How you use your intelligence and other abilities in the education setting determines if you will be an academic weapon or an academic victim. Here, we’ll discuss how to become an academic weapon and stand out from the crowd in today’s competitive world.
Students deal with a lot of stress, especially those in colleges and universities. They need to balance studies, extracurricular activities, and part-time jobs, and learn to live on their own. Getting good grades is important. But what would be a good grade? How do some students make it look easy while struggling so much? Does it have everything to do with natural talent, or can anyone crack the code?
That’s how the term academic weapon came into existence. However, if you aren’t careful, you could very well become an academic victim. But what do these words mean? How can you become an academic weapon?
Let’s check out the tips to become an academic weapon.
What Does it Mean to be an Academic Weapon?
Academic weapon is a slang term that refers to academically brilliant students. While the origins are not clear, the word became a TikTok sensation when Bradley Kraut, a student at Pennsylvania State University, used it as a caption for a video. In this video, Bradley and his classmate were attending a lecture.
In simple terms, an academic weapon is an intelligent student who can use their capabilities in the academic or educational setting to achieve their goals. Some people could be naturally good at it, while others have to train themselves to become an academic weapon. Those born with this ability may also need to adopt discipline and training to ensure consistent results.
How to Become an Academic Weapon?
The answer is elaborate. Moreover, the internet is full of varied opinions and suggestions. What should you do in such instances? Whose advice should you consider?
Well, whichever advice you consider, make sure it aligns with who you are. Some changes will be necessary, but you don’t have to implement every suggestion or tip to become an academic weapon. Identify what works for you and put them into practice. Discipline, consistency, and determination are important. Most importantly, recognize that time management is crucial. This is the key to success.
So, how do you manage your time effectively to become an academic weapon? Here’s how:
1. Prioritize Your Work
Prioritizing your tasks can reduce stress and save time. How? It allows you to focus on the important tasks without worrying about every other item on the never-ending list. You can also stop multitasking, which is actually not good for your brain and body health. However, it can be hard to prioritize work when everything feels important. Take help from proven strategies or tools like the ABCDE method where you categorize the activities based on their importance. Consider deadlines for assignments and start with high-priority tasks.
2. Time Blocks
Time blocks are a set of hours allotted for an activity or task. In this method, you divide your day into multiple blocks. Each block is meant for a specific purpose. For example, the mornings are for classes. The afternoon is for researching your project. Evenings are for walking/ reading. Nights are for relaxing and revising. Make sure you are realistic when you divide the day into blocks. Consider aspects like traveling (traffic), eating, meeting friends, and other delays that might occur due to unavoidable circumstances. Have enough buffer between the blocks so that it doesn’t stress you out even more.
3. Create a Routine
A routine is necessary to become consistent which gives greater results in the long run. Moreover, it will reduce the risk of unwanted situations like hangovers from partying all night or missing an important class due to mismanagement. When you start to create time blocks for each day, you will gradually develop a routine that works for you. As long as you include ‘me time’ and relaxation into your schedule, you will be all set to become an academic weapon. Moreover, once routine becomes a habit, it’ll feel like second nature and feel effortless.
4. Use Productivity Tools
Fortunately, we live in a technologically advanced world and have access to many useful tools. You don’t have to start from scratch. All you need to do is search for reliable productivity tools and use them for various purposes. For example, if you like to make notes, download a note-making app that can be synced on multiple devices or one that works online and offline. Use Google Calendar or a similar app to schedule important classes, meetings, assignment deadlines, etc. Additionally, use apps that prevent and minimize distractions by blocking addictive applications on your smartphone.
5. Self-Assessment for Self-Reflection
Where do you stand on the academic level? If the university were to conduct a surprise test, how would your grades turn out to be? You don’t have to make a wild guess to answer these questions. With an AI quiz generator like PrepAI, you can test your skills and knowledge to measure exactly where you are at and how to improve the results before the educational year ends. PrepAI is a great self-assessment tool that automatically converts input data into different types of questions. You can answer the questions and get instant results through the same interface. This exam paper generator has been built on Bloom’s Taxonomy framework to test your subject knowledge as well as comprehension, critical thinking, and evaluation abilities.
6. Identify Your Weaknesses
Once you assess yourself, you can identify the weak areas and work on them. Don’t hesitate to see the truth as it allows you to grow. Acknowledge that there will always be room for improvement. That way, you can spend more time converting your weaknesses into strengths or finding a way around them to highlight your best abilities. For example, you can opt for a specialization that aligns with your strengths instead of following the crowd or copying others.
7. Avoid Procrastination
If you want to become an academic weapon, learn to avoid procrastination. All of us procrastinate in one way or another. However, how you manage this makes the difference. So, how to overcome procrastination? One way is to understand why we do it. Think about why you put off a task for later. Try to notice patterns in your behavior and how it affects your life. Talk to counselors in the university if it has been a habit for years. You can divide the task into smaller sections or set hard deadlines to avoid procrastination.
8. Shift to a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset allows you to consider challenges and failures as learning opportunities. Instead of feeling dejected and giving up, you use their troubles as a tool to become better. Didn’t get an A for your assignment? Talk to the professor and ask for tips. Plan better the next time and focus on correcting the mistakes made previously. That develops a strong personality and helps you become an academic weapon.
Academic Weapon Vs. Academic Victim
It’s no surprise that the term academic weapon led to the creation of its counterpart – academic victim. As you can guess, an academic victim is a person who is overburdened by the stress of educational demands and is unable to achieve their goals. It could be due to various reasons, such as setting unrealistic targets, not being disciplined, procrastinating, etc.
While external factors also play a role, you can do your bit to reduce the risk of becoming an academic victim. Then, you can reshape yourself to be an academic weapon. It is a lengthy and long-term process and requires steady effort to deliver the results.
Conclusion
How to become an academic weapon depends on who you are, what you want, and how willing you are to work for your career. Some people may find it easier than others. This is seen in people inclined to structure, routine, and discipline. Others may have to put in more effort. Either way, anyone can become an academic weapon if they act on their goals. It is in your hands to determine your success. Start planning today to streamline your education and career. Take a self-assessment test to get a clear idea of where you stand and build your progress, step by step.
