I've always been a slacker. During high school I would disregard all homework and tests to play online games during all off-school hours. After finishing HS I predictably didn't pass the college entrance exams and so went off to a cram school. I didn't really study during my time there either, but I actually tried paying attention to class and as a result got to barely pass the exams.

You'd think after having been in college for over a year I'd be exerting myself and doing well, but it's not the case. Next semester I'll be retaking classes I failed that I should've been done with earlier this year. I'm currently only taking up one class. Yeah, one.

I'll often get anxious over how there are so many good students whose knowledge I'll never be able to reach because I've been slacking for so long. Instead of being enthusiastic to learn all that I don't know, I give up before even trying to catch up to them.

Another problem with actually doing things is not knowing how to deal with school matters because I didn't care about them previosuly. During cram school I didn't even have to take any tests. I don't know how to organize all the given out copies and my own essays, so I've just piled them inside a drawer. I don't even remember too well most of what I'd learned during the first semester, and I don't understand how others can remember anything so well with no effort. I don't know how to study. Is it just reading? Didn't seem to work too well the times I tried.

Oh, and groupwork. After a few group assignments during the first semester to which I provided no efforts, I felt so horrible about leaving all the work to colleagues I stopped attending classes that had them during the 2nd semester (which lead to all the failed classes)

Nothing takes "no effort". Studying isn't "just reading". Review short passages you've just read. Try memorizing first the general idea, then the specifics. If you want to "become" more intelligent (somewhat superfluous to say, I know), don't only make sense of what you read but discuss with yourself some possibilities, ramifications, mull over it for a while until you can understand the application to whichever context is most important.

Get a binder and folders. Separate folders for separate classes. Take shorthand notes, writing only enough so that reviewing them later will perhaps bring the lecture back to memory. Wrap your mind around things.

Don't think of yourself as becoming a good "student", learn because you want to, because the process is an act of discovering life, the universe, and everything. If someone says you're stupid, don't let it bring you down. Instead ignore it or take it as motivation to become better than you already are.

You have the flow of lucid consciousness to not only grasp knowledge but work with it as well. This is how "smarter" students think. Yes, there are many facets of the mind that you are not familiar with. Indeed, you and I may never know some of them. But that won't stop you from being able to know what they know, just as well as they know it, perhaps better, and being able to integrate it in a way that helps your mind mature.

It takes discipline, know this. You're intelligent, your potential hasn't dropped one bit. If you decide to change now, your brain will in time begin to ache, you'll feel it, a blindingly sharp pain that goes away the next day. Before you know it, memorization and understanding come easier; perhaps instantly. Material is no longer drudgery, save only when it is what you already know. Your life and your future will seem to flourish before your eyes, and you'll never want to stop learning.

I believe this is what you have to look forward to.

One last thing: Knowledge has no bias. If you really want to learn, you will.

Repeating the process of learning over and over makes it work easier. Anything that anyone does well is the result of lots and lots of practice. It's better to let curiosity compel you to find out how things work than to try to memorize answers to things. Becoming genuinely interested in whatever subjects you're studying helps a lot.

It's a sort of a zen thing, overriding your first nature by conditioning yourself over time to learn until learning becomes second nature, then continuing until it becomes so natural to you that it becomes your new first nature.

It takes time, but it gives patience, confidence and understanding. Just look at all of the stuff around us, the things that are going on, the complex stuff that all has something very simple in common, and you won't be able to help yourself becoming fascinated with it all. Then your natural curiosity can take over, and all of that time you spend slacking will become full of studying, and you won't even be able to tell the difference between the one and the other.

When I started college, I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. Eventually, I started catching myself reading ahead in the textbooks when I should have been doing other things. My slack all wound up being filled with learning, and all of my teachers remarked about how enthusiastic I was about their subjects.

I don't want to be harsh, cause I'm quite the slacker myself.

You aren't performing well precisely because you are slacking. You've got to take studying seriously. In a way, it's a job, and those who are driven and focused will perform well.

I'm not sure if I'd use the term "decent student" myself... But I do know this: studying isn't the same as cramming. If you cram, you might be able to pass some test or exam, but you most likely won't remember what on earth it was that you crammed, which could be why you can't remember what you studied.

You ought to try to understand what it is you're reading and why is it you're reading this particular textbook or passage? Asking yourself questions like "What am I looking for" and "How can this help me" helps.

Also, it's a good idea to ask your teachers/lecturers for help if you feel lost! Even if it's just simple questions about concepts or just about homework. I'm sure they'll be willing to help you too, if you approach them!

On top of what everyone else already said (and probably overlapping with that in some places):

The obvious solution to being a slacker is to become a hard worker.
It sounds crude, but if you decide to be strong enough to resist the temptation of procrastination, I'm sure you'll succeed. Be strong-willed. Set yourself clear goals, and tell yourself "I will not rest until this is done." And stick to that promise, literally.
(I'm being a bit of a hypocrite now, because by answering you I'm in fact procrastinating myself. But I know this method works when I use it.)

>I'll often get anxious over how there are so many good students whose knowledge I'll never be able to reach because I've been slacking for so long. Instead of being enthusiastic to learn all that I don't know, I give up before even trying to catch up to them.

Then instead of wanting to catch up with them, just try to maximally fulfil your own potential. In other words, pay no attention to the level of the other students; just do your best. You know you can do that. And maybe that way you actually will end up around their level.

>I don't even remember too well most of what I'd learned during the first semester, and I don't understand how others can remember anything so well with no effort.

Nobody can. It's difficult for everyone to actively recall everything they learned. But if you understood and knew it then, there'll still be a passive memory in your head that will present itself when it's specifically asked for.

>I don't know how to study. Is it just reading? Didn't seem to work too well the times I tried.

For me, it's just reading and trying to understand and remember what you read. And reading again the parts you don't understand or forget.