I have finally entered the mid-semester of my fall semester, and I am glad to say that I am doing well in the following courses: Chemistry, History, English, and Health 101. I am doing well in these classes because I take the time to study for at least 2 hours twice a week. I also take excellent Cornell notes for each course. According to my “Learning Style Assessment,” the course that I needed assistance with is Sociology. I am currently not doing well in that course because it is challenging to retain the information.  I realized that I do not learn well by reading a textbook; I prefer to listen to my professor’s lectures or watch videos about the concepts learned in class. One strategy that is currently helping understand the concepts of Sociology is forming a study group.

I realized that college is way different from high school. In high school, I never had to work hard to achieve straight A’s, but I learned that if I want to achieve all A’s in college, I have to put in the effort by taking time out the day to study for at least 3 hours a week and take advantage of academic resources that are on campus. I also realized that being a commuter is challenging because it is difficult to make new friends. Ever since the pandemic, I believe that I have become a little socially awkward. This semester, I technically have one friend, which is depressing. Also, being a commuter is challenging because it is difficult to get involved in extracurricular activities, and I rarely get any announcements about events on campus such as “happy hour.”

I learned that my intended major requires pre-nursing students to take an entrance exam called the HESI-A2 exam to be eligible to get into Nursing School. I also learned to have solid and competitive application for the Nursing program; it is essential to do well in the following classes: chemistry, microbiology, psychology, sociology, human anatomy, and physiology. My feelings have not changed for my intended major. I still feel confident that I can overcome my current challenges and become the nurse I always dreamed of. I am interested in learning about a minor in real estate or interior design. Ever since I was a little girl, I fell in love with looking at catalogs of houses and acting as if I was selling the home to another person.

One problem I have encountered this semester is going over the word limit on my papers. One resource I can utilize to assist with this situation is the writing center because they can point out errors and issues in the paper and help me condense my sentences so I can meet the word limit. So far this semester, my professor in health 101 gave my classmates and me good advice on how to succeed in college. She pointed out our flaws on why we may be doing terrible in specific classes. Furthermore,  I attended an interest meeting for a sorority; I decided not to get involved because the sorority never clarified what requirements we needed to join the sorority.