Reflect on the Fall semester and the overall experience of your first semester at college.
Your First Semester
- Tell us how you have grown from the beginning of the semester to now.
My time management skills have improved. I’ve learned how to navigate through problems with the people you live with that aren’t your family. I definitely surprised myself with how much I grew emotionally over the semester. My view on the people I decide to surround myself with has changed (I think) for the better. My new independence is something I wasn’t expecting to get used to so quickly, but I have, and I love it.
- What were your expectations for this year? Did this semester’s experiences meet your expectations? Explain.
Some things panned out like I expected. I knew I would love living on campus, and I have. I thought I would have a lot more extra time to do extracurricular activities like clubs and events. I wasn’t expecting to already have a job by the end of the first semester, though. I was also expecting to hate being at such a huge college. It turns out that I love it, and I’ve never disliked being surrounded by people who don’t know my name. I wasn’t expecting to want to change my major either.
- What is something you wish you knew 14 weeks ago?
Don’t listen to everyone telling you to get involved in absolutely everything. That was never going to be a problem for you; there are plenty of things that you want to do. Do not overcommit, it will only end up stressing you out.
Study Habits
- How much time do you spend studying for each class now vs. at the beginning of the semester?
I spend a LOT more time studying for my chemistry class. I spend very little time studying for everything else, with the exception of a couple hours of review before exams. At the beginning of the semester, I was worried about falling behind in my math class since I had always struggled in math. That math class has been the easiest one I have ever taken and I really didn’t need to focus so hard on it.
- How have your study habits changed?
I always knew how to study, I just never needed to. Now, I at least had to really try with my chemistry class. I guess all that has changed is just needing to actually study.
- Tell us about a resource that you have used/learned about this semester that will assist you next semester.
In highschool, tutors weren’t really an option. They are here. The Chemistry Success Center has been really great for when I was struggling with the more difficult concepts of the course.
- What study habits/techniques will you use going into next semester?
Studying a little each day is something I struggle with, but when I do it right, I always feel more confident with the material. I’m definitely going to try to do that this semester.
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?
Exercise Science and Biology. My goal is to just major in Exercise Science, but I might have to double major in both Biology and Exercise Science.
- What benefit is there to having a parallel plan (or two) in place?
They’re great to have in case things don’t pan out the way you want them to. Having a more general major (like biology) is great if you don’t know what you want to do yet.
- How could one or both of these two majors benefit your current intended major?
Biology is essentially useless with my current major. Exercise Science could be nice, but it leads to an entirely different career field than my current major (Biomedical Sciences, Pre-med conc.) that is designed specifically for pre-med students.