It is an unsung fact of education, that simple ingestion is inadequate for the successful tuning of the mind that must be achieved if one is to reach one's full potential as a person. On must also be able to assimilate, connect, and profess anew, the results of this cogitation.

Enter the essay question. The much-maligned hero of academia. Simple regurgitation is simply not enough to develop the mind--the mind needing exercise as much, if not more, than any physical apparatus that comprises the body. The essay question, and, by logical extension, the term paper, are the perfect tools for determining comprehension and capability.

I could go on, but that point is made. However...

What happens after graduation? We as adults have a distressing and unconscious habit of neglecting the output phase of our cognitive abilities. We may read, we may watch TV (which is not necessarily a detriment to the mind, as some pundits and doomsayers would have us believe...); but we rarely cognate and share our thoughts, and if we do, it is rarely to the extent that we do during our education.

The inevitable result is a loss of cognitive ability, just as a loss of strength is the inevitable result of neglecting exercise.

I cannot advocate strongly enough the regular practice of taking notes. Don't stop purchasing notebooks just because you don't need them for class any longer--the deceptively minor act of putting one's thoughts to paper (or LCD screen--blogging can be good for you) is crucial to the maintenance and further development of one's ability to think.

Write, and keep writing--at the very least, attempting to order one's thoughts in a manner that is sensible to other people will result in a greater understanding of one's own thoughts, which is not as ridiculous as it may at first sound: ask someone why they have the opinions that they do, and most will be unable to give a satisfactory answer.

Being able to give that satisfactory answer is the mark of a well-structured, strong mind. Not as easy to flex as a bicep, but every bit as important.