Q & A

After our class discussion yesterday I thought that I would ask people about how they liked their classes, as in are they hard or easy and how their teachers were. I have a combination of all of these things so I was kind of curious to see how other freshmen were adapting to college life. I came to find that there is no majority of people with the same type of experience. I got back a huge array of answers. A few people said that their classes were really easy and that it was just like high school, while other students told me that college was so much more difficult than high school was for them. What I found really weird was that one of my friends said that he felt that his classes here were much easier than high school. Whether he was just trying to make me think he was some kind of genius is beyond me but I guess that’s good for him. On the other hand, my roommate is kind of in the same boat as me. She has some easier classes than others but the others are really difficult. She found this out after taking her first physics test and not doing so well. I think that what it all boils down to is what you plan to major, or are majoring in. I may be incorrect. After looking back though at my fellow freshman answers I noticed something. Those people who are in a really competitive field such as nursing have a little bit more of a difficult course load. This has to do with the sciences that have to be taken as prerequisites. Other majors are just ones you decide you want to be in and you take general courses and some other courses pertaining to your major but usually not a heavy science load.

Distractions, Distractions, Distractions...

This past week I have been documenting how I spend my days. After looking back I spend around 18-20 hours outside of class on my homework. I figure that this is a fairly good amount because you’re supposed to spend around double the amount you’re in class on homework and studying. I would have to say that my biggest distractions are the internet and my phone. In high school my mom always used to yell at me because when I did my homework I always had my phone right next to me and was texting. I used to get absolutely nothing accomplished. I feel like everyone these days is always connected. I’m by no means any better. It gotten to be such a bad habit I have a hard time turning my phone off and just concentrating on one thing. I think that the most time is spent on school whether it is class, homework or studying. The next thing that I spend my most time on is my friends and family. I really have no me time at all. I’ve always struggled with my time management but I think so far I’ve been doing a much better time now than in high school. Being here at Southern I feel as though there are less distractions so I can be focused. At home all I want to do is be with my boyfriend. I’ve dedicated the majority of my issue when it comes to my outside of class work has to do with me procrastinating. I always make up an excuse as to why I can just push some assignment until later. It’s really not a good thing to do considering I’m only hurting myself.

Club Fair #9

After attending the club fair I learned how much is out there as far as clubs and organizations. I had no idea beforehand. After walking around there was one club that I found that interested me. I had no intentions in joining any type of club because I’m not always on campus. Also because I am trying really hard to keep my GPA up so I can get into the nursing program here at SCSU and when I asked the head of te nursing dept if they looked at how involved we are on campus as a factor in their decision to pick me, he said no its just GPA. My point is that I found and liked this club because of its direct correlation to what I want to do with my life. The club is a nursing club called National Student Nurses' Association. After asking a few questions I learned that they will help me to reach my goal. This organization will provide me with resources for education, assistance with careers and so much more!

Who deserves and A??

I really hate having to critique peoples work but giving some people an A for effort isn’t so bad…I thought that the following blogs and posts were really cute and showed hard work. I really liked Nicole’s blog. She has some interesting posts. The one that I liked the best was the one about the fashion magazine that she reads. She is obviously really into fashion but she gave a bunch of pictures to show what she liked specifically. I read this blog and thought it was really interesting and packed full of information. I usually don’t like reading things but her post I didn’t mind because it was interesting and had plenty of pictures to go along with what she had to say.  Another blog that I thought was really good was Tina’s blog. Her posts had really creative titles, by using quotes not just generic titles. I like this idea and didn’t see anyone else with the same idea for titles. I thought that her posts were really good but a bit long. However, after reading one I realized that they weren’t the types of posts that dragged on for forever. They were actually interesting and she had some important things to say. They would definitely deserve an A. The last blog that I came across was Paige’s blog. I actually just met her and talked with her the other day so I was interested in seeing what her blog was like. I thought that it was just like her. I really liked her post about yoga and cupcakes I thought that it was kind of humorous. The two are so opposite but she made some really valid points about the two being similar also. Overall I think that these three posts and blogs deserve some credit because I at least liked them.

Blogs! for Mon. 9/19

I chose to look at these blogs: http://www.whoasnow.com/ and http://mediblogopathy.blogspot.com/

I chose blogs about the two subjects that I enjoy learning about and doing, these two subjects being nursing and snowboarding. The first blog I found is the one pertaining to nursing. What led me to look at this blog was its URL. I liked how the word blog was incorporated. This blog is about nursing obviously. It’s not specifically on one aspect of nursing but anything that has to do with nursing. It’s written in a really laid back tone. The first post I read was a person venting about their job situation. This blog isn’t really current though. It has posts from 2010 and then 2007 on the homepage. So it’s not a very well used blog but to me it stood out. It didn’t have too many pictures but it did have a lot of text. I think that anything in this field is interesting because I love reading about it. The second blog that I found was a blog about snowboarding.  I also though this blog had and interesting URL but after clicking it really caught my attention because it had a really bright vibrant background and image at the top. They say that the first thing that catches people’s attention is how it looks then what something is actually talking about.  After looking into the blog more I found that the creators had another blog that they decided needed updating so they created Whoa Snow. This blog differs from the other blog on nursing because it has much more pictures and visuals. So it’s much more visually intriguing than just the content. The style of writing is the same as the nursing blog, however. It is very laid back and relaxed. I found this blog interesting because of its visuals. It looked really interesting just by looking at the first page so I knew that I wanted to read more.

Office of Study Skills Enrichment #11

I was only able to do something really quickly this week so I decided to go to the Office of Study Skills Enrichment. When I first walked in I didn’t realize that this place could actually become really useful to me. That and it tied into our class discussions so far really well. I was wondering what they could help me with and was told that they could help me with my time management and other study skills. Also something that stuck out to me was that they could help me with my test taking abilities. I tend to freeze up sometimes when I’m stressed out over a test so if they could help me overcome this issue I might be a better student.

Response to Articles #2

After reading more of the New York Times articles two of them stuck out to me. They both touched upon the same idea, tips and hints as to how to get through college. The first one, “The Hunt for a Good Teacher” gave two tips. The first was to find good teachers, this is crucial to me because I usually need to be able to talk to my professors. I once got a D in a class and had to switch down to an easier level , not because I wasn’t smart enough, but because whenever I would try to talk to my teacher he would completely ignore me. It began to be so frustrating that I just gave up completely. This wasn’t the best way of dealing with the situation. The other advice in the article was that I should take a writing course.  I think at Southern we have to take writing classes as curriculum but the author advised it even if we don’t have to.  I found the last line of the text kind of funny. I think that the author put this in to lighten the mood. Usually when you’re a freshman you’re really excited but also nervous for classes. This line was especially needed after the authors line about not being able to do anything if you can’t write a good English sentence. This is a little bit drastic considering your born and able to breathe and not able to write a sentence. I get what the author means however, the standard English sentence is a major building block in being able to do many things. The other article that I read has more to do with the other side of college, the social one. In “Off-Campus Life” the author discusses how reading a newspaper can teach you lots of things about the word but what I found to be most interesting is how it can teach you how to write also. I never really thought of a newspaper as a writing tool but it makes sense. People say all the time that reading books can make you smarter and especially increase your vocabulary. Another thing that the author mentioned was that we should meet teachers outside of class to build a connection with the real world not just class. Making a connection with teachers outside of class is really important. I know in high school I was close with a few teachers and it became really helpful because I was able to turn to them if I needed help. These two articles together show how college is about more than academics it’s about being connected and social also.

Response to Articles #1

The article in the New York Times titled “Go the Wrong Way”, was really short and sweet but makes sense after having a class discussion that actually was really relevant to the article. We discussed in class how we are in school not just to be getting and education for our job but to make us into a better-rounded person. I think this article really encapsulated this idea. The article explains how college is an opporitunity to think about your whole entire life. It’s completely true, even though we are told that you’re supposed to go to college and focus on your school work, there is more to being a college student. It’s about transforming yourself into the kind of person you want to be. Another article that picks up on the idea that what we are told in high school is not always true is “10,000 Hours for Success”. It talked in one section about how quantity makes quality. I can remember being told over and over again that quality work is always better than quantity. Apparently doing something over and over makes you perfect your work. I completely agree. You cannot just try to do something for the first time whether it be write a paper or make a pot and expect it to be perfect or high in quality. After thinking I believe that high schools maybe should have allowed us to try to do things over and over. It would’ve helped me at least to be a better student in college which would’ve allowed me to further succeed. I’m sure that there is a method to high school curriculum but these articles have opened my eyes to a whole other view point.

Convocation #12

I along with the majority of the freshman class I attended the freshman convocation ceremony. This ceremony took place on Wednesday, September 7, in Lyman auditorium, from 1-2 p.m. during this ceremony many people spoke to us however one speaker stood out to me, the President of SCSU, Dr. Battle. During his lecture to us he discussed multiple points. He talked to us about staying on track. He made it very clear that we need to graduate in four years. This is something I really need to be focused on especially because i have a really tough course load because I am a nursing student. He also stressed that we need to stay focused on our work. He said that nothing less than a 3.0 is expected considering we are paying for our education. Lastly he told us that we should all find our place in the university, whether it be a sports team club or organization. Dr. Battle told us that by getting involved we can find our support system, or our family, here at Southern.

Setting the Tone for the Fall 2011 Semester

College in my eyes is a time for new beginnings, not only academically but socially also. In high school people are still looked at as children but the second one is in college their on their own, it’s time to grow up and own oneself.  In going to college there is the possibility to accomplish many things. College forces one to be on their own and make mistakes therefore one becomes more independent. There is a chance learn a lot academically if one takes it. For me, being a college student means a lot academically, socially, and personally. All throughout high school I was really unfocused and was much more into my social life than my academics. Southern has allowed me to prove to myself that I can succeed. I’m trying to become a nurse and understand that there is a lot of work to be done to accomplish this goal. The Southern campus is so huge to what I am used to back at home. There are so many more people here to get to know. I’m from a really small town where everyone knows everyone so it’s kind of exciting knowing that I can meet someone that I’ve never heard anything about or talked to in the past. The toughest thing about being a college student to me is being away from my family, friends, and boyfriend.  I’m so used to having people really be there for me or help me out of a bad situation that it’s hard to feel, in a sense, alone. I’ve definitely set some high goals for myself academically. To become a nursing student I’m going to have to maintain a really high GPA so that’s the main goal. Other than that I have promised myself that I would make it through the year in dorms. I really hate everything about them but I want to get the freshman experience. As far as my classes go, I do expect them to be very difficult and the homework to be much more than I’m used to. When I think about my first year of college I get really stressed out. There has been a really huge weight that has been put on my shoulders to do well. On the other hand I feel free, free to be whoever I want to be and do whatever I want to do.

Getting to Know Me, Katie.

Spontaneous…

Spontaneity is acting on impulse and not thinking twice before you act. I would describe myself as a spontaneous person because I like to do things without worrying about all the bad things that may come of it. Life is much shorter than we could ever imagine so there is no point in over thinking everything that I do. I believe that by being spontaneous I’m just living life to the fullest.

Creative…          

Being creative is more than just being good at arts and crafts in my eyes it’s a way of being. Since I was a really little girl I’ve always had a really creative or inventive mind. Its stuck with me over the years. I guess I just have a really good eye. I won most creative in the past and last summer I won best layout in a design class that many people took. For a while I thought it was really embarrassing but it really just makes me unique in a way.

Perfectionist…

A perfectionist likes things to be a certain way, which in their eyes is the perfect way. My father is a great example of a perfectionist and that’s probably where I got it from. I like all my things to be very organized. It may be odd but everything has to be balanced and symmetrical looking. For instance when I was organizing my dressers in my dorm they had to be in a certain order by color.

Caring…

 

To be a caring person you have to be unselfish you have a certain type of love for other people. I have been told all my life that I am a mother. I look out for everyone, even if ive never met them. This is probably why I want to be a nurse so bad. I like to help people and to make sure everyone and everything is okay.

Mature…

 

Maturity is something that someone grows into. Someone who is mature is conscientious of others and acts like an adult. I used to be really immature when I was younger and made some bad decisions but now I feel as though I have grown and learned from my mistakes. Therefore I have reached some point of maturity.