Your First Semester
- Tell us how you have grown from the beginning of the semester to now.
I would like to believe that I have grown positively from who I was in the beginning of the semester. I have realized that my work is going to get done without any effort. This has the same principle with my degree. It isn’t just going to be given to me, I have to earn it. I would like to think that it’s never too late to try to improve and I think that is what I have been doing. I also think that I have grown maturely. The way I handle situations is very different than how I would handle them previously.
- What were your expectations for this year? Did this semester’s experiences meet your expectations? Explain.
I thought that it was going to be easy and it would be a breeze. I was scared that I was going to be alone and miserable, but I have found my lifetime friends. I thought this year was going to be fun and exciting. These expectations have been both true and untrue. I have had to work to get where I am and I am proud of where I am right now.
- What is something you wish you knew 14 weeks ago?
I wish that I took my classes more seriously and not mostly focus on my social life. I think that there should be a healthy balance between the two. I would also like to tell myself that I am going to be fine and I am going to have an amazing first semester.
Study Habits
- How much time do you spend studying for each class now vs. at the beginning of the semester?
I try to use all the free time I have to study and improve my knowledge for upcoming exams and quizzes. I would say I spend 4-6 hours per day studying.
- How have your study habits changed?
My study habits haven’t changed drastically. I still use notes I have taken, powerpoints/notes provided from my instructor, homework, practice and sample tests, and study guides. I try to focus on one subject at a time so the material doesn’t get scrambled in my head.
- Tell us about a resource that you have used/learned about this semester that will assist you next semester.
I have been using the library more often, especially the study rooms that you can book for a certain amount of time. This helps me focus and feel more productive while I am studying or working on classwork.
- What study habits/techniques will you use going into next semester?
I think that I am going to use the focus on one subject at a time technique. I will use that strategy next semester because I have seen improvement in test grades while using this method.
Health Professions Learning Community
- 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.
- 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.
I felt that these courses were tied together because many of the same people were in these classes. I have made many connections with some of the people in these classes. Some of the coursework was also related, for example the article review project in SOC 201S. In this project some people were assigned groups in their HIST 104H class. The other people made their own groups.
Parallel Plan
- This semester we had presentations from different majors in the College of Health Sciences as well as from different majors on campus. This was to give you an idea for possible parallel majors to your current intended major.
- Which two other majors would you be most interested in? Why?
Other than Dental Hygiene, I would be interested in Nursing and Nuclear Medicine. I actually wanted to be a nurse before I wanted to be a dental hygienist. I wanted to help people but I didn’t think about how many bodily fluids I would be in contact with. Nuclear medicine just sounded fascinating to me because you get to take scans and perform radiation on cancer patients to hopefully get rid of it.
- What benefit is there to having a parallel plan (or two) in place?
It is always good to have a back up plan or to have more than one option. If dental hygiene doesn’t work out, I can always try out the other options to see if they would fit me better.
- How could one or both of these two majors benefit your current intended major?
They could benefit my current intended major by providing more of an understanding of healthcare practices and patient care. Nursing majors have expertise in medical procedures and healthcare systems that could help to know how to handle patients and their needs. Nuclear medicine majors can provide knowledge of imaging techniques and radiation safety to help prepare for dental radiography and imaging procedures.