Throughout the course of the semester my study habits have slowly improved. I don’t spend that much time studying, but I have all A’s. I definitely plan on putting more time into studying and specifically in chemistry and history. I spend most of the time that I do study at home or at the library. When I am studying, I find myself being distracted by my phone. A few ways I could alleviate this distraction would be to silence my phone, move it out of reach, and give myself phone breaks. I tend to be most focused and alert in the morning between 8am and 11am and in the evenings. I study in the morning and do my homework/take notes in the evenings. My study habits have not improved much, but I will slowly work myself up to studying as much as I need to for each class. 

My learning skills have not changed much from the way I have learned in the past. I haven’t tried any new study techniques simply because the ones that I use have been useful in achieving the grades that I have. Although I haven’t tried any new techniques I would like to try creating a brain dump when studying for my more challenging classes. I rely on a few study techniques in particular: flash cards, rewriting notes, practice problems/quizzes, writing summaries, and doing test reviews. For my easier classes such as Sociology and Literature, I mainly rely on test reviews and summaries. For my harder classes such as Chemistry and History, I rely on flash cards, summaries, and practice quizzes/problems. 

My experience with college thus far has been very intriguing. It has been a combination of stress and excitement, and this is exactly what I expected from it. College has been different from what I expected in the way that I came in believing that I was going to have to dress/look a certain way, but then I got here and realized that no one even cares what you do or what you look like. This was relieving for me, and it has helped me to let go some. I am surprised that so many professors give online tests. I am also surprised that classes can actually get cancelled, and there are no makeups for them. My favorite thing about campus is the look of it, and how it has everything I need. I believe my toughest challenge with college has been the commute to and from Norfolk to Virginia Beach. I am considering living on campus next year not only because of that but to also become more connected to it. Overall, I am truly enjoying my time at ODU. 

Connecting to campus has been very easy to me thanks to the learning community. One class that I have struggled with is Chemistry. I can alleviate this problem by going to the Math and Science Resource center for help with Chemistry, and I can go to my Chemistry professor’s Office Hours. Amanda, my peer mentor, has been a huge help thus far. She has been a friendly face, an eye opener, and a tutor in some cases! I am a member of two organizations at school so far in the semester: Global Brigades and the Student Nurses’ Association. I have been to two meeting for Global Brigades and one for SNA. I chose to get involved with these two because they both pertain to what I want to do in the future.