Since the beginning of the semester, I have become more confident in myself when it comes to school. I went into the semester thinking college was going to be hard, and that I was going to do horrible. However, as the semester has gone on, I have realized that I have great potential of doing well just as long as I put myself in that mindset. My expectation for this year was that it was going to be a lot different than high school. Personally, I do not think it is all that different. I have to put in a little more time studying, but overall, it is pretty much the same for me. This semester has taught me that I have to put in extra work outside of class in order to be prepared for lecture. 14 weeks ago, I wish I had known that there was no reason to be so nervous about starting college. I also wish I knew that I would be just fine this semester and not to worry or stress too much.

At the beginning of the semester, I only spent a few hours studying each week. However, I now spend at least 20 hours outside of class studying and preparing for lecture. At the beginning of the semester, I had not quite learned that I needed to put in extra work at home in order to be better prepared. My study habits have not changed. Both at the beginning of the semester and now, I use colored pens and note cards to study. I review my notes and write down important information on the note cards. I also always do the practice and review my professor’s posts. I learned about the writing center, and I plan on using it throughout the next semester. Next semester, I am also going to use these same study habits. They worked for me this semester, and hopefully, they will next semester too. Next semester, I will also continue on preparing for my classes prior to lecture.

This semester I was enrolled in all the courses offered by the Health Professions Learning Community. Throughout all the courses, my professors have done a great job teaching me. Even though these courses do not seem to be connected, they are. This semester had a main focused theme of social justice. All of my courses did a good job of incorporating this theme, therefore connecting the courses in a way. All these courses are also tied together because the little aspects all tie into what we need to know about for nursing. In sociology, we learned about people’s behaviors. In history, we learned about the history of nursing and different medicines. In chemistry, we learned how it ties into the medical field. Finally in health professions, we learned about different fields in the healthcare system. All of these classes have taught me important aspects I need to know going into the healthcare system. Throughout the semester, many events have been held for our learning community. The most beneficial event was the one with the nursing panel. This event was most beneficial because I got to learn about different nurses’ experiences. Going into the nursing field, I felt that this zoom call taught me how nursing encompasses so much.