- Study habits
Every week I spend about 22 hours studying for all my classes. I don’t really study for intro to health professions, but it takes me about 30 minutes to an hour to finish the weekly assignments. I also work on the capture campus a little bit each week to keep up to date. For chemistry, the class is three credit hours, so I study 6 hours a week. I break it down into 2 hours after each class and I also go to the tutoring every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour to do my homework. I don’t spend much time studying for Statistics, only about 3 hours a week doing homework and going over lecture slides. For history, I also study about 3 hours a week going over lecture slides and completing discussion boards. I study for sociology about 6 hours a week, going over lecture slides, my notes, and making flashcards. I only study for an hour for chemistry lab doing my lab reports weekly. I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job at studying and prioritizing my classes. I do need to focus a bit more on history class. I need to start analyzing the little details gone over in class. I study in my room and in the library. I mainly study in the library on the third floor because it’s quiet and I can keep to myself. I mostly stick to doing my homework in my dorm room when I’m able to talk and work. I don’t find myself distracted, I think I have a pretty good routine down for studying. I study during the day and complete my homework before bed at night. I do feel focused when I’m studying because I’m already up and energized. I do homework before bed because I can do it in my dorm room and go to sleep right after.
2. Learning style
I think going over the lecture slides, tutoring, and flashcards work best for me. For chemistry, tutoring is very effective for me because I am able to bring my homework in and if I get stuck, they will explain how to do it. Flashcards are useful for chemistry and sociology when I need to remember specific definitions or chemical formulas. Going over lecture slides is useful for math and history because for math there are examples and practice problems to practice and for history, it’s useful because I don’t remember everything gone over in lecture. Some new study techniques that I tried was to study in shorter sections throughout the day rather than big chunks. It’s very useful for me because I get distracted easily, so it helps me learn bit by bit.
3. Transition to college
College has been what I expected. I expected it to be a lot harder and more studying outside of the classroom setting. In high school, I was able to get by without studying, but now I’m not able to. I’ve been surprised at how overwhelmed and stressed I’ve been feeling this semester. I have managed to keep my grades at a B average, but I feel like I’m drowning in school work. My toughest challenge moving away is not having my parents telling me to go to class or waking me up in the morning. To overcome this challenge I met up with my peer academic coach to help me strategize and make academic goals for the rest of the semester. The easiest challenge for me to overcome was to make friends. The first few weeks here I felt lonely because I didn’t know anyone, but soon enough I met some girls on my floor and in my classes and began to hang out with them to form a friendship.
4. Connecting to campus
One problem I faced was a physical issue with my Tuberculosis test because I went out of the country this summer, so I had a hold on my account, but I was able to go to the Student Health Center to get blood work done and the hold lifted. Another challenge I felt within the first few weeks of being here was feeling lonely. I felt like I didn’t have anyone to talk to, so I went and set up a counseling appointment. I was able to have some professional help and let out my emotions. My lab partner has become my friend and she has helped me this semester with studying for chemistry tests and motivating me to go to my classes. I attended a Filipino American Student Association’s (FASA) first meeting because one of my friends invited me. I decided not to go to anymore meetings because everyone had known each other for a long time already and I felt awkward. I am currently not involved in any clubs because none of them have peaked my interest.