Reflect on your personal identity as a college student. How has it changed your day-to-day activities, how has it changed your outlook on life, goals, family and work?
In 2002 I enrolled as a full-time student at Plymouth State University as a Physical Education major. I was looking to become a gym teacher. While at Plymouth it didn't take me long to fall into the party life. I spent a year at Plymouth, barely attended classes and needless to say, failed out. A year later I tried again at Northern Essex Community College and had the same outcome. I felt that school was just cutting into my party time. Now, 8 years later, the party is over. I've been sober for 6 months now and I really want to finish what I started. After the first 4 weeks of classes at Hesser I feel I am doing great. I'm getting grades that I never thought I could get and it's just giving me more confidence in myself. The sky is the limit to what I can achieve. My days are so filled up now I barely have any free time. I work 50 hrs a week and do school work an average of 2 hrs a night. My family is very excited to see me back in school and actually serious about it this time. I am a Business Administration student and as my boss, my dad is really enjoying some of the topics I've been bringing up at work. We even implemented some SMART goals into the business!
Reflect on 3 new strategies you use or are learning how to use to succeed in college.
Another strategy I've been working on is note taking. I've never really taken notes or even read for that matter so all the tips I've learned are becoming very helpful. I've always been pretty good at making outlines and I see material really well in an outline so that is the structure I use for my notes. In the "How to Take Notes" tutorial I learned that I should keep the main topic in mind while writing. This is something I don't usually do and end up writing useless notes. I've also learned to keep each set of notes on a different page so that the information is easier to relay back to.
Test taking is also a strategy that I am learning a lot about and will continue to work on. I've never been a good test taker so the information I learned in this course about test taking is very helpful to me. I'm learning to overcome my anxiety and learning to be well prepared for tests. My note taking will definitely help me in this area as well.
Since you became a college student how has your life changed? Include thoughts about your life style, your time management, your priorities and goals.
Life has definitely gotten more stressful. I am working over 50 hours a week and add in a couple hours of school work a night and there isn't much time left. Some of the work I enjoy which helps me to get it done. Other times I find myself procrastinating and not wanting anything to do with it. Being a college student has taught me a lot about how important managing my time needs to be. If I fall behind on assignments, which I have, it makes it very difficult to catch up.
I don't really have much of a social life right now. I get home from work around 6 and have to eat and get my homework done. By the time that stuff is taken care of it is already getting pretty late. My lifestyle this time around in college is greatly improved from the student I used to be. The old me would choose that social life over my schoolwork. If I want to be successful in school, which I do, I need to get my priorities straight. That means finishing up that assignment instead of going fishing with the boys.
I have never been good with setting goals. It is something I am still struggling with, but giving more effort than I have in the past. I am all about change these days. You can't grow if you don't engage in unfamiliar and uncomfortable practices. It's all about creating new habits and getting rid of the old ones.
What do you see changing in your life because of college? What would you like to see changed the most, how and why?
I am definitely becoming more responsible and it feels good to learn new things. My parents are starting to take me seriously about going back to school. They had their doubts from my past experience with college and I have to show them that I can do this.
I would most like to see myself use my time more efficiently and effectively. Procrastination is my biggest enemy and I need to push through that and get my stuff done. Anxiety is definitely a problem as well and most often procrastination follows that anxiety.
What skill is gained by taking the midterm reflection and with no time constraints?
I was able to take my time and put some thought into my answers. Reflecting back on what I've learned over the past few weeks and seeing the changes that have taken place is really cool to think about. I was in drug and alcohol treatment 3 months ago. Now I am almost finished with my first semester of college. That to me is a miracle. I never would have thought that I could accomplish so much in such a short period of time.
I wrote this reflection on my comfy couch with my headphones on. I was listening to beautiful ambient music that really puts me in a comfortable state of mind.
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