As we approach our second semester of college there are a few things I would like to share from what I’ve learned in the previous semester. Such as lessons learned, things to know, and tips to help you pass your classes.
During the fall semester, I would always procrastinate, not make use of my free time, and do homework without giving much effort. However, after the end of the fall semester, I’ve learned on what I must improve on, and so should you!
1. Manage your time more allocated to school and less for leisure.
In my Civil Engineering class, my professor would make us chart the hours we spend doing things every week. For example, we would chart when we were sleeping, studying, relaxing, commuting, working, and eating. During the first time every turned in the chart, he noticed that most of our week consisted of sleeping and relaxing, and not so much studying. Some students would have 11-15 hours of studying per week. As we had to keep doing the chart our hours of studying went up for 25-40 hours of studying, which is recommended. This chart really helped me realize how much free time I had and how much hours I could’ve spent studying. So it’s really important to manage your time well, but to also not overwork yourself. Balance is key. If you want to do the chart yourself, here’s a link to one I’ve made!
2. Do not procrastinate!
As simple as it sounds, it is best to not procrastinate. I would probably think that every student has used the phrase “…to not procrastinate”, yet every student has somewhat failed to improve on not procrastinating. During my fall semester, I had only 4 classes (13 Units), and procrastinating for each class was one of my weaknesses. There’s a point where I’ve over-procrastinated in one of my classes: Political Science 155 (online). Every week we would have 1-2 chapters to complete for homework. For instance, answer comprehension questions, insert our political opinions, and do polls. There are times where some chapters were shorter than others, in this case, one particular chapter consisted of a lot subsections. These chapters were to be turned in on Fridays by 5:00pm. I expected this chapter to be a small chapter, but I was wrong, and little did I know, I only had 2 hours to complete it. I only ended up completing about 70% of the chapter. So that was another lesson I learned, …to not procrastinate.
3. Actually ATTEND and PAY ATTENTION during your classes
After a few weeks into one of my math courses, I felt the need to not attend class and seldom pay attention to the lesson. I did this because I felt lazy and thought that this math course was too easy for me. As the number of absent days added up, the lessons that I’ve missed really had effected my quiz and test scores. There are also some days where I didn’t feel like learning, so I would be a rock for the 1 ½ long math lesson, do nothing. I scored a 0 on about 2 quizzes and failed about 3 tests. Luckily for me, my professor dropped our lowest test grade and the final exam really improved my grade. I’ve learned that by not attending my class regularly, I miss out on really important, crucial lessons that would determine my grade at the end of the semester. I still passed the class, but now I know to not skip class and to listen carefully during lectures.
For now, this is all I have to give to you as tips and things to know to help you have a better second semester in college!
- Julian Soriano
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