TextBooks. Who Needed Them? Surely Not Me!!! As I sift through my closet for hours looking for old college books to post on my site, I come to the realization that not only have I wasted valuable time but that I only have ONE textbook to show for it! But that’s because I didn’t really buy textbooks in college. Honestly, for what? I didn’t plan on starting my own personal library and unless it was mandated by the professor I didn’t see the purpose in buying it! I really felt that buying textbooks only served as a negative catalyst in my educational development. While other students crowded the lines for their financial aid checks and gave reasons in class as to why they had not yet completed their homework (due to those pending checks) I simply saved my money and maneuvered my own way through the course. If your anything like my good friends and fellow colleagues Ralph and Seth(@ralphdiesel, @sethbrundle), you love saving a good BUCK OR TWO.When I was in school, I bought approximately FOUR, excuse me, FIVE books total my entire 5 years there! That’s literally ONE book per year. Considering the 40+ classes that I took that’s nothing! Three of those books were for the same class and the other two I paid little or nothing for from a previous student who took the class before me. The most I probably paid for books was 250.00 MAX! In fact I paid more money in school parking tickets than I did on books. Yes, I know sounds IMPOSSIBLE but its NOT!  One thing that you’ll realize (if you haven’t already) is that a lot of teachers will make you feel like their course is the most important class you’ll ever take and make it “seem” harder than it really is. They’ll tell you that you’ll need to pay for THIS, THAT and the THIRD when in all actuality all you need to really PAY-is attention! I know, I know, I know; going to class especially after a night of partying in the dorms is the last thing on our “To Do” list but by not buying books, can actually make you a better student. By not buying books, subconciously your back is against the wall. Your brain has nothing to focus on except the professor’s lectures. In turn you will be forced to take better notes and ask more questions which will help you gain a better understanding of whats being taught. For the visual, hands-on learners that desperately can’t operate without, you can rent the book from your school library and copy the chapter for a fraction of the price! Just food for thought. Now, (once being an educator myself) there’s nothing an instructor loves more than a good student, good feedback, and good questions! TIP:The more questions you ask the better your understanding of the material and the more the instructor will become fond of you as you will learn will be a very important BENEFIT to you in the future. We’re all familiar with the phrase, ” there’s no such thing as a dumb question” although that can be up for debate, asking as many questions as you can is a good thing especially when you don’t have the material. Yes, your classmates might be a little annoyed at first but they’ll probably thank you later when they notice that 80% of the answers being given are the same questions that’s going to be on the test! Besides asking a lot of questions saves you time from studying, and listening to a boring, lifeless lecture and makes the time go a whole lot quicker! I challenge you to try this!

 TextBooks. Who Needed Them? Surely Not Me!!!

As I sift through my closet for hours looking for old college books to post on my site, I come to the realization that not only have I wasted valuable time but that I only have ONE textbook to show for it! But that’s because I didn’t really buy textbooks in college. Honestly, for what? I didn’t plan on starting my own personal library and unless it was mandated by the professor I didn’t see the purpose in buying it! I really felt that buying textbooks only served as a negative catalyst in my educational development. While other students crowded the lines for their financial aid checks and gave reasons in class as to why they had not yet completed their homework (due to those pending checks) I simply saved my money and maneuvered my own way through the course.

If your anything like my good friends and fellow colleagues Ralph and Seth(@ralphdiesel, @sethbrundle), you love saving a good BUCK OR TWO.When I was in school, I bought approximately FOUR, excuse me, FIVE books total my entire 5 years there! That’s literally ONE book per year. Considering the 40+ classes that I took that’s nothing! Three of those books were for the same class and the other two I paid little or nothing for from a previous student who took the class before me. The most I probably paid for books was 250.00 MAX! In fact I paid more money in school parking tickets than I did on books. Yes, I know sounds IMPOSSIBLE but its NOT! 

One thing that you’ll realize (if you haven’t already) is that a lot of teachers will make you feel like their course is the most important class you’ll ever take and make it “seem” harder than it really is. They’ll tell you that you’ll need to pay for THIS, THAT and the THIRD when in all actuality all you need to really PAY-is attention! I know, I know, I know; going to class especially after a night of partying in the dorms is the last thing on our “To Do” list but by not buying books, can actually make you a better student. By not buying books, subconciously your back is against the wall. Your brain has nothing to focus on except the professor’s lectures. In turn you will be forced to take better notes and ask more questions which will help you gain a better understanding of whats being taught. For the visual, hands-on learners that desperately can’t operate without, you can rent the book from your school library and copy the chapter for a fraction of the price! Just food for thought.

Now, (once being an educator myself) there’s nothing an instructor loves more than a good student, good feedback, and good questions! TIP:The more questions you ask the better your understanding of the material and the more the instructor will become fond of you as you will learn will be a very important BENEFIT to you in the future. We’re all familiar with the phrase, ” there’s no such thing as a dumb question” although that can be up for debate, asking as many questions as you can is a good thing especially when you don’t have the material. Yes, your classmates might be a little annoyed at first but they’ll probably thank you later when they notice that 80% of the answers being given are the same questions that’s going to be on the test! Besides asking a lot of questions saves you time from studying, and listening to a boring, lifeless lecture and makes the time go a whole lot quicker! I challenge you to try this!