Habits of Highly Successful Kinesiology Students: A University Instructor's Perspective

Dear future kinesiology graduate,

Success is tricky to define. 

It’s entirely subjective and a highly individualized concept. What constitutes success for one person may not for another. This goes for everything in life and is especially relevant in our education and career journeys. For someone struggling in their first calculus class in university, simply passing the midterm might be a huge success. Someone else might only define success as getting an A in every class.

Defining what success looks like for you is important. Regardless of your personal definition, as someone who has gone through 7 years of university and has taught multiple exercise physiology-based labs at the university level as a TA in grad school and as a lab instructor currently, I’ve noticed some common themes that help students to achieve success in academic settings and beyond. 

7 Habits of Highly Successful Kinesiology Students

1. They actively participate in class

I used to be the student who liked to blend in during class. I loved the giant lectures where I could sit somewhere in the middle and go unnoticed, drinking my coffee and taking my notes. Then, sometime during my last year of undergrad, I decided that I wanted to start speaking up in class. This was incredibly hard for me at the time. My voice used to get a little shaky and my vision would go a little blurry just from speaking in front of my peers. With all that said, I feel like this action paid off. It allowed me to be more engaged in class, which ultimately helped to solidify knowledge and better learn how to apply concepts.

If you’re someone who struggles to speak up in class, you’re not alone. I’ve been there (for many years) and continue to work on pushing myself to offer up ideas and opinions in the workplace. My #1 piece of advice here is: Start by raising your hand just once. Don’t be afraid to be wrong – that’s how we learn best. 

In my current role teaching undergraduate exercise physiology labs, the most successful students are more likely to speak up by answering questions, asking questions, and offering up opinions and ideas during discussions. It’s easy to think that your classmates will judge you for giving wrong answers, but I can promise that no one actually cares (one of the few times this is a positive thing!).

Mentor’s tip: Always volunteer to be a participant in your labs when possible. This is such a powerful way to enhance your understanding through first-hand experience and something that isn’t always possible in other fields of study! How often do we get to physically FEEL scientific principles?

2. They reach out when they need help

It’s normal to struggle when learning. In fact, this is a necessary part of the process. However, recognizing those moments of struggle and being proactive about reaching out for help is crucial.

Reaching out can look like:

• Attending regular office hours
• Emailing your instructor with questions or to set up a time to meet 1-on-1
• Talking to your instructor after class

The vast majority of university instructors want their students to succeed. As an instructor myself, I am always happy to answer student questions in emails and set up times to meet with students who need a little extra help. Asking for help is a great strength – not a weakness. The sooner you reach out, the better you can set yourself up for success in the long-term. 

3. They work together with their peers

I clearly remember one of the first days of my master’s program (MKin) – we had a seminar course led by an instructor who had taken the MKin program herself. Naturally, as the keeners we were, we asked her if she had any advice for how to be successful. The MKin program had a reputation for being a grind and we were all feeling a little nervous about getting started. I clearly remember her telling us how important it is to work together and lean on each other when times get tough. I think this single piece of advice was one of the most influential things we were told during the program – seriously. As a cohort, we consistently worked together to understand complicated topics from lectures, to analyze data from labs, and to share experiences of working in the field.  

Highly successful students work together. Chances are, if you don’t understand a concept or how to complete a part of an assignment, someone else does (and vice versa). Teaching is  absolutely the highest form of learning – being able to explain a concept or how to apply that concept to a classmate will benefit you just as much as them! This doesn’t mean copying another student’s work (I hope this goes without saying…), but rather working together to ensure you both understand concepts behind an assignment before completing it, sharing different resources, and working through complex calculations as a team. 

Mentor’s tip: If you’re taking an online course or find yourself part of a large lecture where you don’t know anyone, ask the instructor to help advertise for a study group or send out a mass email to the class yourself. Even in these more difficult situations, there are always ways to work together.

4. They don’t just focus on the grade

Grades do matter – I can’t deny this. Getting good grades during undergrad will give you more freedom to choose where you want to go next if you plan on furthering your education at the graduate level. For me, getting good grades also meant having my grandpa sneak me a twenty dollar bill every Thanksgiving. Working hard on an assignment and receiving a grade you know you deserve is also incredibly rewarding – it can be so fulfilling!

With all that said, I strongly believe that if you’re someone who focuses on grades first and understanding concepts second, you’re doing yourself a disservice. From my time as a university instructor and something I learned way too late in my own schooling, it’s become more and more apparent that students who take the time to understand concepts and how to apply them and let the grades work themself out from there are the most successful. 

Mentor’s tip: Teaching someone who isn’t in your program what you’ve learned in class or need to know for an exam is one of the best ways to solidify your understanding. This can be someone like a family member or a friend in a different program. Oftentimes, people will ask questions that you would never think of, which offers a great chance to think more deeply about the subject and improve critical thinking skills.

5. They apply the feedback they’re given

Unfortunately, not all instructors choose to or are able to give detailed feedback to their students. If you’re not sure why you lost marks or how you can improve for future assignments, don’t be afraid to reach out to your instructor. Some instructors at universities teach because they have to, but most of them do it because they enjoy it. 9 times out of 10, your instructor will appreciate you reaching out and will be happy to set up a time to meet with you or give you feedback over email.

As an instructor at a university currently, I’ve seen students completely disregard feedback and make the same mistakes time and time again… unnecessarily losing marks for the same thing. If you’re lucky enough to be given feedback in university, make sure that you take it and apply it. The most successful students aren’t always successful in class right off the bat, but the most successful ones learn from that initial failure and don’t make the same mistakes again.  

6. They gain experience outside of the classroom

If you’ve read a few YKM blog posts by now, then there’s a good chance that you’ve heard this before. We’re likely starting to sound like a broken record by saying this, but it’s so SO important: Make sure that you are finding ways to gain practical experience outside of the classroom. For good measure, I’ll say it again… Make sure that you are finding ways to gain practical experience outside of the classroom.

During my undergrad, I had very limited experience in the field. Everything I learned in class felt very much theoretical. During grad school, I worked as a personal trainer. Having this experience allowed me to think more critically about how different concepts could be applied in real-world settings. It made my education feel much richer and allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of the knowledge being presented along with how I might apply that knowledge to my current role.

Not only will practical experience help you to solidify your understanding of the concepts learned in different classes, but it can also make you more competitive if you want to apply to graduate programs (grad school, physiotherapy school, med school, etc) as well as helping your resume to stand out when applying to your first jobs after graduating. 

7. They exercise

Classic, right? We, as exercise professionals, always feel the need to point out the benefits of exercise whenever we can. Maybe you’re someone who already exercises habitually. Maybe you can’t fathom the idea that a kinesiology student, someone who studies human movement, wouldn’t be exercising. You’d be surprised by how many kinesiology students (not to mention university students in general) don’t make the time for this. 

In this case, I’ll make an argument for a few key reasons you, as a kinesiology student, should be exercising regularly while in school (even when it feels like you can’t possibly make the time for it!). 

Let’s start with something backed up by science: Exercise improves cognition. It enhances memory, executive function, attention and concentration, and also aids in stress management (just to name a few!). These are things that every single student can benefit from and will, ultimately, aid in academic success. 

Furthermore, exercising regularly can help to solidify concepts learned in your courses. It’s a whole lot easier to understand what happens to the body during exercise and when chronically exercising if you’ve experienced it first-hand. For example, how does your breathing change at different intensities? How does your body adapt to consistently running 3x/week? How does strength training impact your ability to perform daily tasks more easily? We have the privilege of being able to feel the science of exercise first-hand. This isn’t just physical either – how does your mood change when you’re consistently exercising? How can you find simple ways to change your behaviour to incorporate physical activity into your day? 

Lastly, if you’re planning to work in the field of exercise science (or currently do), it is so important to practice what you preach. Going through the process of building exercise habits will make it easier to relate to and help others to do the same. Trying out different types of exercise and methods of training will allow you to coach others with much more ease. Trying out training programs that you’ve written can illuminate areas for improvement when using it with clients.

In conclusion…

What constitutes success and the actions we take to get there will, of course, vary from person-to-person. What works well for you may not work well for someone else. These 7 habits are something I, myself, have found helpful as a kinesiology student and have also been common themes observed in the most successful students in the undergraduate course I currently teach. I have no doubt that implementing even a few of these will help you to build success for years to come in your undergraduate journey… and beyond!

As always, if you have any questions or want to chat more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of Your Kines Mentors at any time. We’re here to help.

Sincerely,

Chantelle Ball

Your Kines Mentor