The best version of Tammy Dunahoo is when I live on the edge of the quarter, the old kind with George Washington\u2019s head on one side and the eagle\u2019s wings on the other. I have what some might see as a strange hard-wiring as there is a practical, analytical, thinker (\u201cheads\u201d) on one side and a creative, visionary, \u201canything is possible\u201d free thinker on the other (\u201ctails\u201d). I learned fairly early in adulthood that my best self is staying on the edge between the two.<\/p>\n
It is from that narrow space that I found great appreciation for Derek Rowntree\u2019s, Learn How to Study: Developing the Study Skills and Approaches to Learning That Will Help You Succeed in University.[1]<\/strong><\/a> <\/em>He gives pages and pages of helpful nuts and bolts, practical tools for students to get the most out of their educational experiences on one side, but has just as much philosophical encouragement to consider the reason for study on the other. Just when I was about to slide too far over into George\u2019s image, he would remind us that no one is born a student, we grow into one and I would be drawn back up to the edge.<\/p>\n As I look back through the highlighted notes I realize I am doing better with Adler\u2019s concepts regarding how to read.[2]<\/a> Yet, Bayard completely eluded me this week as I found the practical tips just too important to \u201cnot read.\u201d[3]<\/a> \u00a0While I find great value in Bayard\u2019s concepts to open my mind (take flight), at the same time I cannot find peace in thinking I never need to read again. Thinking about my heads and tails quandary, it is almost as if I could place Adler on one side and Bayard on the other and let Rowntree fill the edge space. This type of thinking and living helps me stay in the realm of the both\/and rather than either\/or.<\/p>\n Though edge living is a narrow space, it gives me a broadened perspective and I am learning to stay in that space more with my reading, study, thinking and living. Edge living is the balance of practical lessons to enhance skill, the \u201chow\u201d on one side, and the reminder of the \u201cwhy\u201d of study on the other.<\/p>\n The edge perspective also aids in creating healthy habits. As Rowntree reminds us, \u201cYou are not just a student, but also a human being, living and working among others.\u201d[4]<\/a> Another aspect of this two sided-coin that helps with this perspective is grit and self-control. Both are essential through this three-year (hopefully) journey of perseverance and managing all that goes into life as a doctoral student.[5]<\/a> Grit keeps us from \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 quitting and self-control keeps us with a modicum of healthy life and family along the way.<\/p>\n Rowntree begins and ends his work with one of my core values, life-long learning. He attaches it to the practicality of becoming or staying employable on one side and the ability to draw out significance from life experiences on the other. \u201cThe more experienced we become, the more capable we are at detecting significance in a new experience (or even in an old experience revisited).\u201d[6]<\/a> Both of these perspectives are important to keep the \u201cwhy\u201d in view. Being employed may last a few decades, but the ability to gain significance from each experience is a lifetime benefit. \u201cIn general, it is better to have more than one purpose in studying. The more reasons you can find for doing what you have to do, the more energy you\u2019re likely to put into it \u2014 and the more you are likely to get out of it.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n Rowntree\u2019s work helped me gain perspective once again\u2026back to the edge!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Derek Rowntree,\u00a0Learn How to Study: Developing the Study Skills and Approaches to Learning That Will Help You Succeed in University \u2014 a Virtual Tutorial with Professor Derek Rowntree<\/em>, 6 ed. (Amazon Digital Services: Kindle Edition, 2016).<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book<\/em> (New York: Touchstone, 1972).<\/em><\/p>\n [3]<\/a>Pierre Bayard, How to Talk About Books You Haven\u2019t Read<\/em> (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009).<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n [4] Rowntree, Kindle Loc. 273.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Rowntree, Kindle Loc. 350.<\/p>\n