Study Habits

• What classes are you doing well in, and why? I am surprisingly doing well in English and chemistry. Surprisingly because these were both classes I struggled with in high school. I can contribute my success in these classes mostly to the structure. English is only taught twice a week and for the majority of the class, we just have group discussions which makes time go by fast. While chemistry is 3 times a week, it’s only fifty minutes long which means we aren’t overwhelmed with a bunch of information at once.

• What classes did you identify as needing assistance in? 
• I identify my Intro to Game Studies course as needing assistance. It isn’t anything like what I was expecting and I think that is why I seem to be having some trouble with it. 
• What changes have you made (i.e. amount of time, location, campus resources, study strategies, etc…)? I have started to collaborate with others in the class to gain a better understanding of assignments. Most of the people in the class are really into games and they are able to give me a perspective other than the professor’s. 

Transition to College

• What expectations did you have coming to college? I expected the world to be hard and the overall transition of living independently to be difficult as well. 
• Have those expectations come to fruition, or not? Not necessarily. In some ways yes and in other ways no. 
• In what way is your college experience different from what you expected? The work isn’t necessarily hard but it is definitely tedious and time-consuming for sure. And the transition to living on my own was nearly seamless, probably my favorite part about coming to ODU. 

• What has surprised you about your experiences so far this semester? What has surprised me is the amount of freedom we have. Everyone says “No one is going to tell you what to do in college” which I thought was true to a certain extent. Being here has shown that even down to your teachers/staff, they won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to. 
• If you live on campus: What has been your toughest challenge with moving away to college? Easiest challenge to overcome? The toughest part honestly is being away from my friends. I am the only one out of our group that went out of state so I do feel left out sometimes. Everything besides that has been amazing. I love living on my own. 

Major

• Name something you have learned about your intended major that you did not know at the beginning of the semester. I didn’t know how competitive our specific major was at ODU.
• Have your feelings changed about your intended major? List some thoughts you are having. I am still certain that I want to go into the dental field, however, I want to explore careers outside of the hygienist. 
• Is there another subject (major or minor) that you are interested in learning more about? I am interested in learning about pre-dental, engineering, or photography.

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. I have had a challenge with my writing. I find that my English teacher is always saying I’m just shy of having a near-perfect essay. A resource I can use is the ODU writing center to get a new look at my work and improve my overall writing. 

• 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 friend Sarah is literally a lifesaver. She sort of keeps me on top of my work, gives me reminders, and always encourages me to be better. 
• Have you attended an interest meeting for a club? Why did you decide to get involved or not get involved? I went to the club volleyball interest meeting. I decided to get involved because I played in high school and volleyball honestly brings me peace.