Mid-Semester Reflection

So far, this semester has been up at times and down at times. A lot of stress is involved in making sure I understand class material and getting it turned in on time. As for the classes that I am doing well in, I would say I am doing well in History and Sociology. Sociology is really just understanding terms and listening to lectures with very minimum homework, so it is very manageable. History is relatively easy as well. There are just a lot of assignments and a really big project to focus on, so it takes a little bit more of my time than I would prefer. In regards to the classes that I am having trouble in, those would be mainly Chemistry lecture and Chemistry lab. In Chemistry lectures, I am struggling to understand what is being taught because of the set pace that Professor McCoy teaches at. The pace is fast to the point where I will be typing in notes and in the middle of me typing it she’ll be onto the next slide. I am also having a hard time with the exams in this class because the way she teaches the material does not coincide with what the test is actually like, so I find myself struggling to complete the test with a confident/optimistic view. As far as Chemistry lab goes, I find it hard to complete the labs and post-labs because my teacher assistant fails to properly communicate the procedures. The most recent lab that we had, every group had to restart two or three times because the directions were not given in their entirety. 

The changes that I have made were not so much about the time. I still study in the same way, 2-3 hours daily and some before class and before I go to bed. The major changes that I made were really location and tutoring. The location had to change for me simply because I could not focus enough to study and get work done in a timely manner. I would always find myself looking for distractions, or procrastinating. For that reason, I made the decision to switch from doing homework/studying in the dorms, to doing it all in the library. I really believe it has changed my studying habits for the better. I am also in the process of getting a tutor for chemistry because I don’t believe that I will reach my full potential as a student without one. I believe the guidance that a tutor can provide for me will do nothing but help me grasp concepts, and do better on tests. 

The transition to college was kind of what I expected, but not as well. I was right in saying that it would take me a couple weeks to get my time management down. It took me a good two weeks to get settled and in the mode of college. I was also correct in saying that to put myself on the right plan of success that it would take coming up with and implementing a good routine of work and play. The thing I was right about would be thinking that the TRIO program would be more of a hassle than it is. I now know that they are really only here for me, and that they want me to succeed in the way that works best for me. One thing that actually surprised me about my experiences is how easy it was to talk to people on campus; building connections, and making a lot of friends. I thought that it would be a challenge for me because I am not the most outgoing person, so to find out that it really isn’t hard to talk to connect with people was a bit of a shock to me. 

The move to college was a bit of a stretch for me because I had never been so far from home. I think that being so away from home and my family is what’s getting to me the most. I see all of my friends getting to go home whenever they want, and sometimes it kind of hits deep because I don’t have the ability to just hop in the car and go home. I have a lot of nights that I go to sleep wishing I was back home with my family. On the other hand, I would say my easiest challenge to overcome would be the navigation of the campus. At first, I didn’t know how I would ever figure out the campus. Being here daily allowed me to figure it out very easily. All it took was me walking around for a couple days to know where I’m going. 

One of the interesting things that I found out about my major was that when you are in the actual Dental Hygiene program, you make molds of your fellow classmates’ teeth as part of one of the courses. They also make athletic mouth guards, which I thought was interesting because of my experiences playing sports in high school. Although the classes are tough, my feelings have not changed about my major because I still believe that it is the best profession for me to be able to truly help people. I do however have many days where I feel very overwhelmed, and stressed out. I just keep reminding myself of the end goal, which helps me overcome the adversity of being a college student. One minor that I have been considering is a minor in sociology or psychology, because it will allow me to be better at connecting with patients in the future. I think the more I learn about people, the better off I will be because it will allow me to be able to handle adverse situations should they happen. 

One of the issues that I have encountered here at ODU is being overwhelmed with the workload. Some of the resources that I have used are: academic coaching meetings, talking to peers, talking to the TRIO staff, and using the recreation center on campus. These have all helped me tremendously in my attempts to lower my stress levels, so that I can get through the obstacle of having multiple assignments to do daily. I would say that TRIO has been the best help to me because they provide that family aspect. Family is big for me, so for them to be able to provide that is great for me. They give great advice, and always reassure me that they are here for me in any way that I need them to be. I also believe that my club could bring this family aspect. I haven’t been to any of the meetings or anything, but I have taken notice of the fishing club that they have here at ODU. I love to go fishing back home, so I believe that will also be good for me. It will just provide another way for me to lower the stress of not having my family around. The fishing club would also give me another chance to meet new people, and build connections with them. 

Sustainability is a term that I have never heard about up until I got to ODU. In learning about sustainability, I learned about keeping the environment clean and healthy is one of the practices involved in the term. Some ways that we can keep the environment up is by recycling. This is making sure that we throw all recyclable materials in the recycling bin, which helps the animals, us, the earth, and the future generations to come. I also learned that social well-being is a big focus of sustainability. This is the practice of meeting the basic needs of human beings and being able to coexist peacefully amongst other people in communities, and having the goal of better human life for all. When I think about the practices that I would like to be a part of, the ones that come to mind are: cleaning up trash in the area as a volunteer and doing volunteer work that involves uplifting the youth in society. I believe these are great ones because I will be helping the environment and helping our future generations. These are two major things that I believe need to be brought up more, for society as a whole to grow and evolve. I would actually like to learn more about sustainability because it is so important in terms of bettering our communities, people, and planet as a whole.

Final Reflection of my first semester at ODU

The amount of  growth from the beginning of the semester to now for me was a ton. One example being me going from having no sense of time management to having a whole schedule worked out. I had it planned out from going to class, getting food, having leisure time, studying and also doing my assignments on time. I also grew a lot socially. When I came here, I was very shy and didn’t really talk. Making friends was hard. I am now more comfortable talking to people and have made a lot of friends by simply talking to them. The last major growth that I had was that of getting my assignments done. I used to be iffy about turning in assignments, I am now getting most, if not all of my assignments done. My expectations this year were to do good in my classes, meet new people, make connections, have a good time, and open my mind to new things, ideas, and new people that come from different backgrounds with different opinions. The semester experiences met some of those expectations like: making connections, meeting new people from different backgrounds/viewpoints, and opening my mind to new things. The one that did not meet that much was the one that said have a good time. The semester was more stressful and frustrating than it was a good time. One thing that I wish I knew 14 weeks ago is that I wish I knew that at the end of the semester is when the most workload will fall. I wish I would’ve known that the projects would be so complicated because I would’ve started them earlier.

 As for studying habits, I still study the same amount as the beginning, which was about 10 hours a week collectively. I might study a little more than that when a test comes around, otherwise that is the amount of time that I know I can really focus. If I study more than two hours at a time, I end up drifting my attention away to something else. My study habits have changed because I make them more engaging. Me and my friends will make up games or competitions that help spice up the studying. It keeps things fun and loose, which in turn helps me focus and learn much better. We also take a lot more breaks from studying to collect ourselves, so that we don’t get mentally burnt out. I have really used the Trio program and the writing center this semester. They have helped me the most with guiding me through the semester and helping me prepare my papers for history and sociology. I also used a tutor, but not as often as I should have. When next semester comes, I plan on pushing myself to study more, keeping up the fun ways of studying with friends, and to use tutors for classes even if I have a good grip on the material because they might have a better way of understanding the material. 

I would say that they are all tied together to help us for our future careers, especially in the social aspect of the careers. They are all required to have some form of vocal participation in class, which we will need when talking to bosses, patients, etc. They also required us to critically think of solutions to problems such as chemistry problems, what causes wars to happen, ways to help with sustainability, and victim blaming of AIDS victims. These are all things that me and my classmates participated in during these classes. They also implemented examples of how their materials involved medical practices like health professionals giving presentations, the history of medicines/vaccines, how chemistry is involved in medical practices, and how society is impacted by the aspects of the healthcare field. 

One major that I took interest in was going the straight Biology route as my major. I would do that because it would get me every class that I needed to fulfill my end goal of becoming a dentist. The other major that is really the other focus for me is the public health major. It would be good for me because I would meet all of my pre-reqs needed to get into dental school, but I would also graduate with two degrees instead of one. It sounds very interesting to stay back one extra year to obtain two degrees when I graduate from ODU. The benefit to having a parallel plan is to have a backup plan if the first choice doesn’t work out. It’s nice especially for me because if I didn’t get into the dental hygiene program the first couple times I applied, I will switch to public health and just get my pre-reqs for actual dental school. Then I will get two degrees and get everything done for dental school applications. These could benefit my current major because I can take the same classes under the degrees as I am doing with this major.