Don’t Get Sick of Bacteriology
A big hello to all my fellow and future health science majors! I am Lorenza West and I am a senior public health major and peer mentor for the Health Professions Living Learning Community. As a public health major, I had to take classes like Chemistry, Biology and Anatomy, just like many of you. Sciences are hard if you do not allocate the time you need and use the resources available to help learn the material and pass the class with flying colors. Today I am here to help give you some tips to help you pass one in particular: BIOL 103 Bacteriology!
First off, do not be afraid to ask questions! Whether it’s how to properly turn on an open flame in lab or how to tell the difference between staph- and strept-, your lecture teacher and lab TA are there for your benefit. USE YOUR RESOURCES! I would not have done as well as I did if I did not attend online test reviews via Adobe Connect or made a friend in the course. I happened to miss a couple classes because of illness and I still owe my friend for helping me out with notes and giving me someone to study with come test time!
Read before class! Make sure to read and review the lecture slides before class. I recommend printing out PowerPoint slides before class and using the notes section to write down the extra information the professor mentions. This way you are not struggling to copy down the whole slide and miss potential test questions. Also, never forget your clicker! Those clicker points raised my grade by several points and every point counts. You want to give yourself every chance possible to get the best grade you can. After class, you can use resources like Quizlet to make flashcards so you are not cramming to make them the day before the test. An example of these flashcards can be found here.
Last but not least, take advantage of extra credit opportunities. Besides getting extra credit, these will also help you connect more with the material. The extra credit opportunities are usually mentioned early in the semester, so do not wait until the last minute to do these assignments. It is better to finish the extra credit in the first couple of weeks while you have more time, that way you have that extra credit in your back pocket versus struggling to cram it all in towards the end of the semester.
Do not worry, you will be an expert in bacteriology in no time! Study hard and good luck!!
Lorenza is a senior majoring in Public Health from Virginia Beach, VA. After graduation she plans to pursue her MPH degree and go into health promotions, with a focus on helping children establish healthy habits early in life. Here at ODU, she works as a math tutor and Supplemental Instruction Leader for College Algebra with the Math and Science Resource Center (MSRC). Lorenza is also a Peer Mentor for the Health Professions Learning Community and Living Learning Community and a Delta Zeta.