16A,B&I: My final post!

It’s so crazy to believe that my first semester as being a freshman has already come to a close.  I have had my ups and downs on my journey, and in the end I have learned a lot about myself.  It’s so weird to think that just a year ago I was still in high school.  I was just getting accepted into college at this time.  I had no idea what life had in store for me after I graduated Shelton High.

                Even though my first semester seemed to go by so quickly, I have learned a lot about myself as a college student along the way.  One very important thing that I have learned is that I am a great independent thinker.  In high school we didn’t have much of an opportunity to be independent.  We also worked in groups and we were told specifically what to do at all times.  Everything is high school seemed to have been already drawn out for me.  In college I learned to form my own ways of thinking.  I have learned to solve problems on my own and have my own opinions. I know I still have a long way to go in the learning process but I am proud of my progress so far.  Not only have I become more independent in school, but also in everyday life.  College has given me the opportunity to see what the real world is like, to make my own decisions.  I feel like I have taken on more responsibilities and I am becoming more of an adult.  I depend on myself now a lot more than I used to.

                To me, becoming more of an adult meant to take on more challenges.  This semester I took on the challenges of commuting to school five days a week, working three days during the week, and on weekends.  At first everything was so overwhelming and I can honestly say that at one point I hated the fact that I was commuter.  After some time I got used to it though.  I had to learn how to manage my time correctly.  Time management is huge in college.  In high school it wasn’t really something I had to be worried about.  In college, professors don’t give a lot of time to complete assignments.  They expect you to study and learn things on your own time.  I learned that in order to be successful you can’t procrastinate.  In class this semester we made a chart of how we spent our time for a whole week.  This activity really helped me realize that time management is key.  I learned from this activity that I did have extra hours in my days to put in more studying.

               

              Next semester I plan to manage my time just as I learned to do this semester.  My biggest goal is to get into the Education program here at Southern.  In order to do this I need to keep my GPA high.  I am going to do this by setting little goals for myself in each course I take.  If I do this it will encourage and challenge me to keep my grades up.  Next semester I want to continue getting good grades, and even better grades than I did this semester.  I know that I can accomplish this goal if I just put my mind to it and remember that if I do I will get into the Education Program. 

                My first semester here at Southern has been quite the experience.  I have made so many amazing friends and learned a lot about myself.  I am going to continue working hard to accomplish my goals of one day being a teacher.  When I first started my blog, 16 weeks seemed so far away.  But it has honesty flown by in the blink of an eye.  I thought that blogging every single week would be terrible, but I’ve actually grown to like it.  It has become such a habit to me now it’s going to feel weird not to blog every week! I hope everyone has a great winter break, and has another successful semester!

Final Video!

Here is my final draft video about college students being broke! Enjoy :)

16V: Last Vocab word!

free·dom  the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

When I think of the word freedom America is the first thing that comes to mind.  We are a free country where everyone has the right to have their own opinions.   Another thing I think of is winter break!  I can’t wait to be free from school for a whole month.  I get to do what I want and not think about anything school related for a while.  It’s a great time to relax and enjoy my freedom!

Two other important vocabulary words that I learned are immure and wherewithal. Immure means to enclose within, or to imprison something. Wherewithal is the means, resources, or money.  

15I: Study Time!

Since finals are next week I thought it would be a good idea to to study with friends and people in my classes.  I have found that even though I like studying alone, studying with a group can be very helpful in many ways as well. This week I have had multiple study groups with my friends in the library.  I even stayed on campus one of those nights to study with friends for a test that was the next morning.

Studying with other people helped motivate me more.  It helped me actually want to study and not to procrastinate.  When I didn't know something another person in the group was always willing to offer me help.  When someone else didn't know material that I knew, I stepped in and helped them too.

Studying in a group is a great idea for everyone and I recommend that everyone starts a study group with people from class.  You can all help each other out and learn better that way!  The library is also open extra late now for night time studying!  Good luck on finals everyone!

15V: Autonomy

au·ton·o·my the state of existing or acting separately from others

I have never heard of this word before, but now that I know the definition I think that it relates really well to college students.  In high school we were told what to do, everything was laid out clearly for us.  College is way different.  In college students are expected to think on their own and be independent.  I think college encourages individual autonomy.  Students need act individually and be an individual.

Some other vocabulary words for the week are volition and constrain.  The word volition relates to autonomy.  Volition means the power to make your own decisions and choices.  In other word it is to be an independent person and to think for yourself. The word constrain is control that limits or restricts someone's actions or behavior.

15B: Rest up!

               This semester has gone by so quickly I can hardly believe that it’s almost over.  With classes wrapping up finals are the only things separating me from my winter break!  To prepare for finals I plan to study just as I did for my midterms.  I was happy with those grades and I feel if I keep up the same habits that I will get good final grades too.  I am going to try to not overwhelm myself with studying.  I remember in a few of our readings this semester they said not to study all day, but to study in little chunks and take breaks.  I don’t want to ware myself out and not be able to remember anything at all!  I think that if I study a little at a time and only focus on one subject at a time I will do just fine!

                I am also preparing myself for finals by getting a lot of rest.  I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately with all my projects for school and with working.  During finals week I am planning to get a good night’s rest every night and to make that my number one priority.  I can study however much I want but still fail due to the lack of sleep.  That’s why getting enough rest this week is going to be very important for me!  I am going to try to take naps during the day between study or before work so that I will have enough energy to focus on the things that really matter!

                I with ensure success in wrapping up this semester by getting good grades on my finals.  I know that once I pass them all I will be stress free until the start of the second semester.  I want to finish the first semester off strong, giving me a solid start.  I am so excited for what future years to come will have in store for me here at Southern.

15A: Getting feedback

The past few weeks have been set aside to watch everyone’s rough draft of their video projects.  I think that doing this was such a good idea.  Having these viewing days helped me and other students to not procrastinate.  We all had a certain date that our video was due and everyone had to show it to the class for feedback.   I can honestly say that without this draft dead line I wouldn’t have gotten as much done on my video as I have.  I have been so busy with finals coming and projects and tests for my other classes that I know I would have tried to put making my video off.  I am so glad now that I did get a lot done because during finals week I can relax a little more knowing that I don’t have much to add.

                

       Watching everyone’s video really showed me how creative everyone is!  Almost everyone in my class had a funny skit idea that caught the viewer’s attention, and no two skits were alike!  I think it was very helpful that other students gave use advice on our videos.  I was able to then see my video in other people perspectives and use what they had said to my advantage.  Almost everyone gave me the same sort of feedback.  They loved my music and skit but they wanted to see more college level thinking!  As I finish my video project I am going to take their advice!  I am going to add more music since everyone liked it, and I am definitely going to add more actually facts to have more college level thinking.

                

       Watching everyone’s videos was a fun learning experience.  The feedback from other students about my video is going to help me polish my final draft and make it awesome!  I also learned from other peoples drafts too.  I listened to all the advice for others and can apply that to my video too.  Overall it was a great learning experience in will help me with my video in a positive way.