As me and my peers are headed off to college where several new ideas, concepts, or formulas will be hurled towards are heads, and our brains will be forced to sit in lecture halls and absorb it all! Well, although there will be tons of information, unfamiliar words, dry reading, and relatively droning speakers, there is one key ingredient that all students should integrate into their study skills that every teacher ive talked to knows is paramount to success in college.  It is a skill that you readers can gather from reading my blog that i have not completely mastered. The ability to present cogent arguments through your writing, and write an array of styles. Of course we all would like to write a "Latane Mason" level essay without trying extremely hard. Because realistically, putting in hours is simply not enough to develop the critical writing skills, and most people do not want to waste time free writing if it will not yield results. Fortunately, I believe i may have found a solution. I have actually been keeping a journal where I daily log new things I have learned about neuroscience and other interesting things. I practice taking an opinion on research or theories, and have found than in very small doses I have become a better writer. In Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot by Richard Restake (who teaches neurology at George Washington University) he says that journals and essays you write actually become an extension of your brain. Thus u can get smarter by logging personal growths you experience, and develop your writing skills as well. I hope it works for us all.