I'm still trying to think about where the past 4 weeks have
gone! I never really understood what people meant when they said time flies,
but I finally understand now. I’ve been so caught up with college and all the
new aspects of it. Just when I was beginning to settle down I see that we are
already ¼ of the way through this semester. Completely blows my mind, however
it is a great time to reflect on the first few weeks of my freshman year in
college and steer my way back on track.
I was stuck. Everything was just new to me; it took me a
while to really settle down in a new school with new people. Homework was
piling up on me because I made irresponsible decisions to go out, when I really
should have stayed home. In a matter of days I was a mental wreck. I was so
furious at myself because I was letting college slip through my fingers
already! That was a breakthrough moment for me. I had to set my priorities
straight once and for all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been having a great time
but I need to change my way because I’m still stuck in “high school mode”.
Before classes started I had really set high goals for
myself. I wanted college to push me to become a better student that really
understood the materials taught in class. As a result of that I wanted good
grades. I think that these past few weeks I have has success with a couple
things. First off, I’m not a morning person. This semester I have classes that
begin at 8:10am. Now, I can’t complain because my high school required us to be
in class, by 7:45am. Waking up at 7 is not too bad but I manage to push myself
to wake up. To my surprise, I’ve been pretty good with being out the door with
15 minutes to spare before class. I’ll admit that I have been late to some
classes but I have not made it a habit. Another success I have had is managing
my time fairly well. Everyday I finish my classes around 1pm or 2pm, which
gives me a good amount of time to do homework, eat and socialize. Also I have
been eating breakfast for the first time since middle school. In high school, I
was rushing out the door and had no time to eat, plus I had no appetite at 6:45
in the morning. So after my first morning class I head on down to Conn Hall and
eat a healthy, delicious breakfast that keeps me going strong through the day.
I have also noticed that I can focus more in the morning than I used to. I’m
not falling asleep during class; instead I’m very attentive.
Success doesn’t come on the first shot. You have to try and
fail to be one step closer to success. That applies to anything in life. I have
had a good amount of failures in college, but in return I know how to prevent
it from happening again. I’ve talked about how I am not good at paying
attention in history. I don’t understand it and it doesn’t interest me in
anyway. This semester I have History first thing in the morning and it’s hard
to understand what we are learning because I don’t have the slightest clue of
what going on. I think you can see where I’m going with this. Last week we had
a quiz on the chapter we were supposed to read. I thought that paying attention
in class and taking notes would be enough, but I was sadly mistaken. I sat in
my chair looking at the paper with 10 questions that had dates, names, places,
battles, and wars that I did not recognize. I tried to piece together what my
brain could remember, but that did no good. Not even sure about one question, I
hesitantly handed in my quiz. I wasn’t expecting a good grade because guessing
could only get me so far. The next week he handed out the quizzes and I saw
that I had gotten a 5/10. It was the very first quiz and I had already bombed
it. I was extremely upset that I let my old habits get the better of me. Not
only that but, the amount of reading I was expected to do was piling up on me
and stressing me out. The teacher could obviously tell that I had not done the
reading. I had just begun college and I was frustrated at the amount of work I
needed to do. Not only that but I was starting to fall behind so early in the
year. At that point, something inside me told me that I had to change up my
lifestyle. Even if it meant less socializing and more studying.
Transitioning into college may vary depending on the person.
For me it wasn’t so easy getting used to the workload professors gave me each
night. Slowly I came to realize that I couldn’t just do it in 10 minutes. I
have to sit down and read textbooks, read articles, take notes. It’s a process
and it takes time to do properly. One of my difficulties was reading multiple chapters
from different textbooks and having it ready for the next class. Reading is one
of my weaknesses; I can’t do it for long periods of time. So when teachers
assign readings I begin to panic. However recently I pushed myself to focus and
not only read it but also fully understand the text and it worked so well for
me! I was so overwhelmed with joy. My secret, sticky notes!
Moving forward I have thought about my daily routines and
where I can fit in more time to do work so that I can finish earlier and have time
to myself. I came to the conclusion that I will begin to read during the 1-hour
breaks between classes. Also after I end classes I can go to the library or my
dorm and get right to work! These are places that have little to zero
distractions. In this weeks readings under the “Study Hacks” category they
talked about how technology such as phones can distract you from focusing on
your work. So with that in thought, I am going to try to put my phone on silent
and not look at it until I finish a good amount of my homework.
Il try to see if my new schedule arrangement will help me do
better in my classes. I will defiantly have to work hard and try to stay on
track with these goals. But to get there I have set smaller goals that will be
easier to reach. For starters, I will check all my class syllabi often so that
I can prepare myself for the next few classes and see what I have planned for
my week. Also in class we talked about ways to better your note taking skills.
I really liked the idea of review your notes before and after class. This will
reinforce the information and details in my mind. One last goal is that I will
not turn on the TV until ALL of my homework is complete. The TV really
distracts me and makes me want to procrastinate. So to fix the problem, the TV
wont be turned on if I don’t finish what I need to do for the day.
I’m glad that we got a chance to talk about how we are doing
this far into the semester. It was really an eye opener for me, and I know that
I can’t keep the same study habits I have now because it’s just too stressful.
With these new methods and goals I have planned for myself, I think I'm headed
down the right path. If things still aren’t working out, it’s not the end of
the world. It simply means time for more rearranging!
