Overall I think that I have improved tremendously my first semester freshman year. You always hear the horror stories about the kids that throw their college career away for one thing or another and I was determined I wouldn’t fall into that trap and I didn’t. For that alone I can be proud. I think being a college student is more than just learning math and English it’s about finding yourself. So far as a college student I would say that I learned a lot about myself. I have tried so much harder now that I’m here than when I was in high school. I always just slacked off and cut corners then. Now I think that I know that my college education is worth money that a lot of other people can’t afford. It just makes me grateful for having the opportunity. I think that as far as my learning process in just in the beginning stages. I’m still feeling out the school and what it takes to be a successful college student. I’ve definitely had some downfalls thinking that I can wait until the last day to do an assignment and then not doing as well as I wanted to or cramming for the tests the day of. I would definitely say that studying definitely needs to become more of a priority. Eventually I figured out which classes needed more attention than others and what I should and shouldn’t be spending the majority of my time on. I now know that classes like bio need at least a few days of really intense studying. On the other side I think that my biggest achievement is my level or organization so far. I have yet to miss one big assignment or hand one in late on purpose because I wasn’t able to finish it on time due to poor planning. I was always missing assignment I never even knew about and now I literally have months all planned out. This way I know when there’s a big assignment coming up that I need to start working on and I’m not remembering two hours before it’s due. I do this by my desk calendar and an assignment book that I update multiple times a day. I haven’t really used any of the other resources on campus that could further help me succeed. I probably should to improve my grades even further but I’m sure that at next semester ill be visiting a help place. I’m in a really high math class so even though I got an A this semester there is a high chance that I will need to get some help in that class. Another aspect that keeps me successful in college is my time management which also plays into the fact that I have become ridiculously organized lately. ( I think my roommates OCD is beginning to rub off on me.) I think that I have put a lot of time and effort into all my classes but especially math. I enjoy math so I try hard and that allowed me to receive an A in the class. Even though not all my classes are favorites I still think that I was able to apply myself and learn a lot about the subjects and myself. I try to get the most out of all my classes and some of them I just have no choice but to learn a lot of the material, such as BIO. In order to learn the most I possibly can I have to find a way to make the material interesting to me. Looking back at this semester I’m really proud I believe that I met my goals the only one I didn’t meet way getting at least a B in Bio, but I still passed it. In taking it next semester and I plan on pulling a B off for the second part of the class. I have that goal and many more I want to get all A’s and have the highest GPA humanly possible for myself. I want to work my ass of as far as academics and my body because last semester killed me I gained way to much weight. To get back on track though, I just need to stay focused and determined that I will do well and with a little hard work and effort I believe I will meet all of my goals.
This week I went to the Health Center. So before I went there I was thinking about common health issues of college students and I guessed that it was stress. I figured every college student must be really stressed, I know that I am, especially because its finals time right now. Apparently I was right. College students get really stressed out which eventually will make them sick and just not feeling like themselves. I completely agree. It’s so true because when I’m stressed I literally make myself sick. My mom always told me but I never believed her until now.
As far as the implementation of a learning community among the freshman class, I believe that it was a success. Even though we saw each other only Tuesdays and Thursdays we still created a bond in my opinion. By seeing each other we got to know one another fairly well, at least better than anyone else in our other classes. Being able to see the same group of people every Tuesday and Thursday created a very comfortable environment. Coming into college I was really nervous. Not so much about how well I would do or the classes I was going to be taking but the fear of the unknown. In high school I knew everyone in my classes on a first name basis. I’m sure that this wasn’t the way for many other students but I come from a very small town. This meant that literally everyone knew everyone. What is worse is that they didn’t just know your name but they knew exactly who you were, who you hung out with and what part of town you came from. Even though I hated growing up in a town like this it created a comfort zone and allowed everyone to have a huge support system. My graduating class definitely had its differences but we were all friends in a way. This is completely unlike going to college. I did have a few friends coming to SCSU also but they weren’t in any of my classes. The first few days were nerve racking because I was walking into unknown territory. This learning community allowed me to find a comfort zone at southern. I made friends with people almost by force because we spent so much time together. I think I’ll miss this idea of comfort and everything that came along with being in a classroom with people that I got to know really well.
W
hat would my ideal life after college be like? I think that everyone has an ideal life planned out for them. Ever since I was a little girl I had an idea of what my life would be when I was older. I knew what kind of car I would drive and what my house would look, how many kids I would have, and what my wedding dress would look like. Now that I’m older I think that I have a completely different idea of what my life will be like after college. I plan to graduate as a nurse with a career ahead of me. I hope that I will be able to land a job in a hospital setting with children. We all know how chances are you’re not going to get the dream job right after graduation, but that’s why it’s called a dream job. So with a little hard work hopefully I will be able to get where I want to be when I graduate. I plan on getting my own apartment near the hospital that I’ll be working at. I assume that I will hopefully get some help from my parents because chances are I won’t be able to afford my own place right away. I plan on doing the whole career thing for probably a couple of years and then maybe try to settle down. If that doesn’t seem to be happening for me I want to become a physician’s assistant. This means another two years of school and more student loans but it will be completely worth it in the end. That’s the plan so far. I hope everything goes well as far as me become a nurse. If not I’m not really sure what I’ll do but I’ll deal with that if and when the time comes. That’s my overall goal for after I graduate from college.
