Your First Semester

• Tell us How you have grown from the beginning of the semester to now.

Since the beginning of the semester, I have expanded my knowledge and my social skills. I have taken my first philosophy class this semester and could not have enjoyed it more. From the class, I have discovered philosophy and psychology podcasts that I listen to on my 45 minute commute to school. I believe getting a better understanding of these two topics can be beneficial to anyone. Through chemistry and history, I have learned better study strategies than I have ever had. I also am learning to balance my time between work, school, commuting, and social activity but I think I am better at this balance than I was in August. Regarding my social skills, I have become more confident in going up to strangers for help. A lot of the time, talking to students I don’t recognize around the school ends up being a positive experience. I am learning not to be afraid of the community around me. My sociality is something I am proud of.

• What were your expectations for this year? Did this semester’s experiences meet your expectations? Explain.

I went into the semester thinking it was going to be the same as my year at Tidewater Community College. This means I wasn’t concerned about the 30 minute increase in driving time, difference in social setting, and increase in class workload. I wasn’t concerned about the friends I would make along the way or the other benefits of being an ODU student. I think this semester’s experiences went beyond my original expectations. I have met lots of new people through my ILC classes and spend time studying and hanging out with them outside of class. I am taking advantage of the commute by listening to philosophy podcasts for educational and entertainment purposes. The classwork load is heavier than I expected, but it is teaching me better work ethics.

• What is something you wish you knew 14 weeks ago?

Something I wish I knew 14 weeks ago is the large abundance of study spaces I have access to. During my first week here, I completed all of my assignments at home, unaware of the spaces ODU has to offer. The next couple of weeks I spent all my time in the Perry Library. After a meeting with my success coach, I learned about the commuter’s lounge on the second floor of the Webb center. Since I found the commuter’s lounge, I have been open to exploring more of the campus. Now, I feel comfortable walking into a new building on campus and searching for a new place to sit down. I am learning to take advantage of the resources I am paying for in my tuition and I am excited to learn more over the next three and a half years.

Study Habits

• How much time do you spend studying for each class now vs. at the beginning of the semester?

I spend more time studying now than at the beginning of the semester. I probably study one hour a day now, vs two hours per week. I did not have a good understanding of the importance of studying.

• How have your study habits changed?

At the beginning of the semester, I didn’t have great study habits. I was only great at organizing assignments, not studying for quizzes and tests. Now, I spend more time studying because I understand how much time I should be devoting to each class depending on the material. This is especially true in regards to chemistry. I used to begin preparing for an exam one or two days in advance. Now, my final exam for the class is in two weeks and I have already begun. Also, instead of diving right into the material, I like to give myself a plan. This plan helps me organize my thoughts, time, and material so I am not overwhelmed.

• Tell us about a resource that you have used/learned about this semester that will assist you next semester.

One resource that I have used/learned about this semester is success coaching. My success coach, Maria Doran, and I have had three sessions together. We have discussed my study habits, campus activity, and career goals. Around halfway through the semester, I discussed switching my major with her because I was feeling overwhelmed. She set up a separate major discovery meeting with me and we discussed some options. In the end, I did not switch my major, but now I have a good plan to put in place if that time comes.

• What study habits/techniques will you use going into next semester?

In the next semester, three of my classes will be asynchronous. Because I will not have a given timeline and lecturer, I need to use good time management skills. This semester and during my two semesters at Tidewater Community College, I designed my own planner using Google sheets. I am really happy with the layout of this planner and it helps me visualize when I need to work on certain assignments. I plan on keeping this method. I will also continue to use my new study habits.

Health Professions Learning Community

• This semester you were enrolled in at least SOC 201S, and HLTH 101. Many of you were also enrolled in CHEM 105N and CHEM 106N, and some of you were enrolled in HIST 104H with Professor White.

I did not take SOC 201S this semester, but I did take the rest of the listed classes. HLTH 101, CHEM 105/106, and HIST 104H were all tied together by their connection to social sciences. As a member of ODU’s health science Impact Learning Community (ILC), me and several other members of the ILC were registered for the same classes. Most of us are nursing majors, but all of us are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. Since this is the case, each of the listed classes relate their subjects to health science. HLTH 101 has introduced us to health science pathways other than nursing through presentations and research. CHEM 105/106 has connections to a different healthcare job in each chapter. HIST 104H had students connect the learned material to healthcare related topics, such as mental hospital treatment and laws passing Medicare/Medicaid. My teachers this semester did an excellent job relating class elements to health science fields.

Parallel Plan

• Which two other majors would you be most interested in? Why?

The two other majors that I would be interested in are psychology and nuclear medicine. Psychology is already my second major (alongside nursing). I experienced a lot of positive and negative psychology-field care growing up, so I am comfortable with the field. I want to work one-on-one with my patients through psychology if that is the path I choose. I am interested in nuclear medicine because of the presentation our healthcare class watched last Wednesday, November, 20. The presentation drew me into the major and I love working with my hands through clinical experience. If I change my nursing major, I would definitely look further into nuclear medicine.

• What benefit is there to having a parallel plan (or two) in place?

The benefit to having a parallel plan (or two) in place is having a safety net in case a student has to change their major. Students change their majors for many reasons. Some just lose interest in their original path and some are not accepted into the program they were planning on. If I am not accepted into the nursing program, it is smart for me to have backup plans so I don’t panic.

• How could one or both of these two majors benefit your current intended major?

Psychology benefits my current intended major because it gives me more background on health science related topics. Psychology will discuss mental processing, how to calm people down and mental illness throughout different age groups. This information will benefit my nursing major because many psychology and nursing topics overlap. It will be helpful to know how to walk someone through a panic attack both as a psychology major and a nursing major. Also, many of the prerequisite classes for these two majors are the same. Nuclear medicine will explore topics through clinicals, similar to the nursing major, but I am not knowledgeable enough to understand how exactly.