Kickin' It "Old School"

Yea, the college students are pretty cool with me being a University Mama and besides the wedding ring and the gradually developing forehead wrinkles, you might not be able to tell us apart.

Unless it's during a class lecture.

You see, the new generation does one of two things during lectures:
a) listens
b) checks their Facebook page (if we are in the computer lab. For the record, it is a really annoying and disrespectful habit that I can't believe professors don't crack down on).

What do us "old timers" do? Take notes. Yep, notes with actual pen and actual paper. Despite the risk of carpal tunnel, I take notes. Despite the fact that I am contributing to the depleting the rain forest, I take notes.

Why? Well, for starters, old habits die hard. It's the way I was raised, I guess you could say. Secondly, some research has suggested that actually writing down information makes your brain more likely to recall it. Since I am a tactile learner (I "learn by doing") and visual learner (I "learn by seeing"), this makes sense to me. Plus, we all know repetition is the key to memory. We all know repetition is the key to memory. (See what I mean? You won't forget it now--lol.)

My younger co-eds simply download and print off the professor's typed PowerPoint notes. It certainly is not a bad way to study, but it's just not for me. I must have a photographic memory because I tend to remember how I wrote certain notes down & random things like where they were on the page, how they were organized, if I drew any corresponding doodles, etc...

Yea, right: photographic memory.

Anyway, my fondness for old fashioned note taking does tend to date me, but who cares. I say I'm starting a revolution. "What's old is new again," right?