Transition to College

14 weeks ago I was expecting college to be very fast paced but still a fun experience where I could meet new people and make new memories. I was also expecting to mature a lot while I was gone. By gaining more responsibilities and living on my own. In addition, I thought I would struggle with budgeting and having a meal plan because I had never done that before.  I was not wrong about that at all. College has been very fast paced the first semester has gone by in a blink of an eye. It is a very fun experience all together. From being in a new place to seeing new faces everyday. Making new friends and sharing new memories with them, these are things I will never forget. 

I wish I knew a lot of things 14 weeks ago. I wish I knew who I would meet, what I would do, and how things would turn out with my roommate. Most of all I wish I knew how different campus life would be. I thought that I would make so many new friends but in reality I did not. With the new coronavirus restrictions it was very hard to make new friends. Which really disappointed me because I expected to make tons of new acquaintances.  

I have found Perry Library the most helpful this semester. If I wanted a change of scenery for studying I could go to the library. If I just needed somewhere really quiet to do work I would go there. When my friends and I wanted to study together we would meet up at the library. Perry Library has made my academic experience great. It has helped me a lot especially when it comes to getting assignments done. 

Unfortunately, I did find the writing center unhelpful. I tried to use the link on the ODU website to request online help from someone in the writing center. Once I clicked the link it said the page could not be found so I never got help from the writing center. I tried twice and it never worked for me. 

I have learned how to manage my time wisely and plan my weeks out. This will help me tremendously throughout the rest of my college career. Everything in college is based around time management. How much time do I need to get this assignment done before the deadline, how much time do I have to study before the next exam, or what time should I get lunch so I can get to class on time. Anything I do I have to plan ahead of time to make things easier for me. Time management, by far, has been the best thing I have learned this semester.

Study Habits

I would say I spend a lot more time studying compared to the beginning of the semester. In the beginning of the semester I was studying for 2 hours for most of my classes. Now I study for 3 or more hours for my classes. Some classes I study for less time than others because we do not have any important tests coming up. I study more now for chemistry, sociology, and algebra because the workload has definitely increased and we are starting to take final exams. 

My study habits have not changed drastically, just little changes here and there. I still record lectures to listen back to, use different colors for notes, and sticky notes for important things to remember. One thing I have changed is the way I study before a test. Usually I would just write the study guide highlight and look over it. Now I summarize things even more on a separate sheet of paper in my own words. I found this really helps me retain the information faster.

As I said before rewriting information in my words, using color, and recording lectures are all techniques that work best for me. I can use these techniques in any of my classes to study. I record sociology lectures the most since my other professors record their lectures for us. In my two asynchronous classes, english and chemistry, I use the color coding and sticky note technique. In math I watch recordings of the lectures and also practice problems. 

Health Professions Learning Community

I personally took health professions, sociology, and chemistry with a lab this semester. The biggest way these classes linked together was through the subject matter and events outside of class. I had a Glo Germ experiment for chemistry that we discussed in health professions. For sociology we had a zoom meeting with health professionals that included some of the material we were learning in class. In health professions as the semester went on we talked about things that would be beneficial to us during that period of the semester. For example in the beginning we learned about the different resources available to us to make this semester better. 

The most beneficial health chat for me as a student was the Inter and Intra Culturally Informed Healthcare with Dr.Jamila Martin. I felt like this was a very interesting topic that I wanted to learn more about. It also correlated with the subject matter in sociology. This event helped me relate what I was learning to the real world. As well as being enlightened on what not to do once I get into the medical field