First Semester

• Tell us how you have grown from the beginning of the semester to now.

Academically I have grown a lot. I think I’ve become a better student and that my assignments and projects are getting better. My perspective on the world has changed also. With this being my first time living on my own I have experienced a lot which has helped me develop and change as a person. 

• What were your expectations for this year? Did this semester’s experiences meet your expectations? Explain.

I expected to struggle with classes and have to work harder than others to get good grades. That was definitely true. I didn’t expect to be so exhausted all the time. Having an 8:00 AM was definitely a lot easier than I expected it to be. I was never late and I never missed a class. I did expect to get tired of the food here, but I didn’t realize how much I would crave a home cooked meal.

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

I wish I knew to put a lot of extra effort into history because my professor was a very harsh grader. For a majority of other things, I wish I knew not to take it so seriously. I think I stressed over things which were just simply not as serious or important as I believed. I also think that stress and anxiety held me back a lot, I wished I knew to take the risk. 

Study Habits

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

As the semester commenced, it got harder and harder as the workload and pressure began to grow. Each week I spent more time working on homework and studying. I tried to always study old material and keep it fresh in my mind whilst also trying to learn and study the new material.

• How have your study habits changed?

Originally to do my studying ,I went to the library, the web, or a study area in a classroom building.  Now I mostly stay in my room to study. I think this is both because my computer kept dying when I was out since I would use my computer so often. Other times I didn’t like having to walk alone from the library at night. 

• Tell us about a resource that you have used/learned about this semester that will assist you next semester.

I’m going to use the writing center more next semester. I will be taking Lit and I want to ensure that my written work is clear and well worded before l submit it. I am going to take my resume to the writing center to help me ensure it’s composed correctly.

• What study habits/techniques will you use going into next semester?

The Feynman Technique has helped me the most and I will continue to use it next semester. The Feynman Technique is when you teach someone else the information you are learning. Talking through a problem or an article helps me retain that information more long term. 

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.

Each professor went out of their way to tie Chemistry, History, Sociology and Health into medicine and health. For history we did a project in which we looked into the history of health sciences. For sociology, Professor Lopez constantly tied the theories or information we discussed into the health field and the professions which the students in his class would go into. My Health 101 tied itself into the theme by exploring Dental Hygiene and Speech Pathology . Chemistry discussed the way chemistry revolves around all the medical field. 

Parallel Plan

1. 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? 

I am a very queasy person and personally don’t actually like anything about the medical field. None of the other majors discussed sounded interesting to me. Discussion and hearing about those professions showed me that I wouldn’t want to pursue any career in the health medicine field besides speech pathology.  If I were to go into another profession I would probably choose something else related to children that’s not a medical field. 

• What benefit is there to having a parallel plan (or two) in place? 

Speech pathology is an extremely hard masters program to get into. The chance of getting in is very slim. You have to be the best of the best to pursue speech pathology. Having a backup plan is extremely important. I think that being a teacher would fill a lot of the preferences I have for a career. I also have thought about being a Child Life Specialist in the past. I chose to deviate from that idea because I think it would be very hard mentally however, I think it should be reconsidered if I need to switch my career path. 

• How could one or both of these two majors benefit your current intended major?

I think that I’d like to try to find opportunities to help out in schools and around teachers. Doing so would both help me learn and also would provide a good look for applications. I worked in a school over the summer and gained a lot of experience. I hope to eventually work in schools as a SLP, the familiarity with schools will help with my goals.