Seton Home Study School Study Skills Online

Lesson 1 - Why You Should Study

There are many reasons why we should study. We can be successful in taking any course in any school if we study and apply ourselves to understanding the concepts. Good habits of studying will help us to learn more quickly and to retain longer what we are learning

As a Christian, we should study because God blessed us with intelligence and we have a responsibility to use the talents God has given us. We remember the story in the Bible which Jesus told, about the people who are given various amounts of money or talents. Some used their talents or money to produce more. One man, however, buried his talents. Jesus was not pleased with this man. In addition, people find they are happier when they share their talents, money or otherwise, to help other people.

As a son or daughter, we have a responsibility to be obedient to our parents. Each of us is an important part of our family. Just as our mother and father have given their lives in daily work and sacrifice for us, so we too must work daily and make sacrifices for them and other members of our family. God gave us a family to help us learn to be kind and generous to others. This helps us to develop certain virtues.

We also have obligations to our ancestors to carry on our Catholic heritage. If we learn about our grandparents and our great‑grandparents, we will discover how they sacrificed to be able to practice their religion freely. They may have left their homeland to give us the heritage of freedom, or perhaps they suffered as a minority to gain certain freedoms. Now it is our responsibility to use that freedom to keep freedom in our country. Today, many people in the world are suffering and fighting for their freedoms. Let us learn and study so we can protect our American freedoms, especially the freedom to practice our religion.

Pope John Paul II gave a speech to a group of high school students and encouraged them to be committed to their duties in high school: "[High School] is a time of preparation, so that the more serious your commitment in carrying out your duties today, the more certain and fruitful will be the exercise of the missions entrusted to you tomorrow. Apply yourselves, therefore, to study with great industry." ‑ Pope John Paul II

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Next: Lesson 2.