1. Study habits
2. How much time do you spend studying for each class every week? 

For each class, I spend about 6 hours a week per class. If it is an easier class (example: Intro to Health Professions or English110C), I typically spend a little less time as they do not require that much studying. 

1. Do you need to put more time into studying, and for which class or classes?

For my heavier classes (Statistics, Chemistry) I spend a lot more time, and break it up into multiple study sessions per week for those classes because they are harder and I want to make sure I am understanding everything. 

1. Where do you study? 

I make sure to not study in my bed, so typically I go to the game room in my house where I can sprawl out on the couch, or (weather permitting) I will sit outside at either my house or the beach and study to have a nice change of scenery. Every other Tuesday I will go to the Starbucks on the way from my house to ODU and have a huge study session with my best friend. 

• Do you often find yourself distracted while studying?  

I struggled with this at the beginning of the school year, but now I tend to not get as distracted since I have started to put my phone in another room/away from me while working. Before this I will text my friends that I have to study and leave it on the charger, and throughout my studying I’ll take a 10 min break after an hour of work to give myself a break and check it. 

1. What could you do to remove these distractions?

What is best for me is to put my phone in a completely different room. That way if I’m studying in say my game room, it can be sitting in my room on the charger. 

• What time of day do you study?

I find it better for me to get most of my studying done at night, because I tell myself “ok, do this, this, and this, and then as a reward I can sleep”. During the day I would run errands or go hang out with friends, but during the night I have nothing else to worry about doing so I am most effective then. 

• Do you feel focused and alert at this time?

Some nights I will be completely exhausted (especially if I worked a double that day – I am a waitress and occasionally work 9+ hour shifts if I am scheduled as a double), but on days I know I am going to be up late studying, I will get a coffee, get some snacks, and get to work. Once I get into the groove of studying I become more alert and really get tasks done because I know it is important to my success. 

2. Learning style
   1. What specific study techniques do you think work best for you?  How do these vary from class to class?

Since high school I have always studied by looking over my notes, so my biggest studying technique is to write (or re-write) my notes really good and organized. Looking at organized, neat notes helps me remember the information so much better than looking at a page with jumbled words on it. I will add pictures and graphs to help myself, and make sure everything is highlighted in a specific way (blue highlight for definitions, Green for key sentences, yellow for examples, orange for dates, etc.). Another study technique I swear by is quizlet; I make flashcards, and then play the quizlet games to challenge myself. Classes like English and Sociology I study through my notes and quizlet for definitions, and for Statistics and Chemistry I go over notes and follow up with practice problems to test my knowledge. 

1. What new study techniques have you tried this semester based on what you have learned about learning styles?

Everyone in class has been recommending going to Youtube to get extra help on topics I am unsure of and I has worked really well! An example of that was right before a Statistics quiz I was lost when it came to standard deviation, but after a teacher on Youtube explained it a different way than my teacher did, I understood it more and was confident going into my quiz. 

3. Transition to college
   1. Has college been what you expected?

It has been interesting. Going to college after taking a gap year to join the Army was a little bit challenging at first, especially trying to get my brain back into “school mode” from 7 months in the Army training environment, but thankfully I got back into my groove fairly quickly. It is weird teaching myself the majority of things, especially factoring in the fact that I am now paying to do this unlike high school. My teachers of course are always accessible, but not face to face like how I am used to. The pandemic has definitely made things, as I did not my first semester of college to be going to campus once every other week, but it is working and I am so far pleased with how everything is going!

• In what way is your college experience different from what you expected?

 The pandemic has definitely made things interesting, as I did not my first semester of college to be going to campus once every other week. I expected to be in face to face class mostly, but with a pandemic that is a challenge, which I of course understand that virtual learning in necessary in this time. 

1. What has surprised you about your experiences so far this semester?

I expected there to be more work! My workload isn’t completely overbearing like I thought it would be, and I am still able to work and see friends (safely!) in my off time. The biggest thing about all of this is time management, and thankfully I have yet to turn in a late assignment.

1. If you live on campus: What has been your toughest challenge with moving away to college? Easiest challenge to overcome?
   1. OR  If you commute to class: What is the toughest challenge with commuting to campus? Easiest challenge to overcome?

The toughest challenge about commuting is simply figuring out what time to leave for class. Some days there are random backups on the way (I live in Smithfield so it’s about a 40-minute drive) but I haven’t been late yet. My newest strategy to overcome this is going to the Starbucks halfway between my house and campus and studying until about 35 minutes before my class starts, so I am already closer to campus.  

4. Connecting to campus
   1. 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. 

In the beginning of my semester, my student loan was taking a long time to process and I was worried I would get kicked out of ODU. I talked to my advisor, who connected me to the financial office. They were able to check up on where I was at in the process, and get everything squared away within a few days! 

1. 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? 

There have been a few professors who have helped me so far! Last week, my best friend from basic training was in town, and Monday (the day of my chemistry test), she got into a car accident and totaled her car in Mechanicsville on her way back up to her base at Fort Drum, NY. I am the type of person to drop everything I have to be there for my friends, so I was ready within minutes to pick her up and drive 9 hours to New York to get her back to base – the only problem was that I had my chemistry test due at 10 that night. I emailed my chemistry prof. my situation and she gave me an extension on my test along with wishing me a safe drive. I also emailed my Sociology prof. an early heads up that I may be absent to the zoom the next morning, and he said I would be excused and he would provide me a copy of the zoom recording. In such a chaotic time, I was so thankful to have amazing professors that were understanding of what was going on and assisted me in the best way possible. Also, my chemistry lab TA recommended an awesome sushi place in Norfolk last week.

• Have you attended an interest meeting for a club? Why did you decide to get involved or not get involved?

So far I have not attended an interest meeting for a club, but I am still considering joining one! If my deployment in January gets canceled (praying), then I plan to rush a sorority!