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Developing effective study skills is a personal journey. You must take a proactive stance and commit to incorporating the following habits:

1. Take responsibility for yourself. A sense of responsibility is a sign of maturity; it indicates your readiness to face the consequences of your decisions, and your confidence in mapping out your priorities.

2. Stand by your own hierarchy of values. The opinions of friends and people we admire are important; but you should be able to stand up for what you think is right.

3. Stick to your goals. You have priorities to live up to; follow up on the priorities you have set for yourself, do not give in to the temptation of adapting the goals of your peers to assure yourself that you belong.

4. Identify your key productivity periods and places. Some people are morning people; some are afternoon people, while others are evening or nocturnal people. Figure out which time of the day you are most productive and maximize these periods by studying the most challenging subjects at these times.

5. Always try to see your glass as half-full. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well so acknowledge yourself as a winner when you do your best in your studies; if you are content with your performance; a high grade serves as mere icing on the cake. It doesn't matter if you perform well for yourself, for your peers or for your professor; it's good to give yourself a pat on the back every once in a while.

6. Be proactive; if there is a portion of the course material you don't understand and you feel that the text you have is insufficient, go to the library and find a better reference or go online; you can also ask classmates or the professor.

7. And finally, don't slack off. If you are beginning to get the hang of things, don't give in to the temptation to be complacent -- instead find ways to make your academic routine more challenging than usual.

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