Study Habits

I have been doing very well in my sociology class! I have this class on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8am, early mornings! I have been enjoying this class and the way Mr. Lopez keeps it very interesting and interactive. I think I have been doing well in this class because I do all of my work on time and do the extra assigned readings before class like he recommends. Another class I have been doing well in is my statistics class. This class is three times a week and is the only math class required for my major! At first, I was worried that this class was going to be difficult, however, the teacher makes sure to help us when we have questions, and truly wants us to succeed. I scored a 99 on the first exam in this class! I make sure to do my homework as we learn the topics in class, and when I need a little more clarification, YouTube videos are a great help. I am also doing well in my American History class. Even though it is a lot of work and I do feel overwhelmed with it sometimes, I have been able to get good grades on my assignments. I think this is because I prioritize this class a lot and know that my hard work will pay off.

Chemistry has been my most challenging class so far. I did not do as well as I wanted to on the first test, but I made sure to do test corrections in order to earn points back. I have gone to tutoring, emailed the professor with questions, and watched many YouTube videos in order to help me understand the material better. I have been trying to take better notes in class, and really paying attention to the things she says that are not listed on the PowerPoint slides. I have been applying more of my time to this class in order to receive the grades that I want, and hopefully it pays off on the upcoming test.

Transition to College

Coming to college, my expectations were that I was going to have a lot of free time, meet a lot of new people, and be excited to come to school everyday unlike highschool. Since being at college for about eight weeks now, I feel as though my expectations have been met for the most part. I have been able to do more things outside of school than I thought I would be able to. I have met people from my classes as well as outside of my classes from clubs and other organizations. Also, I have enjoyed coming to school more than I did in high school because there is a sense of freedom and independence walking around campus that was not felt in high school hallways. The college experience has been different from what I expected because I thought everyone would only be focused on themselves and their assignments, however, that is not true. It is easier to find a community and talk to people about random things that do not relate to school assignments than I thought it would be. I also thought I would be getting lost a lot more on campus, but it has actually been way easier to find my classes and narrow down my walking path to the quickest it can be. I have been surprised that my classes seem to be the same amount of work as they were in high school. I did take AP classes in high school, so I was able to be prepared for the workload, but so far, they seem to be about the same which has been nice. Additionally, I have been surprised at how tiring having only two or three classes a day can be. Coming from high school and starting school at 8am, having four classes each 90 minutes long, then going to practice till 7pm daily, I thought I would be able to handle it. However, it has been quite an adjustment. I have been going to bed earlier in order to combat the tiredness. That is definitely one thing that has surprised me the most about college. Being a commuter has many advantages and disadvantages. I am able to go to school all day, and then when I am ready, come back home to my own room. I truly love being able to do that. However, the toughest challenge with commuting is the drive to and from school everyday. I live about 30 minutes away from campus, so it is not an awful drive, but still longer than a ten minute walk to class for on-campus students. Luckily, I never hit traffic when I am on my way to school, and parking has never been an issue for me. The easiest challenge to overcome as a commuter is the stress of going home for the weekend. I am glad I get to come home everyday because I am a homebody, and I feel that if I was away at school, I would be having a hard time finding a good balance between coming home and staying on the weekends.

Major

Something that I have learned about nursing throughout the semester is that there are so many intended nursing students at ODU. I knew that there was a lot because Old Dominion has a well respected nursing program, but I feel like everyone I talk to is a nursing major. This is a good thing because the world will always need nurses, and it is refreshing to know that so many people want a job that they will be able to help people in. Being in the health professions class has brought many opportunities to learn about different majors and fields that are available here at ODU. One that I have really enjoyed learning about is Speech Therapy and Audiology. I have thought about switching my major over to this because it is still in healthcare, I would be able to work with kids, and it is a career that aims to help others. I have been doing a lot of research about this major and watching videos of people who are Speech Language Pathologists and seeing if it truly is an option that I would like to pursue. In regards to a minor, I have been looking into a human services or sociology minor. I have really enjoyed the sociology class and feel as if I understand the material well, so this has been an idea I have been thinking about. Human services is another minor that learns about people and how they grow and develop. This has interested me because I feel like it would work well and be beneficial to working in any healthcare field.

Connecting to Campus

One challenge I have encountered this semester is worrying too much about the future. I know it is pretty inevitable to not worry, but there is so much more time than I realize to prepare for my future. To help with this, there is academic counseling available and they can help with time management and help me to understand that I am doing all that I can do now. Also, talking to advisors can help because they can reassure me that I am on the right track. Additionally, I have made two close friends who are also in the learning community! Having the same classes as them and being able to talk to them about more than school has been a huge help to the first semester of college. Seeing them at football games and joining the same clubs has been a great experience and I am glad that I have been able to make new friends to go through college with. I have been to multiple Relay For Life meetings and helped out with selling cotton candy for one of our fundraisers a few weeks ago. I was involved with this club in highschool, so I thought it would be a good idea to join something I already knew about. Also, it is a good cause and great opportunity to spread awareness about cancer. I also have been a part of CRU on campus, and go to meetings on monday nights and a bible study on wednesday afternoons in between classes. I wanted to join a Christian club on campus to get to know people with similar interests as me, and it has been a great way to meet new people.

Themester: Sustainability (Environment)

A new sustainable practice that I have learned about this semester is fabric bandages instead of the normal plastic bandages. I actually learned this from a classmate telling us this in class, and it is something that I never would have thought of. It is a very practical way, especially for healthcare workers, to practice sustainability. Another sustainable practice that I have learned about this semester is through getting vaccines, such as the flu shot. When Dr. Hawkins spoke about sustainable practices, she mentioned how by getting your flu shot, you can help other people in less developed countries receive certain vaccines as well. This is a part of the “Shot@Life Campaign,” and it is a great way to help yourself as well as many other people. A sustainable practice that I would like to participate in more is not using as many plastic water bottles. These water bottles provide much more convenience than metal or stainless-steel bottles, but they are much worse for the environment. This is an easy, yet positive way to practice sustainability and help the environment be able to benefit more and become better for the future. Another sustainability practice I would like to participate in is instead of throwing the majority of my old clothes or items away, donate them to thrift stores such as Goodwill or CHKD Thrift stores. By doing this, it’ll help the environment more because these items will not be going to landfills; instead, they will be going to other people who will use them and appreciate them more. Something about sustainability I would like to learn more about this semester is more ways to be sustainable in healthcare. Also, easier ways for people at home to make a change because if they knew how easy it could be, then it could possibly influence more people to participate in sustainability.