Transition to College

• What did you expect college would be like 14 weeks ago?

When I became a college freshman, I had a lot of fears. I feared that the work load I would get from teachers would be unmanageable. I feared that I would go broke from all the things I would have to buy for college. I also feared that I wouldn’t be able to keep my grades up. Due to the intensity of these fears, they soon became my expectations for college.

• What is something you wish you knew 14 weeks ago?

Somethings that I wished I knew 14 weeks ago is that my fears for college life were completely blown out of proportion. I did have a lot of work to do for each of my classes, but I could finish all my classes’ work within one day of the week. I did go broke, but it wasn’t because of college, the only things I needed to buy for all my classes was a lab coat and goggles. I also have more B’s than I would like but my lowest grade is an 87%.

• What is a resource or activity you have found helpful this semester?

I found that talking with my classmates became a very helpful activity for me. In the beginning of the semester, I was struggling with some of my classes because I simply didn’t know what was going on, then I got in contact with some of my classmates and from that point on, I was okay. Not only do they help remind me when assignments are due, but they also give me reassurance that I’m not going through college life alone.

• What is a resource or activity you have found unhelpful this semester?

What I have found unhelpful this semester is the Duo mobile app. This is the app where you must go through and click on an accept button to be able to log into any of your ODU accounts. I find this wasteful of time and very tedious. Sometimes I don’t have the best connection on my phone compared to my laptop and so the button to accept doesn’t show up fast enough. The long amount of time it can take can cause the request to time out and so you must do it again and wait. I just don’t like it and I think it’s unnecessary.

• Name something you have learned this semester that will assist you next semester.

One thing that I’ve learned this semester is time management. I knew how to manage my time well in the past but due to the difference between high school and college, I’ve had to adjust. Now, I can manage my time so well that an immediate plan goes through my head on how I need to spend my day as soon as I start it. In the past, I used to just go where the day takes me, but now I plan efficiently according to what I must do.

Study Habits

• How much time do you spend studying for each class now vs. at the beginning of the semester?

The time I used to spend studying for my classes at the beginning of the semester were about 30 to 60 minutes. I was like that because in high school, I was able to study for 10-20 minutes or not at all and be perfectly fine, but due to my misconceptions of college life, I raised the bar. Now, I study for an hour and no less. In the beginning I had little experiments to see which time best suited me and an hour was the best.

• How have your study habits changes?

Compared to my study habits from high school, I can say that the only difference is the amount of time I spend. I have tried to broaden my horizons in the studying aspect, but I always revert to what I usually do. I have been studying the same way since middle school and it really works well for me. I didn’t really change it because, if it works, then why change it?

• What specific study techniques do you think work best for you? How do these vary from class to class?

The study techniques I use consist of repetition and memorization. They don’t really vary from class to class because they can be used in different ways to fit the information I’m trying to study. I always write what I need to study since it works better than typing. From there, I repeat what I write until I memorize it.

Health Professions Learning Community

This semester you were enrolled in at least SOC 201S, and HLTH 101. Many of you were also enrolled in CHEM 105N and CHEM 106N, and some of you were enrolled in HIST 104H with Professor White.

• On the surface these classes do not appear to be connected however this semester each professor was intentional about drawing connections between content, and subjects discussed. Discuss the ways in which these courses are tied together.

Health 101 is connected to all the classes because we talk about what’s happening in our classes and how to successful in them. Introduction to Chemistry is connected to Introduction to Chemistry Lab because we use what we learn in chemistry in our chemistry labs. Sociology is connected to Health 101 because in sociology we learn how people act and why they do, and Health 101 teaches us how to act in professional environments.

• This semester we provided events (Health Chats) for you to hear from health professionals from ODU.

Which Health Chat was most beneficial for you as a student, and why?

The health chat that was most beneficial to me was the one about resume building. In high school we were told to make resumes, but we were never really taught how to. They just gave us templates and told us to fill it in. The speaker that came to tell us how to really fill out a resume really cleared a lot of things for me.