final

self-assessment

At first transferring from high school to college was hard. In high school your lucky and a lot of the time all your teachers would remind you when things were due, accept things late and make sure you were doing all of your work. Here in college you are on your own. You have to be responsible and make sure you do the things that need to be done. You don’t get and extension to hand things in late and you aren’t reminded constantly when an assignment is due. At the very beginning every class gives out a syllabus and from then on you are to look at that and see when your things need to be handed in and what is due for the next class. The syllabus tells you from the first week of classes to the last and occasionally things are added and changed throughout the semester.

When I heard we had a class with the same group of students as our English I liked that idea. I thought it was a really good way to get everyone comfortable with the transferring from high school to college. In high school you have a lot of your classes with the same students. College is so big that you don’t get the same students unless you are able to sign up for the same class. Our class was a good one, we all got a long real well and we opened up with one another a lot. It was nice being with the same students and being able to make friendships. In a lot of my other classes I talk to people in there but in INQ and English we all get along and talk to one another. We are all comfortable in front of each other and we don’t feel weird expressing ourselves.

It took a little while for me to adjust to the syllabus. I wasn’t used to having to check something every week to see what was going on in class or what the assignments were. Teachers in high school tell you and you’re suppose to right it down. After getting used to the syllabus, I really like it. It’s a good way to become organized and being able to plan things out. I have always been an organized person and being able to write down when papers, tests, and projects are due is nice. You are able to get a head start on everything and you can plan out when you are going to do each so that way you aren’t doing everything at once and freaking out. I hated in high school when teachers would assign things at the same time and you have to rush to do everything all at once. In college if teachers assign things at the same time you know and can plan everything ahead because of the syllabus.

The biggest difference I see in college compared to high school is that you have to stay ahead of the game. You need to be on top of everything, checking when your things need to be handed in. In INQ we had to do blogs every week, this was new to me because I had never blogged before. I was nervous at first and really didn’t like the idea that people you really didn’t know could see things you were posting. Also what it was that I was going to write about. I liked when we had to write about something that was assigned. When we were able to write about anything we wanted I always figured out something to write about but it took me longer. Having something specific is good because it usually related to class and things we were discussing. After a while and looking at other peoples you see that you are all writing and expressing your own ideas and opinions on the different topics that Jen assigned us. It was cool seeing and reading everyone’s thoughts and all the different ways people made their blogs. This was a good way to practice your writing and being able to remember and make sure they were done on time and right.

I liked the Campus Safari’s. This was when you got to go around campus and do different things. Some being, go to a sports event, the multi-cultural center, radio station, the office of a major you are interested in, the library, heath center etc. These all got you to know where things on campus were and to check out different things. Some of the time when we went to different ones people were rude. For example when we went to the gym to see how many machines there were, the hours and classes you could take the people weren’t to friendly. This didn’t happen everywhere but it made you feel a little uncomfortable because you were doing this for a class assignment and they weren’t very helpful. A lot of the other safaris I did everyone was nice, and helped you out. I got a lot of information from many people. It was nice to have this activity because you get to know the campus more and meet more people.

Because of Inquiry I will remember to always check my syllabus. There were always articles on it that were to be read for the next class and usually we would discuss them and you would have to answer things Jen asked. If you didn’t read them you would be lost and when you had to hand in the class assignment and you had nothing you would get a zero. A lot of the articles were real interesting. Some articles were on time management, multi-tasking and others. They were all really good articles and you as a student could connect to them. We did a lot of connecting and reflecting of them in class.

Time management is key. Making time for everything is real important. In inquiry you learn this. When being assigned the mid term video I was really nervous. I had never made one before. The next week we had a rough draft due and some people had to show theirs. There were a lot of good videos some were more technology advanced than others but everyone tried their best and did well. This was also a way to go out of your comfort zone. You had to interview people that you may have never talked to before and ask them a specific question. I feel I learned a lot in Inquiry. Not just making sure I do all my assignments but how to manage time, going out of my comfort zone and doing different things around campus and to learn where things are. This class makes me understand how college will be and how you shouldn’t be afraid to express yourself. Everyone has their own ideas and opinions and its good to share them.

next semester

Next semester I hope my personal, social, and academic goals stay the same. This semester I made a lot of new friends and I know I will keep a lot of them. Its nice to know people around school because they know different people that they introduce you to and you introduce them to your friends so you get to know a lot.

Everyone's always nervous at first but once you make friends it makes everything a lot easier. You can help each other out with things, school work, different problems they are going through etc. Next semester I really like my schedule. I commute so the schedule I have is really nice. I'm only at Southern Mon, Tues and Wed. I have four classes on Tuesday and Thursday's and one class on Monday. It seems like a lot but this semester I also had four classes on Tues and Thurs and it wasn't bad.

One good thing about next semester classes is that I get done earlier than this one. I would get out at 6pm and that was a real long day but next semester I'm out by 4:15. I still plan to go to different events at Southern and to still hang out with my friends that live there. I want the college experience so I know I need to do different campus activities.

semester 1

 At the beginning of this semester I was on top of everything. Making sure I did all of my assignments on time, studying a lot for each of my classes and starting things right away when I was assigned them. I've noticed now that toward the end of the semester I started slacking. I still do my work and make sure its complete but I know I could have done better.

Knowing the semester was ending and that we have a long break just made me not want to do anything. I did but it wasn't like normal. My motivation went down hill. Having so much work all of the time was a lot and stressful. The breaking coming will be good. I know though that I can't slack and will need to do good the next semesters.

I plan to make sure I am on top of all my work and that I make sure I don't slack and stay that way throughout the semester. I want to do good in school and I know being organized, studying a lot and doing everything will help me do well.

what i'll miss

I really liked having two classes with the same students. I enjoyed having the learning communities. I think that they made the transition from high school to college go a lot easier. Seeing the same group of kids in the same classes is a lot like high school. It's not exactly the same because you have college level work and thinking but it made it a lot easier to get used to the college experience. 

It's going to be so different next semester meeting new people again. Having the same kids in two of my classes was really nice. We all got a long real well and we became good friends. We trust one another and are there to help each other out when needed. We all opened up a lot and shared some deep things. A lot of  people always think they are the only ones when something happens but you don't realize how many others have been through the same things as you or even worse. 

I will miss seeing everyone in INQ and ENG. We all are comfortable around one another and get a long well. It made things a lot easier. We didn't have to worry about expressing ourselves, or sharing our ideas. No one judged you. A lot of us tried to get the same English next semester, some did but others either got an earlier time or a completely different teacher. A lot will be with each other again which is nice. 

after college

After college my ideal life would be to be a nurse and be making really good money. I hope to have my own place and be able to afford everything on my own. I want to move away after college somewhere warm, California or Florida would be ideal. I love the weather there. I've been to both places and I love them. Also I hope to be with someone I could consider being with for the rest of my life. When I finish school i'll be twenty-three or four depending how long it takes me to finish. 

I want to be with someone that has a good job and can support a family.  I'd like to start a family around age 25 or a few years older. When I have children I want to be able to stay home with them until I feel they are ready for a daycare. I'd want a husband that has a good job so I could be able to do that. I don't want to be someone that doesn't work, so I would go back to work once my kids are in a daycare. 

rough draft

This is a draft of my video. It still needs work, I need help with a few things if any of you know. I can't figure out how to put parts of a video into mine and also I need help with the music. I have a song that I want but I'm not sure how to get it in. If you know please help! Any other thoughts or ideas would be great as well.