Introduction
Kotler’s article discusses the various techniques employed by college students to get the best out of the limited time available to them and survive on slim budgets, which force many to live on junk food. In college, sleep is a luxury, especially when there are exams because most students will put off studying until the last days, then study all night in coffee induced stupors (Kotler & Levine, 2005). Ironically, sleep might be more useful in helping one to pass exams than staying up all night to cram since it has been proven that when the brain gets enough rest, the memory improves.
Main body
Personally, I rarely took part in all-night cramming sessions since I tended to organize my work in advance to avoid rushing at the last minute. In addition, I am intrinsically motivated to study and for me, it is rarely about results but the research and the studies for their own sake. Nonetheless, I often encountered colleagues who procrastinated all semester long and only engaged in marathon cramming, although to their credit, many of them passed. I attribute this to the fact that some people perform well under pressure. However, on matters of food, I was in many ways an archetypical college student, who, for the most part, survives on a variety of Junk foods especially pizza and fries, which are washed down with soda (Marquis, 2005).
Kotler also discusses the alcohol and cigarette culture among college students, more so, binge drinking, which is commonplace on most campuses and has been found to have potentially dangerous consequences on the human brain. Apparently, when one overindulges, it affects the development of new cells and even kills off some of the already developed ones (Kotler & Levine, 2005). As a result, students who spend a weekend drinking and then try to condense a semester’s work in an intense cramming week may end up struggling in the exam room. While I was never much of a drinker, I can appreciate the impact of alcohol on the brain since the few times I indulged, I always had a hard time focusing in class for as much as a week.
Conclusion
The most surprising part of Kotler’s paper is, however, the impact of smoking on the brain. Apparently, contrary to the popular belief, cigarette smoke, despite containing nicotine may actually have a positive impact on intellectual abilities. However, this should not be interpreted as an endorsement for people to take up smoking. Kotler cautions that nicotine encourages state-dependent learning, which means that if one studies while they were smoking, they will only be in a position to reproduce what they learned if they are smoking (Kotler & Levine, 2005). Personally, I would not attempt to use cigarettes or any other drugs to help me with my studies.
From my observation of those who have tried such tactics, I have found that they more often than not end up being counterproductive. Any enhancement, even coffee, tends to be addictive, and when one gets used to studying under its influence and it becomes difficult for them to make any progress when they are not using it. Therefore, I agree with Kotler’s premise that some of the challenges people face in their professional life such as poor memory may be attributed to their retrospective behaviors when they were undergraduates.
References
Kotler, S & Levine, P. B. K. (2005). The Perils of Higher Education. Psychology Today, 38(2), 64-70.
Marquis, M. (2005). Exploring convenience orientation as a food motivation for college students living in residence halls. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 29(1), 55-63.