I have tried many things to stay alert (or at least awake) in this class. I stock up on dime candy, get up to go get a drink every ten minutes, read the news, and write papers for other classes. Nothing has worked. I inevitably always face the tremendous downward pressure on my head and eyelids. Until I found the magical solution.
The BYU newspaper, The Daily Universe, puts three Sudoku puzzles (of varying difficulty) and the Nytimes crossword in the paper every day. It just happens that I can finish all of the Sudokus and put a good effort in on the crossword in about an hour and a half--conveniently the time it takes to endure one session of ManEc. Now, instead of paying full attention to lecture material (that we already covered in Econ 110, by the way), I am thinking about to what word "Hunky-Dory" and "Dixie bread" are referring. I'm passive enough that I can still see the slides and pay attention when it's important, but my mind is engaged enough that my eyes aren't glazed over and I'm not thinking of all the ways I can get out of the Tanner building without touching the imaginary "lava."
My technique might not work for everyone; I would only recommend cross-word therapy for those who are dominantly visual. If your eyes are important for your learning, stick with the dime candy method. But for those of you who must keep your eyes mindlessly busy to stay engaged, cross-words are priceless. And for me, newspaper puzzles have revitalized my summer schedule. I'm no longer begging my friends to play twenty questions with me over text messages in order to prevent self-destructive thoughts.
When I graduate, it will be partly due to my dependence on cross-words....bless you, Will Shortz!
And I've been left out of the 20-questions loop??
ReplyDeleteAnd do explain this "lava". I generally only go to the Tanner building for Divine Comedy performances...
Ah, sudoku! Is there anything they can't do?
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