“In learning something new, a man improves himself. He either acquires a new skill or becomes more proficient at an old one. In studying, a man acquires new knowledge but this new knowledge need not make any difference to him as a practical man.” – D.C. Lau

It’s that time of the year again. No, I’m not talking about the holiday season, even though dancing Santas are already wiggling about in windows everywhere. I’m talking about final exams! The plazas are empty, the libraries are full, and a sense of tension seems to be making its way through the student body.

Every year is the same. Some spend hours “cramming” well into the night in an attempt to make sense of material that was never actually understood in the first place. It’s all about doing the least amount of work required just to scrape through. And then there are the others. Some simply want to be the best they can be. That means doing all it takes to be number one. It also means throwing tantrums and fits whenever assignments are graded unfairly or when the effort doesn’t pay off.

I really don’t get the obsession with good grades. Yes, it’s important to work hard and strive to do well academically, especially if you’re facing the prospect of not graduating. But focusing on “A’s” as the ultimate end goal is not such a good idea. Fact is, they don’t really matter all that much. Being an honour student won’t necessarily make you happy or successful. It might not even make you rich. Focusing on something else entirely just might.

Studying is not about learning actual material. It’s about learning how to learn. There’s a reason nobody remembers the skeletal system from high school biology or exactly how to work with quadratic equations from calculus class. Those were designed to exercise our minds, not to equip up with conversational titbits. They were designed to help us solve problems and think laterally; skills we can actually use going forward.

Unfortunately, many institutions don’t feel the same way. They spend tons of time and money in an attempt to boost scores; sometimes in ways that raise an eyebrow or two. And even though their intentions may be noble, they’re not doing us any favours by spewing out silly acronyms, supplying us with cram notes, or dishing out tips and tricks to boost our reading speed. What they should be doing is teaching. We pay to learn and that’s what they should help us do.

In The World is Flat (also available in South Africa), Thomas Friedman brings this home by talking about “Globalisation 3.0”. We live in a digital age and technology is rendering careers obsolete every single day. Physical and intellectual capital move freely across our borders, work is outsourced, and millions of people all over the world are competing for your job. The only way to stay relevant is by constantly keeping our minds sharp.

My advice to those facing the prospect of final exams (whenever they may be) would be to stop obsessing over the material and the marks. They don’t matter. What you know will probably become irrelevant any minute now. Instead, spend some time focusing on the learning process. Spend some time “teaching yourself to fish” so you don’t go hungry somewhere down the line. You’ll thank yourself later.

(For more resources and tips, download your free copy of “Work in Progress” exclusively from www.varsityblah.com/about)