Study Habits
So far, I’m doing the best in Sociology because, for the most part, the concepts have been relatively common sense and principle/moral related. However, I started realizing I’m not too good at Philosophy, so I’ve been working with my professor to strengthen my understanding in that class. Another thing I’m really struggling at is keeping track of all my assignments, so I recently bought an agenda. Hopefully I’ll start to make better use of my time.

Transition to College
I expected that college would be a place I was allowed to be more independent and enjoy myself more than I did in high school(less drama). In all honesty, it’s living up to my expectations pretty well. The only difference so far is that I expected it to be a lot harder to make friends than it ended up being. Moving away from home was honestly a really great thing for my mental health. One challenge I faced was not knowing how to do basic household things correctly like cooking or doing laundry, but my roommate helped me figure it out.

Major
I learned that there are a lot more options for nursing than an RN and Nursing Practitioner. I’m looking more into becoming a surgical nurse, so the knowledge of more fitting options has been helpful. So far, my feelings have not changed about nursing, but the specific kind of nursing I want to pursue is up in the air at the moment. After talking to my advisor, it seems more advantageous for me to pursue a minor in either biology or something more community-health related.

Connecting to Campus
Since I’ve been on campus, getting sick is a regular occurrence for me. Before coming to college, I was rarely sick, but I was also rarely exposed to such heavily populated environments. Safe to say, I visit ODU’s health center quite a bit. On the bright side, my friend Amy and roommate Ami have been constant good influences and friends since I’ve been here. We motivate each other to study and get out of our comfort zones every once in a while. I joined NAACP and a couple health clubs to better connect me with the school and possible opportunities.

Guest Speaker/ Field Trips
I liked Dr. Elizabeth Brown & Tinnikka Robertson-Jones because they were very friendly and the topics they covered felt more personal. They stressed a lot about helping beyond the hospital which was a more holistic approach that nurses need to utilize often. Thinking about something from another person’s perspective is important. On the other hand, I do hope to see Sara Maynard during another visit since her topic was something I’m still not completely understanding.