Final Video Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx2hC_qy_30

THIS IS WHO I AM!

This week I will be blogging about my first semester as a college student overall. This blog post will be a self-assessment of me. As a freshman you come in to college with a high school mentality once again your fresh meat. As a freshman you are trying to find your way into the new environment this can be a very overwhelming experience for most. High school was much smaller and you knew almost everyone, oppose to college where the campus is larger and there are thousands of students both young adults and older adults. Maturity is the first step in transitioning into a college freshman, because in college you have more leniencies more time on your hands and this is the danger zone because this is the perfect environment for procrastination to grow on you.  

As an incoming coming freshman you are without a doubt going to face difficult situations/ challenges. Some challenges that I have faced so far as a college freshman are; number one procrastination, procrastination has almost become a habit. If I have an important assignment due that involves the computer I weigh my options, “should I start this project now?” or “should I see what new videos are on world star?” I’m going to check the videos out. This is my constant train of thought I tend to choose instant gratification over something I will have to put work into in order to get satisfaction out. Another problem that I tend to face is maturity. A lot of the time I catch myself playing around, I have to remind myself that I am no longer a high school student. As a college student I know I need to start thinking like an adult because if I want to be successful I know that I need to grow up and take things seriously.

If I had to figure out one of my biggest accomplishment it is very hard because I don’t really recall having any. But to come up with one it would have to be being accepted into the freshman leadership program. Being accepted was very rewarding because I had to write an essay and compete against other applicants in order to be accepted. Once accepted however there were things we had to do in order to stay apart of the club and those things included writing essays and attending meetings throughout the month. This club became a little overwhelming since I joined a week late and had to catch up on the work missed. I decided that not participating in this club would be a better option since I was still trying to focus on my academics. In a way this was an accomplishment by taking the initiative to join a club, and also an adult decision to focus on what’s more important. Which the club stressed, academics are first priority before the club.

In my inquiry class we focused a lot on time management, we were taught skills to maximize time and minimize procrastination. Throughout my first semester of college I faced problems with time management; I spent most of my time on my inquiry class and math class. Being a full time student, and part time worker, as well as a commuter was a bit much! Overtime however I learned to use my time a little wiser. For example at the beginning of the semester I would say I never had time, then in my inquiry class we checked the amount of hours that we had free throughout the week.  Remarkably I had 30 hours of free time that I wasn’t using to my benefit. Once I began to use my time wisely I started feeling less stressed. Even though I learned skills to maximize my time, I still sometimes find myself not using my time wisely.  Overall my time management skills have gotten better and I plan to continue to sharpen this skill.

For the upcoming semester I have a set of goals that I want to meet in order to better myself. The goals that I have include, being more responsible, work on maturing, most importantly working hard to get great grades. In order me to responsible I need to get rid of the habit of procrastinating this has caused me much stress in my work and I don’t want to experience this next semester. In order for me to mature I need to start doing this in terms of priority, also I need to get rid of my childish ways. Lastly, in order for me to obtain good grades I need to start doing things on time and correctly.  I also need to pay attention in class and attend class everyday so that I don’t miss vital information. This semester my grades haven’t been what I wanted them to be simply because I expect more out than what I actually am putting in to obtain a good grade.

From here I plan to work my way to great academic standing, I plan to work hard to make myself a great candidate for medical school. I plan to plan wisely, set short term and long term realistic goals so that I don’t overwhelm myself. I plan to use the skills that I was taught in my inquiry class for my future college experience. I want to involve myself more on campus and start to get back in shape to get healthy and feel better about myself.

In conclusion this semester has been full of many experiences that I will not forget. This semester has taught me a lot I have grown as a person. I have been faced with many challenges that I have overcome and some I still have yet to overcome. I have accomplished a few things and plan to continue to accomplish. From here I want to go forward, better myself by maturing, becoming responsible and obtaining great grades. I want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me to transition from high school to college.



Campus Safari #Final

This week I will be blogging about my visit to the office of study skills enrichment. What is the study skills enrichment program? Well it’s basically what it sounds like; here they help students form better studying skills. The office provides workshops and campus outreaches. Campus outreach is a workshop designed for clubs. Workshop presentations are given to students, visitors, and faculty. There is no cost for these workshops; the workshops are given on Mondays and Wednesdays. What will you get out of the workshops? You will get help with a variety of things that you face as a student like time management and how to study more effectively. The Study skills enrichment office is located in Engleman room C-016.

Visit the Homepage of the Study skills enrichment:

http://www.southernct.edu/studyskillsenrichment/

Learning community

This week i will blogging about my experience in a learning community. A learning community is the same group of student placed in two classes. In my personal opinion i think that this idea of a learning community is a great one. Being in a learning community as a freshman is great because as a freshman your new to the school and you dont really know anybody. In a learning community you spend alot of time with this group and you get to form friendships and bonds with the people in it.

Another reason why i think that a learning group is great is, in a learning group you all go through the same things. For example, in my learning community we all are freshman and all are working on our time management skills and trying to transition from high school to college. In doing this we learn from each other and ultimately better ourselves.

What i will miss most about the group of people is all the different types of personalities there were. Every one in the group was very different and that was very interesting. I will miss being able to lean on my peers. What i mean by this is be comfortable enough to ask for help from others.

In conclusion to my experience in a learning community i think that being in a learining community is good. You have a support group in a way, if you need help they are more than likely to help you. In a learining group you get to meet new people and form friendships that will probably last very long. In a learning group you learn from each other and ultimately better yourself. This experience was one to remeber and there are things i will miss. Those things include the different types of personalities, and being able to lean on my peers.

Ideal life after college

This week i will be blogging about my ideal life after college. After college i want to be either a doctor or something else in the medical field. I want to help others this is why i am choosin the medical field. After college if i am not in a doctor i was planning on becoming a nurse and if i am i want to start there for some year and go back to school to become a doctor. With college comes tuition and other expenses and i think that going to medical school is a big step and will take some time to finish, so if i become a nurse work for some year get aquianted with the medical field and pay off some of my expenses that i will have would be the best option.

After college i plan to obtain a house, as a child my mother always told me it's better to own oppose to rent. I never live in a house of my own so this is one of the main reasons whay i want to own a home. Once my house is brought i plan to buy other real estate and rent out the house to familys.

In conclusion my ideal life after college would be me either being a doctor or something else in the medical field. Once my career is up and running i plan to purchase a home, and then buy other real estate to rent/sell. After i have my career up and running and i buy a home i plan to start a family.

Once i have my career up and running and have my home and maybe real estate out on the market. I plan to start a family, growing up i watched my mother struggle because she was a single parent. She always told me that i should make sure that i have my career and education together before i think about having children. So i just want to be sure that i have everything situated before i start a family.

 

Proposal Week 12

This week I will be blogging about my final video project for my inquiry class. In my inquiry class my teacher provided a final video project in which we are to address an issue and find a solution to that problem.  I’m pretty excited to have a little more independence on this project and I really want to get a better grade this time around.  I will try to improve on the mistakes I made in my mid-term video project.

For my final video project I would like to address the problem of smoking on campus. Unlike high school smokers are allowed to smoke at school. This is fine with me because it wouldn’t be fair to restrict an adult from smoking. The problem I have is the places smokers smoke, the campus is decent size and has plenty open space. However smokers tend to not use the spots where there isn’t a lot of people passing by, Smokers are located at Engelmann’s entrance doors and a lot of the time they are at other entrances on campus.

The tables outside of Engelmann have sign above them stating there is no smoking allowed. The sign are disregarded by smokers because they sit there every hour of the day smoking the place up. As a non-smoker the smell of a cigarette is annoying and is worse to my body than the smokers. This problem of smoking in non-smoking places is becoming an annoying and should be enforced by authorities.

In conclusion I like the project and plan to improve from my midterm video. In my proposal I want to address the problem of smoking in non-smoking places, the effects of smoking, and the effects on a non-smoker. I plan to find a solution to fix the problem of smoking in non-smoking areas of the campus.

Layout:

·         Intro

·         Facts about smoking

·         Interview 1 (non-smoker)

·         Interview 2 (smoker)

·         Interview 3 (professor/Administrator)

·         My way of fixing the problem

·         Conclusion

Living on campus VS. Commuting Week 11

This week I will be talking about living on campus vs. commuting also about the reading that Merrill’s group posted. The reading that Merrill’s group posted was about living on campus vs. commuting, the article provided statistics and information that was new to me. The article states that students on campus are more connected; they have higher GPA’s and are more likely to persist until graduation. You would think that students are more connected in their school, but this isn’t always the case. A lot of students in my classes state they aren’t involved in any clubs and have plenty time on their hands. I think it would be better to say that it’s easier for student living on campus to get involved oppose to a commuter.  Students who live on campus have high GPA’s than commuters make me wonder is it because really because they live on campus or is it other issues that make it harder for commuters in school. For example some people commute for different issues young children they have to take care of, family, or other issues they have to worry about, I don’t think living on campus determines your GPA.

In my opinion of whether living on campus or being a commuter is better I would choose to be live on campus for multiple reasons. Living on campus would allow me to be much closer to the school and if I were to forget something it would be a lot easier for me to go to my dorm room than to travel all the way back home. Living on campus would also allow me to get away from my home and experience college a little more to meet new people. Lastly living on campus I would be more focused since I am around a learning environment almost all the time.

In conclusion I think the reading was good it provided me with new information, and it pertained to me. And in my opinion I think that living on campus is better and this is coming from a commuter.