SELF REGULATORY STRATEGIES.

My greatest problem has always been time management. I have not in the past managed my time well, like setting up specific time for study, work, travel and leisure. The last test I took in January 2012 taught me a good lesson.  I knew I was going to take a test some time if got accepted into the program, but I did not know when. I missed the mark by 0.7 points and this has caused me a set back in my education. I never studied for this test, I knew it consisted of math, English and science but , I never tried to find out a study guide nor did I set up some time to study for it. When the opportunity came to me, I just said yes I would take the test.

Now I have set up goals for myself. I have set up a lot of time for study and for rest and I have cut back on the time I spend on different leisure activities.  This feels good and I am actually reaping positive benefits.                            

My Reading Experience

I did not do any reading at home as a young child. About first to fifth grade, I did do some reading which consisted basically of memorising texts with no understanding of the story. Between the sixth and the twelfth grade, we were introduced to literary works of art. We had to do English  as well as African Literature.We had to read Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy,  and some African Literature from Nigerian authors like Chinua Achebe and many others. The latter were quite interesting probably because of  some familiarity with the settings and the language. These were basically for academic purposes and not for fun. It was hard for me at the time to decipher the purpose of the texts, or the author's intention or even memorising important quotations from the texts for examinations. However, watching plays based on these works made the reading easier.

 After writing a paper in the eigth grade following a reading assignment, my instructor said to me, "your grammar is correct. Your vocabulary is correct, but you lack creativity. You have to be imaginative". I did not understand what the intructor wanted, nor did I get any help jogging my brains to be creative, to  paint a vivid picture of the reading exercise. I lost interest.

I have been reading novels for fun, but other books which are loaded with dates and names and activit ies like History books were probably the most difficult in school.