterm. Man am I glad that is finally over with!

So, I have really strange study habits. For this particular exam, I had about 60 pages of notes (typed) covering the books of Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, and some of 2 Peter. What I did in the past couple of weeks was: 1) read those notes through 3 times; 2) Write out my own shorter outlines with key ideas based on those notes (~12 pages - writing helps the memory); 3) from those shorter outlines I then condense each section even more into short lists of key words; 4) then I pace around the RTS parking lot (or wherever) and memorize those short lists of key words. When it comes to the exam, I pretty much have everything memorized and can pull together those short lists into whatever the exam requires - short answers or long essays. I know some of my classmates must think I am crazy but that is how I study. My short term memory isn't as great as some (must be my old age) so this is the best system for me. What's even more fun is that I have a friend (yo, Matt!) who studies similar to me and we make up all kinds of silly phrases to help us remember those short lists of key words. For example while trying to remember the evidence against a known Pseudonymous work being accepted into the canon we memorize the phrase, "Ben Affleck Pees Sideways". What in the world is that, you ask? Each of the first letters stands for something: B=the book's own claim; A=authorship was a central concern to the early church; P=Paul himself cautioned against Pseudonymity (2 Thess 2.2); S=Serapion condemned the Gospel of Peter. Yeah, it doesn't work for everybody. I realize that...

So here I sit tonight, chillin' with the cat, drinking Newcastle, and watching basketball while Meg is at a women's community dinner. I am exhausted and look forward to sleeping in tomorrow. That will be a wonderful thing...