Study Habits

I definitely spend more time studying for all of my classes now than I did at the beginning of the semester because all of the exams are coming up so there is a lot of studying I need to do to prepare for those. . I have shifted from focusing on literature to focusing more on chemistry because that is the grade that most effects my major and has content that I will need to know and retain. I also focus less on my literature because the class is almost over, and we have done all the work we needed to do; we just have to take the final exam now.

My study habits have not changed that much since the beginning of the semester. I still heavily just read over my notes and make sure that I pretty much have them memorized before a test or quiz. I am using less of quizlet now because most of my classes do not focus on word definitions and most just concepts so that is hard to make flashcards out of.

I think the most effective study technique I use is just reading over my notes and going through them and highlighting them and making sure I understand the important information. This can vary from class to class because for some classes it may require more times going over the notes. Like, for sociology I will go over my notes about three or four times before a quiz to prepare and for theatre I will only go over my notes once because that class is easier.

Transition to College

I expected a very different college experience 14 weeks ago. Mostly those expectations came from pre-COVID times so naturally everything was very different. I thought I would have more opportunities to meet new people, but there were not vary many events going on on campus so I could only meet the people I was around every day. I also had a lot of online classes so I could not meet people in class either. I still managed to make a good group of friends despite the changes.

I found the Honors College to be a helpful resource this year because if I had a question about anything they were very quick to respond and even if they did not know the answer they always found the person that did for me. They also helped with registering for classes because I could register early which made finding classes easy and I could always get the class and time that I needed. The honors college living also helped me find my friends which has been really great since it was hard to meet people otherwise.

I did not find the library to be helpful this year because I had my own study space, so I did not need to utilize it. I also did not need to use any books this year for research because I always had an online source I could use. I might have used the library more if I did not have to wear a mask, but with the restrictions it was hard to focus with my breath in my face the whole time.

I wish that I knew how laid-back college would be 14 weeks ago. I feel like as long as you get your work done on time everything is manageable. All my teachers never had crazy deadlines, so I never felt stressed to get anything done as long as I did not procrastinate. I mostly just wished I knew to not stress so much and to just go with the flow.

Something that I learned this semester is to always stay on top of your work. If you start to fall behind it can be stressful to get back on track so if you always stay ahead you will succeed. I also learned to always ask the professor for help because most of the time they will be willing to help you because they want to see you succeed.