Thursday, May 26, 2016

(Online) College Tips

As I take a break from doing homework for my classes, I decided to give you guys some college tips and advice. I’ll give you a small back story of how I got where I am currently. 
I always knew I wanted to go to college one day. When I was younger I wanted to be a teacher, interior designer, a paralegal and a bunch more occupations. As I went through school, I knew that the teachers and the other staff members cared about me and wanted me to succeed. I had some teachers who took their caring to the next step. They pushed me to do my best. I remember having a failing grade in accounting in my senior year and my teacher would not let me fail if her life depended on it felt like. I really appreciated that. I had that teacher for two classes; Marketing and Accounting; and in Marketing she handed me our review from a few chapters back and told me to complete it again and that I was going to take that test over again in a few days. Well, the day came in 2nd hour (Marketing), the school year almost over for us seniors. She handed the test to me and I took it. It was her planning hour the next hour so she graded my test and then came to my 3rd hour class. She handed me a sticky note with a smiley face and I don’t really remember what it said but I either passed the class with a C or I passed the test with a C. Either way, she was proud of me! That was only one at of the many teachers who I could write about how they went over and beyond and cared so much for me.
Now my college is a bit different because it’s online college.  We have either 2 or 3 classes each term depending how many you want and how many they will let you take at once. I prefer to only take 2 at a time. Our terms are 10 weeks long so in simple terms each week of the 10 weeks is a different unit. Each week starts on Wednesday then runs through Tuesday at 11:59 PM. In between unit 10 and our new classes, is a week off. My major is Early Childhood Development. I want a career working with children and I plan to graduate with my Bachelor's Degree May of 2017.

I thought of 10 tips and advice to give to you that has really helped me with college:

1.      Use your time wisely/ prioritize your time. If you have a paper to write that is due at the end of the week but your friends wants you to go out to dinner and see a movie with them, which one would you choose?  I would advise you to tell your friends that you can’t hang out tonight because you have a paper to write that is due pretty soon.  If they are true friends, they will understand. More nights will come up where you will be available to hang out but you can’t go back in time and redo a college paper.
2.      You have to keep focus or you will fall behind.
3.      I would advise you to invest in a planner and write down all of your assignments for the current week you’re on and as you complete an assignment, or a reading, highlight it so you know you completed it.
4.      My weeks, as I said above, starts off on Wednesdays and go until Tuesday @ 11:59pm. On Wednesdays, I write my assignments down in my planner and as I go throughout the week, I highlight the assignments I complete. Here’s a tip: If you don’t finish an assignment or reading on Wednesday, before you go to sleep on Wednesday night, write the assignments or readings that you still need to complete under Thursday and so on until you finish them.
5.      When using a planner, I highly recommend using a different color pen for your classes to keep track of them easier. For example, English assignments/reading would be in pink and Math would be in blue. You could also divide the day in your planner into two’s and on each side write your assignments down in the corresponding color pen.
6.      Do your readings first as they will help you complete your discussion board questions and if your professor asks you a question, in seminar, from the reading, you’ll know the answer and be able to answer.  
7.      Always go to seminar!! The professor explains so much. It’s better to be in your casual clothes than to get dressed and have to sit in an uncomfortable chair and listen to a professor lecture for an hour or most likely more.
8.      Quizzes! READ FIRST so you’ll know the information. If your professor has learning activities (flashcards, etc.), take ADVANTAGE of those because 95% of the time everything from the learning activities is on the quiz.
9.      PRINT off your assignments/ readings because you never know when you’ll need them again. It’s also really helpful to already have everything for your portfolio.
10.  E-mail your professor if you don’t understand something or if you have a question about an assignment. They are there for you!

Hope these tips helped you whether you’re getting ready to go to college, enrolled in an online college or if you attend an on campus college.

<3 Amanda 



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