“Study for the test, sure. Just remember life goes on after the test.”

My mom told me this while I was studying for the SATs. She probably gave me this wisdom in various forms before then, but that’s the first time I remember. At the time, I thought it was equivalent to saying “there’s more to life than school.” As I’ve aged and thought about what she was really telling me, I think it gets a stronger point about how to actually train one’s brain. I use it now as a reminder to try and apply learned knowledge to more than just the task at hand; quizzing myself in the future, re-reading books, and trying to engage with things I learn so they stick in my brain rather than leave after they’re immediately relevant.