How to Motivate Yourself to Study: 12 Students Share Their Unique Ideas

Are you a student seeking advice on how to motivate yourself to study? Or maybe you need ideas on how to motivate yourself at work? There are many ways to motivate yourself to achieve your goals – and we have just the right experts to help you out: our students!

We asked our Summer School students at Oxford College how to motivate yourself to study. They have some excellent answers on the best ways to motivate yourself. Read on to find out how you can take yourself and your education to the next level.

Audrey – Studying Medicine

I love studying about the human body. I came to Summer Boarding Courses to explore this interest more!

How to motivate yourself for study

I believe that if we try our best, we can achieve the goals we want. Try and learn everything you can. It’s hard for me to start something, but when I do do it, it becomes easier. I also look to my friends. When I see my friends working hard, I think, ‘I have to do that too’.

How I motivate myself

I have always wanted to study abroad. I want to learn to be more independent and mature and practice English with everybody.

Who are your role models?

There’s a K-Pop band called BTS. First I just listened to their music, but then I got to know their personalities. I saw how much effort they put into everything. They rehearse for up to 12 hours a day! When you see how hard it was for them to debut, and how many competitors they have; they really had to step it up.

My Mum also strives to do anything. She goes for it!

Do you like the wellbeing programme at SBC?

It’s really good to have a balance. The wellbeing programme is a time where we can enjoy ourselves and focus on other areas in our life, apart from the academic side of school.

What have you learnt at Summer School so far?

I’m learning not to take things for granted. We can breathe today. We can see today. Be grateful for that.

David – Studying International Relations

I graduated 3 weeks ago and I’ve applied for a major in Science International Affairs. I asked myself, ‘What do I have to do this Summer?’ I felt that coming to Summer Boarding Courses was the perfect opportunity to prepare for University, so I picked this course myself.

Do you have any advice on how to motivate a student?

I always think of my goal. It helps me to work more to achieve what I want.

What is your motivation in life?

For now, it is to go to University and fit into the University life and environment. I want to enjoy the major I’m studying too. I want to go to the Lebanese American University in Beirut.

Who motivates you?

My parents. They’re really ambitious and work hard towards their goals, and then comes superheroes and some political figures who have worked hard for their countries! For example, Nelson Mandela.

Why are you at Summer Boarding Courses?

The environment is so good here. The mentors are really friendly and my teacher is great. He focuses on increasing student talking time and decreasing teacher talking time.

Talya – Studying International Relations

One of my favourite subjects at school is Humanities and we do sometimes model the UN: that’s really exciting for me. I want to learn skills to be better next year in class.

How I motivate myself to study

I work really hard on everything I do. I check my work 50 times over. I’m just that kind of person and it takes a lot of energy, so sometimes I really don’t want to do the work. Sometimes I have to study something I’m not keen on, so I recently came up with the idea to get a tutor. My family pays for this, so it forces me to study and get the work done!

How do you manage your workload?

I’ve reduced the amount of lessons I have. A lot of Asians take many lessons in addition to school. This year, school took too much out of me so I took less lessons to focus on my finals. There are times where I regularly go to sleep at 2am. We need to take more breaks and look after ourselves.

The SBC Wellbeing Programme really helps with this because it allows me to interact with my friends in a different way that’s not just ‘study study study’. I’m learning lots of new things I wouldn’t learn at school too.

Why did you choose Summer Boarding Courses?

I was looking into Summer Schools to help myself when applying to Universities. It looks good on your application.

I was going to spend my holidays in London anyway, so my Mum started searching for the best Summer Schools in this area and she found SBC in Oxford. Obviously, Oxford is a really good place to study (and my two cousins and friend are here too!).

Who are your role models?

My maternal Grandpa still works and he’s in his seventies. He still travels around and he finds that when he helps other people (he’s in the education business) and inspires them, it’s very satisfying for him. That motivates me! They (grandparents) care about other people and they really care about me. I can see that I can do things for others and that makes me happy.

I also love Michelle Obama. She’s very balanced: she’s funny, supportive of her husband and a good person in general. I strive to be like that.

Any ‘motivate yourself quotes’ you’d like to share?

Remember that you get back what you put in.

Continually remind yourself of this.

Konstantinos, Eduardo and Nikita – Studying Politics and Economics

Konstantinos

I may study Politics in the future. I may not. Yet it’s really something that interests me. I chose this course myself.

How do you motivate yourself?

I came to Summer Boarding Courses because I wanted to come to England and speak English. It’s my first time in England!

Eduardo

I chose Economics and Politics because it’s a subject that impacts all of our lives. It’s really important to know about.

What’s your advice on how to motivate yourself to work?

Remember that your life will be more successful if you study. I have fears about not achieving anything. If you’re lazy there will be consequences.

Nikita

Coming to Summer Boarding Courses and studying Politics is going to be great for my future: I want to be a politician.

What are your ways to motivate yourself to study?

I want to make things better for younger people in the world and I believe this can happen through having power. I would like to see changes in Russia. You need to ask yourself what you want in life, think about how you can reach your goals, then just do it.

Emmanuelle – Studying Law

I think there is so much to learn about in Law. Both of my parents are lawyers and I admire them very much. I wanted to take a look at this subject and so far, I like it very much! The idea of helping people and doing something for them really interests me.

One way to motivate yourself is to have a good teacher…

If the teacher is passionate about what they’re doing, then I want to learn from them. Try and have a good teacher.

…and gain strength from others

It’s amazing to be mixing with people from all around the world. To know their story and talk to someone from a completely different world, is a great way to learn so much and ask myself things I hadn’t thought about before.

Also, I love getting good grades. I like seeing the results of the hard work I put into my studies, and relax after everything I’ve have done. It’s great to say to yourself, ‘I did it!’ and achieve your goals. Make yourself proud and be happy with what you did.

What have you been learning so far?

We have been learning pronunciations, how to talk to people and how to use our imagination. We’re creating our own cases and learning how to defend ourselves. We’ve been doing some fake trials and it’s been so amazing to try out different things. John (the Law teacher) is motivating us and letting us discover and interact with each other to find new ideas.

Why did you come to Summer Boarding Courses?

My sister came to Summer Boarding Courses two years ago and had an amazing experience. Coming here has been better than I thought it would be. SBC is more than just an academic course. We get to do activities besides the course and meet so many other people.

Khan – Studying Medicine

I’m interested in Medicine, Psychology and Psychiatry and I thought coming to Summer Boarding Courses would be a great idea. The First Aid course interested me specifically!

How to motivate yourself for work

I think to myself, ‘I’m gonna have to do this anyway’, so it is better to finish it, then you can do what you want. The motivation is the actual end. Get the job done.

Who motivates you?

I really like Einstein because he was out of the ordinary. When you imagine a scientist, you imagine this old white guy sitting there, stone-faced…but seeing pictures of Einstein motivated me. Sigmund Freud is a really interesting person too.

Why are you at Summer Boarding Courses?

I was so nervous when I arrived, but just after a couple of days, I found that everyone is family. I have been to schools where they say we are a family, but here, this is where I really feel it. I wish this was my school. Here, people try to understand each other and make the effort to get to know each other.

Studying English Literature and Creative Writing

Kate

I’m having so much fun here. It’s worth it! This is my third time at Summer Boarding Courses. Coming here has helped me so much more than a year’s worth of this course in my usual school.

What writers inspire you?

I love reading Cassandra Clare and Patrick Ness. The language is just beautiful.

How to motivate yourself to study hard

Find someone just as passionate as you! Chris (current Creative writing teacher) cares about what we need to focus on in our writing. Instead of giving us exercises, he lets us work on our projects to become better writers. Having this freedom to express myself has allowed me to concentrate on what I really need to do as a writer.

I am being nudged towards my goal to write books continuously. I’m not going to give up on this.

Alice

I’ve learnt so much in one week because this course is focused on us (the students). Chris (the teacher) is fantastic. He’s teaching us how to edit our work and gives us constructive criticism towards our work. He has so much enthusiasm and faith in us; that we will make it someday as writers. Not everyone has faith in us, so it’s really good to be given this support. Who knows…we could be the next J.K. Rowlings!

Beldon – Studying Philosophy

I love to study how we think and how we make choices. I started buying books and reading about philosophers – and I really like it. I find Martin Heidegger interesting in particular; his ideas and thoughts are very inspiring. I’d like to do more research about him.

At Summer Boarding Courses, we’ve been learning what makes good knowledge and being a sceptic and doubting the world around us. We’ve been learning about Plato and next we’ll be learning about Kant.

How do I motivate myself to study?

Well, I really want to study Philosophy in Oxford. I want to be a philosopher.

How to motivate yourself when depressed

If I’m feeling tired or depressed, I cool myself down by taking time out. Then I go work out or read!

Hasna – Studying History of Art

I’ve been coming to Summer Boarding Courses for the last 3 years. Last year I took creative writing at Summer Boarding Courses. This year, I wanted to try something different!

I love drawing in my free time. I prefer drawing cartoon characters. We’ve been learning about the Renaissance era, Dutch, Victorian and modern art in History of Art. Hopefully, in the future however, I will major in Aerospace Engineering!

How I motivate myself

I don’t want to fail and disappoint my parents and my friends work very hard. They do not give up easily. They keep me motivated.

Jaykrit from India – Studying Law

I chose Law because I want to see if I like the subject and if I can have a future in it. In India there’s this course where I can get three degrees together in Business Administration, Administration and Law – I think I will be doing that.

How to motivate yourself to study hard

Listen to your elders. My Father stopped studying in the 7th grade to start working. He tells me, ‘If I had studied, I would have gone so much higher. Study hard to go higher than me’.

How did you find out about Summer Boarding Courses?

I didn’t know about Summer Boarding Courses until my sister told me about this course. She inspires me a lot. She’s behind me all the time: she wants me to ambitious and she wants to be proud of me. I started working on joining SBC immediately after my sister explained the course. And it’s in Oxford, so I had to come.

The best way to motivate yourself is to come to SBC!

I feel that if I took this course for a year, I would become an all-rounder. SBC courses help you study so much more than just the academic side of things. I’ve learnt how to live outside the luxuries of my own home. I’ve learnt walking now! Back home in India I don’t walk anywhere!

Are you feeling more motivated to study?

We hope we have helped you out! Summer Boarding Courses thrives to create an immersive, unforgettable experience for Summer School students in the most prestigious school locations in the UK. If you want to study abroad, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us. We would love to discuss what we can offer you more.