Your First Semester

Over the course of this semester, I have grown to think more critically and have a deep understanding of topics. At the beginning of the semester, I discussed topics and attacked algebraic problems with a broader perspective but now at the end of the semester, I read between the lines to find the underlying meaning. With algebraic problems, I can break down the problems and explain why something happens or it doesn’t happen. At first, I expected this semester to be very challenging being that my major is nursing, and also expected it to be highly competitive. Looking back I can say that this semester was challenging not only because of some of the work but mainly because of the work-life balance. With the expectation of high competition, I was shocked when I noticed the amount of teamwork and group collaboration this semester. I wish that I knew how stressful it could get trying to do my absolute best in school and at the same time work and provide for myself and sometimes, my family. This semester, I would be unmotivated for long periods because of the thought of having to go to work later in which my grades would suffer the consequences.  I also wish that I knew how bad morning traffic was going in Norfolk and that commuting from school every day is not an easy task 

Study Habits

Honestly now at the end of the semester, I don’t study as much as I did at the beginning of the semester. Now I probably study for about 30-40 minutes a day instead of pushing for an hour every day.  My Study habits have changed from the beginning of the semester. At first, I used to cram my studying into a one-hour study session but I noticed that by breaking up that study session into multiple sessions I could retain the information a little bit better. And now at the end of the semester, I cut about 20-30 minutes of studying and have more time to do other things. The Science Resource Center was a resource that I learned about and sometimes used. I can that next semester I will take more advantage of the tutoring that is offered there, especially with these upcoming in will enroll in. I probably will keep doing the same study habits as I did at the beginning of this semester going into next semester. I going to try to study for a least an hour a day but that amount of time will fluctuate depending on the amount of difficulty I face next semester. Hopefully, I can stay in the 30-40-minute range or I might try and break an hour in different sessions. 

Health Professions Learning Community

Over the course of the semester, I began to see a theme between some of my classes like HLTH 101 and HIST 104H. For a topic in SOC 201S  like the Conflict perspective, we can take our knowledge of the topic and apply it in another class like HIST 104H. You can correlate the Conflict perspective with The Progressive Party and the Civil Rights Movement. To go even further you correlate this also with the Social Determinants of Health which we learned in HLTH 101. 

Parallel Plan

I would be interested in majoring in  Biology because that was my first choice of a major coming out of high school but when I grew a love for the nursing field I also would be interested in majoring in chemistry because over the course of this semester, I enjoying learning about chemistry and participating in the laboratory. The benefit of having one or more parallel plans is that you wouldn’t have so much pressure on yourself regarding your major. If don’t like your major or maybe it is too difficult, having a parallel plan would benefit you because you have the agency to switch your plan instead of getting a degree that you don’t want or like. Biology and Chemistry majors can be beneficial to my Nursing major because as someone aspiring to be a nurse, having a deeper understanding of biology and chemistry will complement and expand my expertise in several key areas like pharmacology and human physiology. I would also have the ability to explain processes and better predict outcomes in my future career.