Final Reflection

1. Transition to College

1. What did you expect college would be like 14 weeks ago? ~ I expected college to be a lot different than I thought. It was hard to imagine what college was actually going to be like because everything has been so different with the pandemic. I had to change what I thought it was going to be like because I knew I was not going to be on campus all the time and be in person for all of my classes due to coronavirus. I definitely did not think I would have to put as much time into classes as I have been. I also thought it was going to be very scary because it is so different, but it was not that bad once I got adjusted. I thought I would make a lot of friends but I have not really had the opportunity because I do not live on campus and coronavirus has made me not come out of my house too much.
2. What is something you wish you knew 14 weeks ago?
   ~ Something I wish I knew when I started was that I did not have to get so overwhelmed and anxious about everything. Anytime something went wrong, I worked myself up and made a big deal over a lot. I wish I knew this because there are so many resources that I used to assist myself in these issues and then everything was fixed. I also wish that I knew how to divide my time up on each class and assignments. I try really hard to do my best on all of my assignments, but sometimes it was taking me a very long time to get things done. I am much better at this now, but I feel like if I knew this fourteen weeks ago, it would have saved me a lot of time and energy.
3. What is a resource or activity you have found helpful this semester?
   ~ One activity that I found helpful this semester was the virtual zoo trip that we did for sociology. I found it really helpful because it helped me understand the three main sociological theories. I had trouble understanding them at first and applying them to statements that represented everyday life, but then when did the zoom trip, it cleared up all of my confusion.
4. What is a resource or activity you have found unhelpful this semester?
   I do not think I have found any resource or activity that was unhelpful. I think that everything we did had a purpose behind it to help us understand certain concepts we were learning. All of the activities that we did were helpful because all of us in the learning community want to go into the health professions. All of the health chats that we did taught us different aspects from different individuals with different positions in healthcare.
5. Name something you have learned this semester that will assist you next semester?

~ This semester, I have learned a lot of study tips that will help me for next semester. My peer mentor taught us a lot about many study techniques that she uses that I now use that I feel like have benefited me. My success specialist also shared study tips and test strategies with me. I can use these next semester because I can better prepare for tests and quizzes. Another thing that will assist me next semester is how organized I have become. I was not very organized at the start of the semester and I had trouble keeping track of all of the assignments I had to get done. I now am very organized. I keep sticky notes on my lap top with the assignments and due dates and I change them every week. I also have a daily to do list and a planner with a calendar for each month and I put all my assignments on that as well. This is helpful because it allows me to see what I have to get done from a daily, weekly, and monthly perspective.

2. StudyHabits

How much time do you spend studying for each class now vs. at the beginning of the semester?
~ At the beginning of the semester, I was not very good at studying for my classes much as I should have been. It was hard for me to adjust to the work load, as well as studying. I now spend a lot of my time studying. Anytime I finish up an assignment, I will typically read over some notes from that class. Now, I also read and highlight through notes right after a class ends so I can refresh my memory about what we talked about. I think, on average, I study anywhere between 24-30 hours a week. It depends on how much assignments I have and if I do not have as much as I normally do, then I will overcompensate for the time I have missed.

How have your study habits changes?

~ My study habits have changed a lot. I feel like at the beginning of the semester, I felt very limited as to what I could do. I always thought that when you study, you should make flashcards, and that was it. I was never really taught new study habits until this year. I still make flashcards, but I also use new habits such as teaching my family what I learned, take practice quizzes and tests , and re-read and write down more notes. I also try to take breaks. I will set a timer for a certain amount of time and then take small breaks.I used to not think that I needed to take breaks, but I think it is beneficial for me to get more done.
What specific study techniques do you think work best for you? How do these vary from class to class?
~ I think one of the study techniques I use that works best for me is when I teach my family about what I am learning. I use this technique for sociology and chemistry. I will write out a concept and then I will explain it to my family and give them examples. Then, if I come across one that I am having trouble explaining, I will mark it and go back later to touch on those concepts so I have a better understanding. My techniques do vary from class to class. For history and English,I will normally write flashcards because I think it helps with a lot of the memorization. For chemistry and sociology, I will teach my family because I feel like it is very helpful. It is helpful because when I can explain a concept, it shows that I have a good understanding of it. I also make flashcards for sociology to get to know some key terms before I go into depth with it.

3. Health Professions Learning Community

a. 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.

i. 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.

~ There were a lot of connections made between sociology and history. We talked about feminism, and inequalities between gender,race,ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. A lot of these topics we covered in sociology went with history because the concepts from sociology sparked history movements. All of the classes were tied together in terms of health as well. In history, we had to do a big project where everyone got to pick a topic that was health related. This helped us because we all want to go into health and this showed us a lot of the history in healthcare that happened. In sociology, our last topic we covered was health related. Our big project in that class was an article review and all the groups got an article that was health related to review. In chemistry, many of my professor’s powerpoint slides tied in common chemicals in health or certain elements in the body. In intro to health professions, we talked a lot about the different majors that are also options for us. All of the classes tied in health in someway.

b. This semester we provided events (HealthChats)for you to hear from health professionals from ODU.

i. Which Health Chat was most beneficial for you as a student, and why?
They were all very beneficial, but if I had to pick one, I think it would be the Nurse Panel. I thought this one was very beneficial because it is what I want to go into, so seeing a glimpse of what they do was very interesting. It was also helpful because we did not just hear from one nurse, there were nurses from different units so it was interesting to see one question that could be answered from different perspectives of each nurse.