My intended major is Dental Hygiene because I have always been interested in the mouth and teeth and have been very good about keeping my teeth clean and cavity free my whole life. I also think it is an important way to help the community around me. I think my best skill that contributes to my gravitation to dental hygiene is the fact that I am a very detail oriented person and I think that will be a good quality to have when cleaning people’s teeth. I have worked in a dentist office for a year now helping assist the dentist and dental hygienist so I am very aware of what is expected of me and love everything about the career. I would prefer to work in a small practice setting that offers full time employment and good hours so I can have a good home life outside of my career. My career goal for 5 years in the future is to hopefully be working in a dental office and getting a decent pay. Out of the top 10 recommended majors for me the top three I would learn more about are dental hygiene, health service administration, and nuclear medicine technology. 

The biggest difference I think between high school and college will be the level of intensity and the need for better study habits. My biggest challenge will be balancing all of the work given to me and doing it all to the best of my ability. The biggest challenge about moving away from home would be that I don’t know as many people, but I am quickly making friends so I’m not too concerned. I don’t plan on getting a job while I’m in school unless it is a summer job. 

There is a difference between studying and homework; the biggest difference being that homework is just the physical act of getting things done whereas studying is making yourself sit down and just review information on repeat until you know it by heart. I plan on studying about 3 hours per week in each class. But I will see how that goes and adjust as needed. I think the class that will need the most dedication to studying will be my sociology class just because it has a lot of information I have never heard before. I will probably spend the least amount of time studying for my chemistry lab because that class doesn’t have any new information I need to know. I plan on studying at my desk in my dorm and some potential distractions will probably be my friends or phone. I plan on avoiding these distractions by closing my door and putting my phone on silent and in a drawer. I am the most focused in the morning so I will probably do the most studying in the morning or right before bed. Since my chemistry lecture is online with no specific time I have set aside certain days and time slots to get that work done as if it was a scheduled class. I don’t really have that many other commitments besides doing the best that I can in school so I should be ok with balancing friends and school.

I think the best study techniques for me are using a quizlet and writing down notes so I will remember them. For some classes I will only have to read over my notes while for other classes that might be more difficult I would need to make a quizlet or flashcards to further memorize the content.

One campus resource I can use to help me get A’s is the chemistry tutoring because I need to make a good grade in that class to stay in the guaranteed program. One non-academic resource that could be used is the counseling if I ever needed it. I will definitely use the writing tutoring this semester because I am not the strongest writer and could use some extra help or tips. I would like to learn more about peer academic coaching because that sounds interesting and like something that could benefit me in the future. In high school I was involved in National Honor Society, BETA, played tennis all four years, and did cross country for three years. I would be interested in joining the tennis club, but haven’t really looked into it yet. I would like to learn more about the clubs available to me though.