Current research indicates that students often have a difficult time getting started on reaching their course goals. This study examines the impact of an intervention exercise on the final grades and success rates of two groups of community college students in California. At the beginning of the spring semester 2007, students in two English writing classes underwent an intervention to improve their study skills. The purpose of the study skills exercises was to encourage students to successfully complete mini essays. Students in an experimental group underwent the intervention exercise at the beginning of the first five class sessions of the semester. Immediately after each of the first four interventions they wrote a mini essay. Students in the control group underwent intervention exercises at the fifth through ninth class sessions of the semester. Although students in the experimental group scored higher in the mini essays than students in the control group (F(3,12) = 3.25, p = 0.06), no significant differences between the two groups were found in their final grades and success rates (z = -0.56 and z = -1.42, respectively). The limitations of the current study and implications for future research are discussed in this manuscript. (Contains 1 figure and 7 tables.)