The new first years at college start ‘Greek Weeks’ tomorrow, three weeks of intensive Greek, as well as some orientation to college and a whole lot of meeting new people.

I’m involved a bit in helping them settle in to college, and I thought I’d post some general tips here to that end. These are hopefully also useful for anyone at college, although of course your need for information like this decreases as you progress.

These are academic tips, and I’ll post some thoughts later on college life and community – one of those ‘what I wish I’d known…’ things.

In no particular order,

• There is no substitute for knowing the Bible well. Take Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ advice and read the Bible everyday. Aside from the obvious spiritual benefits, as well as practicing the discipline you’d hope to be practicing when you leave college, knowing the Bible well really helps your study (duh). College doesn’t really test you on your overall in-detail understanding of the Bible until the 3rd year doctrine exam, but then it really counts. And you can’t cram the Bible.

• Don’t put off reading that you should be doing/would like to be doing. It’s very difficult to do all the set reading at college, particularly if you have a family and do Hebrew. But it can be done (I’ve heard). Remember, though: There is no ‘later’. ‘Later’ is when you’ll be cramming study papers into your skull, not mulling over Redemption: Accomplished and Applied, The Art of Biblical Narrative or Marriage: Sex in the Service of God. The best learning is done reading books and then talking about them. Do it now.
• Work hard on languages. Moore College has a strong emphasis on original languages and I’m glad of it. But languages are hard work for almost everyone. By the time you get to college, the natural language learning capacity you had as a kid is long gone and it’s going to be uphill. But man, is it exciting and rewarding to read the NT in Greek and the OT in Hebrew. Work hard, and take Con’s advice to do some everyday.
• Get a good routine. You know (hopefully) what works for you, but routine is pretty much universal. Work out what times of the day you work well, and spend those times working well. Also, get up at the same time every morning, without fail. Go to sleep at whatever time you need to to get enough, but wake up at the same time every morning.
• Focus your concentration. They’re right: attention control is the new work ethic – it’s not about hours anymore. Think of it like this: as you sit in front of your computer, you can access almost the entirety of human knowledge. Is that distracting? Hmmm. Discipline thyself and do whatever it takes to focus.

There’s lots more to be said… another time.

Back to you guys. Got other (academic) tips for studying at college? Coming into first year? Introduce yourself!