Importance of listening and asking questions to academic success

Listening is the ability to pay attention to what you are being taught by your teachers while asking questions enables you to clarify what you might have gotten wrong or what seems difficult to comprehend. These two keys are very crucial for any student that wants to succeed academically. It is also useful for anyone that wants to succeed in life.

Listening will enable you to get the full gist of a topic and not only that you will even have access to some unspoken words of your teachers. This is possible because you are paying close attention to every detail that is passed across in class. Sometimes I do wonder why a student will be in class and allows his or her mind to wander away. Failure starts the moment you stop paying attention to details in class. It is worthy to note that relevant questions are the result of you listening attentively in class. This is also applicable into life outside the classroom; you can’t begin to ask questions when you haven’t been paying attention to the trend of things or principles governing this world.

The more you ask questions the more your level of understanding. As you gain understanding, the sharpness and accuracy of your answers in any exam will be profound because you are deliberate about your learning.

It is important that you take these two keys with you anytime you are in the learning environment. You mustn’t be distracted and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Great people are inquisitive and that is what separates them from ordinary men. They are not afraid to ask why and how about any issues. If you don’t ask, you can’t receive.

It is common among students to shy away from asking questions from their teachers mainly because of the fear of what their colleagues will say or the response of their teachers. I love this quote which says “Stand out; don’t blend in. The majority many times is a group of highly motivated snails” Because your friends are afraid to ask questions in class doesn’t mean you should blend with them and continue to suffer in ignorance. Regardless of the response of your teachers, you must not be afraid to ask the right questions.

One of the attitudes of champions is their eagerness to learn: learning means their readiness to listen with the intent to gain every detail and ask questions when it seems they need clarification.

Let me remind you that your major setback is 80% within you and 20% around you. That means you can set yourself back academically by your failure to be attentive and ask relevant questions.

Lastly, what really matters is what happens to you, not to us. Seek knowledge and pursue understanding!