Your First Semester

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

I have grown since the beginning of the semester to now in the sense that I was nervous in the beginning about making a bunch of friends but now, I am content with the friends I have made and I realized I would rather keep my circle small. I also prioritize my schoolwork over my social life, as to me it is more important. I also grew in the way that I learned to manage my schedule. In the beginning of the year I felt super busy like I never had a free second, but by the end of the semester I have learned and adjusted to my schedule so that now it seems like I have too much free time. 

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

My expectations for this year were that the exams were going to be super hard and I would have to take a lot of time to prepare for them because they could tank my grade. In reality, this did not meet my expectations as I did not do very much studying and still got As in all of my classes. In addition, one bad exam grade did not have as much of an effect on the overall course grade as I thought it would, because you could get a C on an exam but still have an A in the class.

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

14 weeks ago, I wish I knew that there were shadowing opportunities and the ODU PT clinic that I could be utilizing. If I had researched this or known earlier on, I could have been getting observation hours during my free time throughout this entire semester.

Study Habits

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

I believe that I spend the same amount studying now vs. in the beginning, if not less. This is because I have adapted to my professor’s and their style of exams, so I know which information I usually need to look over. Therefore, at the beginning of the year it was stressful to not know which information could be on the exams so I would make sure I knew everything and take more time.

• How have your study habits changed?

My study habits have not changed over the course of this semester. I don’t do much to study other than flip through powerpoints or look over notes the day before or day of the test. This habit has been consistent since the beginning of the school year.

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

One resource that I have learned about that will assist me next semester is the writing center in the library. This could help me to look over any future research papers I have next semester for possible suggestions or corrections before turning it in to my professor.

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

Although I have not used many studying techniques this semester, I intend on my classes getting harder next semester. Therefore, I will probably start using flashcards or making quizlets to help me study the material. 

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.
  • On the surface these classes do not appear to be connected; however this semester each professor was intentional about drawing connections between content, and subjects discussed. Discuss the ways in which  these courses are tied together.

I was not in chemistry or history this semester, however I did take Intro to Psychology along with HLTH 120G, which tied together with HLTH 101. It connects to psychology with the e- portfolio, since the portfolio promotes social interaction to improve the college experience, which is one of the topics discussed in psychology regarding an increased happiness with sociability. As for HLTH 120G, it connects to HLTH 101 by its room for career exploration. For example, we went to a lot of different labs for different majors and programs at ODU in our HLTH 120G class. This is similar to the intro to health professions class because it exposes students to their different career options. 

Parallel Plan

1. This semester we had presentations from different majors in the College of Health Sciences as well as from different majors on campus. This was to give you an idea for possible parallel majors to your current intended major. 

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

The two other majors I would be most interested in are recreational therapy and nursing. This is because I know I want to work in a hospital with a hands-on job rather than having an office or desk job. Therefore these are the medical professions that interest me the most.

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

The benefit of having a parallel plan is that you have something to fall back on if your intended major does not turn out to be what you thought it would, or if you do not like it as much. It can also relieve some stress if you have a plan, rather than deciding your intended major is not meant for you but you have no other options in place.

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

The recreational therapy major could benefit my current intended major because it shares many of the same skills. In addition, it would benefit my career path as I could possibly get a minor in it, which would look good on an application for grad school.

Mid-Semester Reflection

Study Habits

• What classes are you doing well in, and why? 

I am doing well in my statistics class because I have gotten 100s on both of my exams so far. Math has always come easily for me, and I do not feel like what we are doing is very hard, it is mostly just plugging in information and data into equations. Therefore, I feel very confident in it and I do well because I don’t usually have trouble with any of the work.

• What classes did you identify as needing assistance in? 

My hardest class right now is psychology. This is because I didn’t do very well on the exam and this made me actually realize that I’m somewhat struggling. 

• What changes have you made (i.e. amount of time, location, campus resources, study strategies, etc…)?

To try and get better in psychology, I started to listen more attentively while my instructor is giving lectures. It is a long class and it is hard for me to sit and stay focused for that long, so I end up zoning out and just getting bored, however I am trying to stay more involved in her conversations. 

Transition to College

• What expectations did you have coming to college? 

Coming to college, I expected the professors to not care about your attendance and for the responsibility of coming to class to be completely on the student.

• Have those expectations come to fruition, or not? 

This expectation did not come to fruition.

• How?

Because a lot of the professors use attendance as a grade or extra credit, my idea that they did not care was not true. A lot of the classrooms have attendance management systems as well, which keep track of when you do and don’t come to class.

• In what way is your college experience different from what you expected?

One way that my college experience is different from what is expected is because I thought I would always be busy and have to study, however, I have tons of free time in which I usually do not know what to do with myself during. 

• What has surprised you about your experiences so far this semester?

One thing that surprised me about my experiences so far is how many events and giveaways there are. For example, there have been many events by different organizations which give away cute stuffed animals and free gifts, which I wouldn’t have thought they would put so much money and effort into.

• If you live on campus: What has been your toughest challenge with moving away to college? Easiest challenge to overcome?

My toughest challenge with moving away to college was getting to meet new people and find groups to hang out with, going from not knowing anybody here. The easiest challenge to overcome was adjusting to having a roommate, as we work really well together and we became best friends who do everything together. There haven’t been any conflicts between us and I don’t mind sharing a room, as it keeps me company and gives us both somebody to talk to.

Major

• Name something you have learned about your intended major that you did not know at the beginning of the semester.

Something that I have learned about my intended major that I didn’t know at the beginning is that there are two different tracks of exercise science to choose: the rehabilitative or the scientific foundations track. 

• Have your feelings changed about your intended major? List some thoughts you are having.

My feelings have not changed about my intended major because I would still choose my major if I had to again, and I haven’t had any second thoughts about it so far. I believe it is the right choice to set me up and prepare me for my future.

• Is there another subject (major or minor) that you are interested in learning more about? 

There was one guest speaker in my exercise science class who talked about how biomechanics can go into forensics and help in the solving of crimes. I thought that was very interesting and it would be a cool thing to learn about, however it does not change my decision about my future career or my current major. 

Connecting to Campus

• Name one problem or challenge you have encountered this semester, and which resource(s) at ODU you have/can utilize to assist with this situation. 

One problem I encountered this semester was when my advisor had left and I didn’t have 

anybody to meet with to schedule my classes. I ended up using the generic email for the health science advising center to discuss my situation and set up an appointment with somebody else.

• Is there a friend, roommate, professor, advisor, or group in the ODU community who has helped you so far this semester? If so, how did they help you? 

My roommate Morgan has helped me a lot this semester. We act as motivators for each other 

to do our work and check up on each other to make sure we turned in our assignments. It is also helpful to have somebody to discuss the assignments with, so if we are both struggling, we work through it together.

• Have you attended an interest meeting for a club? Why did you decide to get involved or not get involved?

I attended an interest meeting for the exercise science club. I decided to get involved 

because it seemed like a cool group that could connect me to other people in my major and help me meet new friends pursuing the same career as me.