For as long as I can remember, I've felt an immense pressure to specialize. In the months leading up to college my parents, teachers, peers, and mentors alike constantly proposed something along the lines of "major in this... and forget about that subjectit's just a hobby." This pressure only intensified once I stepped foot on campus and had the opportunity to taste all the disciplines that my university offered. I finished my Bachelors of Arts in Economics from Howard University in May 2015, earning Magna Cum Laude honors and induction into Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, but my full academic journey proved to be as eclectic as they come.
Although I could never commit to any of the traditional disciplines, my exploration revealed a talent and an ardent passion for a topic that is largely overlooked. Learning how to learn is my one true passion. During my sophomore year I realized that if I wanted to "taste" each of the traditional disciplines in a small window of time then I would have to learn how to absorb, process, and apply information at an extremely rapid rate. With the help of select mentors coupled with tons of excellent resources on the internet, I developed a toolbox of accelerated learning and advanced study techniques that I used to crush my schoolwork while cutting my studying time in half. Not only did I have more free time to devote to my extracurricular studies, I also found that I retained course information months after taking final exams, which was a novel and very fulfilling experience.
The set of learning techniques that I use is most commonly called holistic learning. It is my mission to bring holistic learning techniques into mainstream education, especially to the large population of individuals who struggle to excel in traditional learning spaces. I believe that students should first understand their own learning styles if they wish to pick up new or difficult subjects as quickly as possible. As a tutor, I encourage students to study the principles of learning and the latest discoveries of neuroscience that seem to be universal to all mammalian brains. Some of these techniques include mind-mapping, speed reading, the Feynman technique, bipolar learning curves, and many more proven ways to increase information processing, retention, and working memory.
In addition to applying advanced study techniques, I am also a big advocate for integrating nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness into the learning process. Personally, I follow a lifestyle that is optimized for cognitive and physical performance. I'm a big fan of integrating the senses during the learning process and a bigger fan of recording my progress using tracking technology and specific metrics.
As you might be able to tell by now, I am a number-crunching, performance-driven, tech-loving, bookworm. I am a trained economist, after all; I love to optimize. However, more important than anything-more than any numbers, graphs, scores, or metrics-I understand that learning is a very emotional activity, so I absolutely make sure that my students are confident, comfortable, enthusiastic, and ready to become the strongest versions of themselves.
