Gary North

YESTERDAY'S ASSIGNMENT

Have you mentally given up the idea of summer vacation? If so, you have made a major transition to adulthood.

Did you check to see which classes will be offered in summer school?

This lesson is short. You must buy your textbooks for every class in which you must write essays or take essay exams.

Don't buy them new. That would cost you hundreds of dollars. Buy used copies.

To buy used copies, consult with the person who is in charge of handing out the textbooks at the start of the academic year and collecting them at the end. Someone in the school office can tell who this is and where to contact him or her.

Go to that person and ask if there are any unmarked copies of the textbook that are so beaten up that the school won't distribute them. If there are a few copies, see if the person will sell them to you for a few dollars each. The person can check with the principal to find out if this is acceptable. Maybe you can get one for free.

Because there is no student demand for used high school textbooks, unlike used college textbooks, a book that is too beaten up to hand out is a throwaway book. Nobody wants it. It is taking up space. It is targeted for the dumpster. The only students who are interested in obtaining used high school textbooks are people who have read this lesson.

If there are no throwaway copies of the latest edition, maybe there are a few copies of earlier editions of the textbook now in use. If the book is written by the same authors and has the same title, buy it if the price is low. It doesn't matter if a book is one edition out of date. Most of the information will be accurate. The price is right; that's what matters most.

If your school doesn't have any used copies, maybe another school in the district does. Ask the person to phone his colleague at the other school and see if there are throwaway copies of the textbooks you want to buy.

If school policy is that old copies not be sold, maybe you could swap some donated time for a donated copy of a book. If there is no work available now, write an IOU for X hours of donated time at the end of the year, when the depository person is buried in books to inventory. Then enter those hours into your scheduler.

Let the depository person know how serious you are about obtaining used books. This will be motivation for the person to find some way to get the books to you.

At some point, maybe you will have to go to your parents and ask for the money. Or you will have to borrow it from them. Tell them why you need your own copies.

Here's why.

MARK UP YOUR BOOKS

To read and (especially) review effectively, you must either mark up your books or take extensive notes. Note- taking takes a lot of time. Marking up books doesn't. Your time is valuable. To buy extra time, buy the used textbooks.

Then buy a yellow highlighter. Use it to mark key points in the books. This will save you time when you skim over the books in preparation for exams.

Write in the margins. Use numbers to do a margin- based outline. Circle key words. Make a useful mess of these books.

Don't bring these old textbooks to school. They stay home. You don't want to lose them. Your marks will be worth a great deal to you. Also, you won't have other students asking you why you're writing in your textbooks. They won't think they are yours. Unless you want to explain everything about this study course, leave the marked-up books at home.

Keep your new textbooks at school in your locker. You are less likely to lose them there.

If you can't buy an old textbook, the person at the book depository office may have other suggestions. Ask.

If you're really a go-getter, at the end of the school year, after all the textbooks have been collected, you will go in again and buy battered copies of next year's textbooks. That will save you money next year.

If you are really, truly dead-serious about raising your grades, you will read next year's textbooks over the summer. Yes, even if you get a job or attend summer school. But if you're studying for a CLEP, don't.

Depending on how many students at your school are taking this study skills course, you may discover that demand rises for these used books. Act now, while copies are available cheap.

What if you aren't able to obtain used copies? Then you have three choices: (1) become an expert note-taker; (2) use a lot of sticky-note sheets; (3) buy your existing copies, which won't be cheap.

Your academic future depends on developing good study habits, and marking up textbooks is basic to effective study. It's a matter of saving time. You must learn how to cut corners, especially time corners. The best students are so smart that they can master everything in one reading, usually at 600 words per minute. You can't do this. So, you have to find ways to make better use of your time. Writing outlines or detailed notes instead of using a yellow highlighter on a textbook is usually a poor use of your time. It's cheaper in time expended to work at odd jobs for a few hours each week and buy your textbooks.

If you can buy one of your textbooks by working at odd jobs for 10 hours, do this, or else spend 10 hours extra this year in taking notes of each textbook. But, in all likelihood, you cannot learn as much by spending 10 extra hours a year (20 minutes/week) to take notes on a textbook as you can learn by buying the textbook and marking it up.

TIME VS. MONEY

As you can see, it's a trade-off between time and money. I suggest that you spend a little extra money to save time. If you can buy anything at a discount in order to save time, do it. This principle will apply to the rest of your life.

When you're long on time, you're probably short of money. That is one of the conditions of youth. As the clock ticks, you should be getting richer in money. You had better, because you're getting poorer in time.

I'm trying to save you money. That's why I wrote Affordable Accredited Colleges. But to save money, you must give up something of value: either time or money. I suggest money.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Somebody has to pay.

You get a choice of which currency to spend: time or money.

You need a bank savings account. Open one. I mean today. Tomorrow at the latest. You will have bills to pay. Get money set aside to pay them.

I recommend that you pay your own way in this course. Don't badger your parents for money. If you need a loan, OK. But treat it as a loan. Pay it off. On schedule.

REVIEW

It saves time to mark up a book rather than take detailed notes.

Your time is more valuable than a used book is.

Buy your books every semester or term. Don't buy them new.

ASSIGNMENT

Go see the book depository person before you read tomorrow's lesson. See what's available. If you can buy used books, talk with your parents about buying the books for you, or lending you the money to buy them.

Don't forget to lecture to the wall: one page, one class.

PREVIEW OF TOMORROW'S LESSON: How to read a textbook

Any time you want to ask me specific questions regarding your plans for college, you can find out where to contact me by clicking this link: Answers.