By John Bruno

A perfect grade point average (GPA) is no simple feat, but Donna O’Johnson does not mind. She offers a program that can help meet this goal – and guarantees her program will work.

If someone on her program doesn’t achieve a perfect score, O’Johnson offers the student a rebate of $100.

Last Tuesday, the Black Engineering Student Society and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers sponsored a presentation in the Curry Student Center Ballroom that discussed these study tips and guidelines that guarantee a 4.0 GPA.

A former pupil of O’Johnson, Y.C Chen, introduced her tutor to begin the program. She remarked on how the guaranteed 4.0 program helped raise GPA from a 2.2, and reshaped her both academically and professionally.

There were at least a couple non-believers attending the lecture, but O’Johnson opened up with a persuasive story of a young college student who started her program with a GPA of .3. Only one semester later, this young man held a 3.0 GPA, and two semesters after attending her lecture, he sported a very elite 4.0 GPA.

Freshman music industry major Andrew Campanella commented on having felt skeptical at first, but left the presentation believing that a 4.0 is “definitely [feasible] with perseverance.”

The presentation began with a review of the three things that would be talked about in the program: stress management, time management and finally, the three study steps for making the grade.

O’Johnson also stated that her program could cut study time in half.

She gave each attendee an interactive hand-out to follow along with.

The first topic of discussion was stress management. She classified stress as a normal problem for college students, and a major contributor to distractions and the poor grades that it could cause.

“Stress is the number one reason people don’t achieve,” O’Johnson said.

She then discussed time management. Allocating appropriate time to all parts of the day including studying, going to class, social interaction and of course, sleeping, is important to maintain a productive lifestyle, she said.

The third topic of discussion and focus point of the presentation was her academic strategy.

The first step is to go to class, where it is imperative to sit in the front and center of the classroom to avoid distractions, she said.

The second step is to meet with the professor at least once a week to make a good impression and get first-hand information that expands and clarifies the topics discussed in class.

The third step is to take good notes, she said. This section covered, in detail, note-taking methods and studying methods. Her method offers a variation of the study method is supposed to ensure good knowledge of the course materials.

“No one has ever asked me for the money,” she said.

O’Johnson has been presenting these concepts for 18 years, and her jovial and energetic presentation accurately reflected confidence in her program. She has a detailed book published on how to achieve a 4.0, available for $20 online.