Within the Learning Community, I have learned a numerous amount of things that I would have never known in my first semester of college. I’ve learned what my learning style is, how to make an e-Portfolio, studying tips, and it’s helped me to connect with more people than I would have if I wasn’t in it. One of the more interesting topics taught in Health 101 included the explanation of having a learning style. The learning style I received was called Intuitive Feeler and I couldn’t have agreed with it more. It explained that whoever had that specific learning style was more of a visual learner and had an artistic look on education rather than a STEM one. Studying wise, my learning style included multiple amount of different tactics that have been extremely helpful. One of the study tips was to use metaphors and drawings to memorize skills and really understand the material. I tried this studying tactic right after I read about it and it worked so well for me! The visual aspect didn’t help me as much as I thought it would, but relating the topic I was studying for back to something I actually enjoyed helped me. I related the history topic back to some of the stories my U.S. History teacher used to tell and it gave me a new understanding of the subject.
In high school, I was never used to studying for endless amount of time but in college I’ve learned that I won’t be able to scoot by without studying. I used to only write my homework in my planner but now I make to do lists on my computer and consistently keep reminders on my phone so I don’t forget any assignments. When I know the subject and I’m comfortable with it, I usually study in my dorm room or the community room on my floor. However, when I’m unfamiliar with the topic I will usually study at the library or at the tables in Kaufman Hall. Distraction wise, there aren’t any that drastically keep me from retaining the information but only in my dorm room do I feel like I’m slower when trying to learn the content. The only problem that occurs at all of these locations is the fact that I can’t speak aloud; that’s how I retain information the best and it’s hard to find places where I can do it without disrupting the people around me. I study either in the middle of the day when I’m out and waiting for my classes to start, or I will studying after I eat dinner. After I eat dinner I do feel a little lousy so I try not to do it then because I won’t retain the information as clearly as I would in the day. When I’m in the library or in Kaufman Hall I do feel more attentive and I feel as though I learn more than I would at night time. By stopping night time studying and trying to get everything done by dinner time, I will be able to improve my studying skills. Other than studying at night, I do feel like my studying is consistent and more effective than it has been in the recent years of being a high schooler.
College has been something else to say the least. It is not what I expected it to be but currently I’m thrilled to be here and thankful to have the opportunity to further my education here. I expected college to be a constant stream of work and papers but at this point in the semester everything seems to be tolerable. The atmosphere is also very different. I expected to be thrown into the academics straight away, but all of my professors gave us ample amount of time to become adjusted and get used to the college life before the academics hit. Adjusting wise, I am doing considerably better than I thought I was going to do. I live in Midlothian, Virginia which is two hours away from Old Dominion University and I have adjusted quicker than I thought I would. My older sister went to a college in Georgia and did not adjust at all, so she ended up transferring back to a Virginia school after her freshman year. Moving away has been an eye 
opener, I’ve learned to do more things for myself and to talk to my family more. I realize now, without having my family around all the time, that they were truly a huge impact on me as a person so not having them with me here has been a challenge. I’ve overcome it by telling myself that they are only two hours away and only one call away as well. Lastly, the easiest challenge to overcome is, actually, doing laundry. I knew how to do laundry before I came to college, but I was worried about setting aside time for it. I’ve learned to just manage my time correctly, and budget a few hours to do laundry every week.
Old Dominion University has so many options on how to get help that I haven’t encountered many problems when I do need assistance. When I first started my chemistry class, I found that Professor Pagola only really read from the slides and I was not used to that. Knowing I would eventually need help, I looked into a tutor for chemistry and ended up going to a study group with one of the Learning Community mentors. This helped me in many ways; I realized that I wasn’t the only one struggling and I got multiple people (peers and mentors) to help me with the problems and topic I was struggling with. Aside from this, I would like to learn more about the Student Success Center in Perry Library. I know where it is located, but I have never really looked into it enough to know what it is all about. Within the Learning Community I have met multiple people that continually help me whenever I need it! I have a group of peers who I work on my Chemistry homework with and study for the midterms. I also work with the people at my lab bench when it comes to the prelabs and lab report in Chemistry lab because we all are unfamiliar with the concepts and lean on each other when we need it.
Within Old Dominion’s community I have found that there are so many clubs and ways to get involved with campus. I have gone to the Student Nursing Association interest meeting and I’m looking forward to helping in the Homecoming parade. Aside from that, I’ve tried to seperate myself a little from the health field so I can meet different people! I joined the Catholic Campus Ministry which has been so beneficial in my college experience. It has joined my faith with my 
experience at ODU and that’s helped me through my homesickness as well as the stress from my classes. I also joined the Student Dance Association because I didn’t have any dance courses set in my schedule and I wanted to jump back into my dance career seeing as I have been doing it my whole life. When in high school, I was semi-involved with the community so I am trying to change that in college; I want to do what interests me but also manage my time so I can succeed academically as well. Ultimately, I only want to get the best out of my college experience and within this Learning Community I have found that I’m more involved in campus as well as accomplishing my goals in college.