Study Habits

• What classes are you doing well in, and why? 

I am doing quite well with all of my classes except Chemistry Lab. Currently, my grades are all A’s and I don’t require too much time studying for my classes. I do my assignments way ahead of time so that I have some room to make changes as needed but also so that I have a lot of time to chill.

• What classes did you identify as needing assistance in? 

As I mentioned earlier, I’m currently struggling with Chemistry Lab. It’s due to the fact that I missed a class in it and a quiz and so I had a bad mark on my grade. Also because of that, I’m struggling to understand the concepts discussed in that class and made me unable to answer the post-lab questions for our experiment on that day.

• What changes have you made (i.e. amount of time, location, campus resources, study strategies, etc…)?

Currently, I’m asking those who had that class for help on understanding the concepts and the post-lab. I missed the class since I had an appointment during the time so I don’t believe there isn’t that much I could change in myself for that matter.

Transition to College

• What expectations did you have coming to college? 

I had expectations on how college was going to be fun but hard. I was under the impression that I would be able to join a fraternity and have a job while doing my classes as well. There’s also my thinking that I would not be spending that much money in college since everything was already paid up by my scholarships.

• Have those expectations come to fruition, or not? 

Most of them did not come to fruition. 

• How?

I did not proceed to join a fraternity since I realized how time consuming it would be and be detrimental to myself. Regarding a job, I was not able to find one for this semester but I’m still planning on getting one some time in the future. I am also $1900 short of my allowance right now because of me spending too much money on what I now realize are useless stuff.

• In what way is your college experience different from what you expected?

College wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. To be honest, it’s way lighter than what high school was. I didn’t have to wake up early most of the time and I only had a few classes. I did have to read materials before class but that was doable enough everytime.

• What has surprised you about your experiences so far this semester?

There was nothing fancy that surprised me. It’s just that I have $30 remaining in my allowance in two months. I now know that I have to budget things.

• If you live on campus: What has been your toughest challenge with moving away to college? Easiest challenge to overcome?

The toughest challenge was moving in. I had to do everything by myself: moving boxes, setting the bed, decorating, etc. My dad literally just left me after he left the boxes in the Owens lobby and had me do everything. It took me the whole day to do everything. I moved in at 8 am on August 25 and I finished at 10 pm with no help from anyone. But other than that, there wasn’t that much of a challenge in moving away. Maybe not being able to eat real food is a challenge but it’s a small hurdle that can be overcome easily.

Major

• Name something you have learned about your intended major that you did not know at the beginning of the semester.

The biggest shock to me was that I have to take all my classes in the Virginia Beach campus after I get in the program. I thought I would still be able to live in a dorm but I guess not. I would have to live with my dad again, which I hate, if I go back to Virginia Beach.

• Have your feelings changed about your intended major? List some thoughts you are having.

I’m still going to stick to it. I know it would be hard since it is medical stuff but I already had a taste of it in the Licenced Practical Nursing program at the Virginia Beach Technical Center and so I’ll still go on. The only thought I have regarding nursing is how I would be able to get some hours for the application. I’m still trying to figure that out right now.

• Is there another subject (major or minor) that you are interested in learning more about? 

I’m intending to include Information Technology as my minor since the career I intend to pursue is a combination of Nursing and IT. It is also because I have an IT background so I believe that if I get it as a minor, it would be easy for me.

Connecting to Campus

• Name one problem or challenge you have encountered this semester, and which resource(s) at ODU you have/can utilize to assist with this situation. 

My biggest challenge is uncontrollably spending too much money. I could not control my spending over useless things like room decorations and video games. The freedom I have in college is fueling my unhealthy spending habits. People have told me to not spend anymore but I still unconsciously do it anyway. Now that it is almost gone, this spending problem would be gone but it still baffles me how I spent two grand in two months. ODU has the Monarch Money Matters to help students with financial literacy but it is ultimately useless since I would have still spent my money extravagantly.

• Is there a friend, roommate, professor, advisor, or group in the ODU community who has helped you so far this semester? If so, how did they help you? 

My friends and family have stopped me a lot of times from buying things. One time, I almost bought a whole computer but my roommate talked me out of it. I have also had a talk with my dad where he told me to stop as well. I would say those temporarily worked, since I did not spend money in a week whenever those happened. But after a while, I get some sort of withdrawal and go on a shopping spree on Amazon.

• Have you attended an interesting meeting for a club? Why did you decide to get involved or not get involved?

I’ve been in multiple ones. The most interesting one I had joined, however, was the mixer for FASA. I got to meet most of the club members and be friends with them. Back in high school, I did not join that many organizations and did extracurriculars and so I promised myself to be active in college back in high school. Now, I have been involved in all of the clubs I have joined to fulfill this promise.