A great number of students will tell you how they strive to study, yet even when they do, little seems to be accomplished.

Studying is quite hard going. It often does not yield immediate rewards, drains energy from the brain fairly quickly, matter of fact, almost all students tend to experience difficulty in studying in their life as students

Experts have shared that most students tend to have a very shallow reason when they decide to start studying and that reason is usually just to pass the exams.

"A deep sense of why you are studying is way better than a tiny reason of just passing exams, granted that passing exams is important,” says John Nsabimana, a retired teacher.

He adds that a student who wants to be successful must think beyond passing exams as the only reasons they go to study. For example, one may study hard to get out of poverty or to prepare for their future career.

Once you have known your purpose of studying, Alex Kamanzi, a teacher at Kigali International Community School says, paying attention in class, developing a strict study ethic and surrounding yourself with students with the same oriented goals as you, will assist to bring the best of you as a student.

Successful students are attentive in class. When you are attentive, it helps you to be curious and to ask questions, which is a great way to get a good sense of the subject, kamanzi says.

Here are other suggested methods to help you excel as you invest much efforts in reading and revising in your studies.

Listening skills

Practice listening skills daily. Without active listening, you won’t be able to receive and interpret the message. Face your teacher and maintain eye contact, keep an open mind, be attentive but relaxed and listen to the words/explanation and try to picture out what your teacher/ lecture is saying.

Consult fellow students

Sometimes it may not be easy capturing all your teacher/ lecture has been saying all along and you may not feel comfortable to ask questions often. Consult your colleagues whom you think get things fast, for better explanations and understanding. Most students understand better when they are explained or taught by their fellow students because they know easy ways to go, to help you master it better.

Attend class 

This may sound as usual but attending class has a huge positive impact than you may think. Teachers/ lecturers often say things which may not be in notes as successful students note down and especially these are the things they ask in exams or tests. They also tend to speak things that awaken our minds when they teach and you are likely to always remember that thing he said as he explained a certain topic, taking you to the right answer.

Smart read

Read beyond your notes. Use other sources to get information. Smart reading is reading the book once and going through a question bank, previous year questionnaire and doing more research through the internet if you can. What’s more important here is to understand the content rather than crum work.

Proper diet and exercise

Exercise has been shown to increase memory and the production of nerve cells while a healthy diet is linked to higher grades, better memory and alertness and faster information processing. Befriend milk, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains to help your brain stay active. This is very important if you want to learn more efficiently.