I can’t lie, before I entered my introductory psychology class, I thought that psychology was common sense. Oh how wrong I was. So many myths were debunked and I learned how to critically look at research and the claims people make. I am more skeptical and able to identify potential sources of pseudoscience, something a lot of my friends cannot. I still enjoy many films and popular culture, but I am no longer ignorant to the ways they manipulate psychological findings for entertainment value. Before I just believed them all to be true!

I was taught how to learn and now know how to effectively study, creating desirable difficulties for myself in order to really learn and understand the material for the long term, not just memorize it for the short term. I learned the value of sleep! Inevitably it happens, but I try to avoid forsaking sleep for study because I know how ineffective that can be. Because of Psychology 100, I’ve tried (although it is a struggle) to create a sleep pattern that is both beneficial and consistent. This has helped me, no doubt, since.

As I continue my academic journey and my life in general, I am armed with more information that I can use to inform others (about memory loss and brain damage, sleep, how to study, the right vs left brain phenomenon, mental health, multiple intelligences). And most importantly, I can officially tell (and explain) to people why we use much more than 10% of our brains!