Audio Learner

Each of us take in information through our different senses. Some experiences are retained better in our long-term memory influenced by the sense that was used for the intake. Many people say I'm a "visual learner" meaning seeing pictures or examples helps them retain information better than other methods. I discovered in college I'm certainly an audio learner.

Being the nerd I am, I was prone to reasonably large amounts of study time. Yet I found that my greatest study strategy was simply to attend class. I was able to absorb most of the information necessary for the exam or project by simply listening to the instructions.

When cold evening after my night class, I was discussing with myself the principles covered in class. Now I was the only one listening minus the occasional passerby who caught a tidbit of my conversation. It was during this intense personal discussion did I discover I was an audio learner. I said to myself "No wonder I talk to myself so much, I'm an audio learner."

My friends argue that I'm still responding to the little voices in my head but since I'm still only hearing my voice I'm fairly confident that isn't it. My internal conversations are not usually as stimulating as those with other individuals as the element of surprise is eliminated.

Phone conversations are very satisfying to me because of this inclination towards audio learning. The 900 hours of call time since May 2004 with my current cell phone supports this assertion. While I always prefer someone in the room, I compensate for my current status with the cell phone.

Talking to myself also provides some level of comfort. I just never want it to get in the way of personal relationships. Brett said he saw me on campus a while back but..."I was going to say hi but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation."