Accepting Advice.

Advice.

 an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action or conduct

 Many people love taking advice from people and find it very helpful, but me I like to make my own decisions because I feel as if I know myself best. I would say asking someone for advice is going outside of my comfort zone because it is not something that I feel comfortable doing.  I want to face my fear of advice because I know sometimes other peoples input can be very helpful in your decision making.

The only people I usually do go to and ask advice is my family and a few close friends. I feel as if the person needs to know me almost as well as I know myself to give me the positive feedback I am looking for.  For me, asking for advice is a big deal and people close to me know that, so when I do go to them they know I must be very indecisive about something on my mind. I did not want to get too personal when going outside of my comfort zone and asking someone for advice. I have become really good friends with my hall mate Jenni so I decided to ask her for advice on what I should do about on-campus housing for next semester. I know myself best, and I know how I am feeling about continuing to live on campus next semester OR becoming a commuter, but I really feel as if it would help to get advice from a friends who is in the same predicament  at me. We are both indecisive about continuing to live on campus next semester so she knows exactly how I am feeling and that is why I feel comfortable asking  her for advice.

After talking to her, I actually did feel a sense of relief. Her words of advice really did help me in coming to make a decision. I have talked to my mom about commuting next semester and she said she supports my decision no matter what I decide to do as long as I am happy. But I wanted more structured advice than that, which I why I knew turning to Jen would really be helpful in making a decision and it was. She told me that she has thought about it really hard and that she is going to pay her on-campus housing deposit due October 29, 2010 and from there she is going to continue to think it over and make a full decision when the semester comes to an end in December. We really love being hall mates and have considered becoming roommates next semester so that would be something to really look forward to! But as for right now I am going to take Jen’s advice and pay my on-campus housing deposit so I do not feel rushed into making a decision. I still have time to think things over and she told me she is here for me whenever I want to talk and that really meant a lot to me.

Asking for advice really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and it was actually really helpful! Going out of my comfort zone was hard at first, but afterwards I felt a sense of relief and accomplishment!

Midterm Success!

I came into college being extremely nervous about the workload and the level of difficulty the work would consist of. Though, we are already halfway through the semester and midterm grades have been posted! I was nervous, but also excited as to how I was doing in my classes. I know how hard I have been working these last couple months to achieve good grades, so I knew that my grades should be everything I had expected them to be…..and I was right!

My midterm grades consisted of:

English  A-

INQ  B+

Anthropology   A

Math 108  B

Psychology  A

Overall, I was more than satisfied with my midterm grades. The first semester of school has been a hard adjustment for me so I am very proud of myself that I did not let my personal problems get in the way of my school work & grades. I really try to focus on my assignments and complete them to the best of my ability so I know I tried my best, even if do not receive the grade I wanted on an assignment/class.  As I have posted in pervious blogs I am a very organized, structured person so what has been working best for me is a schedule. I am very big on time management, so every day I sit down and take a look at my planner and plan out the assignments I have to complete for that day/ week. I also make a daily schedule or “to-do list” to know what I have going on throughout the day and when I will allot time to complete my assignments. I try to focus day by day on assignments so I do not overwhelm or stress myself into thinking I have too much work and not enough time.

Some specific goals I can set for myself for the remainder of the semester consist of:

           

-continue to manage my time/schedule

-improve my INQ grade and earn an A

-continue to try my best and work my hardest in math (not my best subject)

My final goal is at the end of the semester when I retrieve my final grades is to have earned at least a B+ or A’s in all of my classes. Next semester my classes are going to be a lot more challenging so I want to try my absolute hardest to earn an excellent GPA this semester.

 And….as long as I at least earn a B in math I will be happy with myself and know I did try my best and work my hardest because it is a very challenging class for me.

I am very happy with my midterm grades and proud of myself for working so hard!

Midterm Movie: Motivation !

I am so relieved that my midterm project is finally complete! It took alot of time and effort I thought but it was fun in the making, and now that it's over I really am proud of my project as a whole. I did do my project in Powerpoint (which probally was a huge mistake) because I cannot upload it to my blog or youtube successfully. Im am sorry about this inconvience, but I did learn alot about different students and professors on campus about MOTIVATION.  Motivation is key to success and I believe my project adresses it to the fullest extent. I will try to show my video in class so you guys wont miss out ! And again, I am sorry about this inconvience.

Weekly Readings & Article Controversies

After reading all the articles assigned for the week, I found that Have College Freshman Changed? Students are Different Now & Grade Inflation in American Education really caught my attention and related very well to each other. These two articles are up for extreme debate.  The articles summarize controversial educational topics that colleges are beginning to face on a daily basis.

“Are social, academic and financial pressures on freshmen becoming more intense?” And does that have an effect on how college freshman have changed? I believe so. The article states that college students today are less mature than they were and often not ready for the responsibility of being in college. Students today cannot cope with the stress today and have a “lack of resistance” and I myself being a college student fully agree with that argument. I too sometimes get overwhelmed and just feel too stressed out to want to complete my work to the best of my abilities. Is it the parents fault for babying their children and protecting them from life’s obstacles? That may be the problem; I have noticed an increased number of students who don’t really know a lot about independent responsibilities because they are so used to their parents taking care of everything for them.

“…the college experience itself is not more intense today than it was during the past 10 years. What is believed is that many students are often not prepared to be young “adults” with all the responsibilities of life.” College professors today have to explain what it means to be an independent college student before we can even begin to teach. Independence and responsibility needs to begin at an early age so that college can actually be a passage to independent adulthood.

The main controversy surrounding grade inflation in America is students are studying less and not working as hard but are being handed high grade point averages. Law Schools throughout the country are retroactively inflating its grades, tacking on 0.333 to every grade recorded in the last few years. The goal is to make its students look more attractive in a competitive job market. If you can get a higher grade without studying at all, why bother studying very hard? This is not all fair for the students who strive to do their best and work their absolute hardest to earn the grades they worked so hard for. “Academic grade inflation has also made its way down to the secondary school level, where failure is simply not an option under "No Child Left Behind" and failing student grades are usually considered a weakness on the part of the teacher's ability to connect to the student rather than poor student motivation and achievement.” True academic excellence in American Education should be earned, not handed to them.

These two articles controversies complement each other very well. Is it because children today are babied more by their parent while they are growing up that they cannot cope with the stress and amount of work given to them. The result of this problem is that students GPA are not as high as they were in previous years and therefore colleges are beginning to raise their students GPA’s to make student look more efficient than they actually are.

Free Choice: Structure & Self

I am a very structured, organized person who likes their days, weeks, and months planned out. I am not a “go with the flow” type of person & I also do not have a lot of patience therefore I do not like waiting around for things to happen. That is when I begin to get stressed out; when I feel that I’m overwhelmed and do not have control. I want to be in control of my life to the best of my ability at all times. I feel a sense of satisfaction when my schedule is consistently in order and when tasks or to-do list are completed.

Though the “free choice blog” has no structure, I feel as if I can reflect on how on my focused sense of self can relate to the huge adjustment process I have chose to become a part of; college.

College is a huge adjustment process that I am still in the mist of getting used to.  Because I am the structured person that I am, I am not a fan of change. Even though we are already half way through the semester I feel as if I am still in the adjustment process and am still getting used to my new life on a daily basis.

In the beginning of the school year my main focus was myself and my happiness. I personally needed to take the time to adjust to my new life and reflect upon who I really am. I chose to live at college because I wanted to be a part of the “full college experience”. Therefore I needed to give up the comfort of my home and my old lifestyle and make the most of why I am here. I wanted to meet new people, do well in my classes & keep up my grades, and get involved on campus. I needed to do this for myself. I want to prove to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to, even if it does take me out of my comfort zone.

Today, about 6 weeks later I am truly satisfied with myself and how far I have come.

In just a short period of time I truly feel as if I have adjusted to my new life in such a positive way and I am so proud of myself for never giving up on such a great experience.

I have…

*met such great friends

*feel satisfied/good about my classes and grades

*been managing my time successfully

*adjusted to my new living environment

*been able to manage my school work & social life

* gotten involved in an organization I am extremely excited about!

I do feel as if I am a student that is a part of the “full college experience” and I could not be happier. Though day-to-day I am still adjusting, I am keeping a positive attitude to make this process much easier on myself and it has been working!

A Wonderful Peer Mentor :)

Reflect on the role of the peer mentor in the INQ class: what works?

What does having a PM add? What have you learned from your PM?

The first day I walked in INQ I had no idea what the class even consisted of. I had heard by rumor that INQ was somewhat like a second English class, & that the same students in my English class were in my INQ class as well. I soon found out the true reasoning behind why most freshman students are required to take an INQ class. Through your INQ class you learn about your SCSU community, how to get involved, and how to manage your time & your new life during your freshman year. College is a huge adjustment and can be extremely overwhelming for some students. That is why this class was designed: to help students adjust to their first year experience and take advantage of what Southern has to offer.

Kaitlyn Hoffmann is our INQ classes Peer Mentor. She deals a lot with how to get involved on campus and how to make the most out of what Southern has to offer for students.  

Definition:   Peer- a person who is of equal standing with another in a group

                    Mentor- a trusted counselor or guide

 Just like us, Kaitlyn is a student here at Southern Connecticut State University (our peer) & though she may not be a freshman, she too had to endure the nerve-racking transition from high school home life to COLLEGE. She explained to our class how difficult the transition was for her during freshman year…before she got involved. Once she got involved she had a new outlook for what the “college experience” is truly like.

As a mentor she guides us in the direction we want to peruse with confidence and encouragement. At the beginning of every week she always informs the when upcoming events will be taking place, if we are interested.  I feel her role is revolved around school spirit! But at the same time she brings an informative, structured role to the class room. She encourages us to make the most out of college by becoming a part of your SCSU community.

Having a peer mentor I feel lightens up the mood of the average “structured” learning environment. Her presence adds a lot to the class, but in a relaxed non-overbearing way. She consistently keeps the class up to date with events taking place on campus, which I personally appreciate and take full advantage of.

For Example: This upcoming weekend is Homecoming and she asked the class if we would like to participate in the banner contest. We came together as a class and brainstormed great ideas and used a lot of creativity to make an awesome banner! It was fun to see the class come together and get excited about what we created. If it wasn’t for Kaitlyn’s great idea for the class to get involved in the contest, our class would have missed out on a great boning experience that also incorporated creativity as well.  

I honestly and truly enjoy having Kaitlyn be a part of our class as our Peer Mentor!

Kaitlyn showing off her SCSU Spirit!

picture by Kaitlyn Hoffmann

Does Your Blog Stand Out?

Today in class we looked over some student blogs to find out what truly makes a blog stand out from another. An attention catching title, unique pictures, interesting links, a good length (short, sweet, and to the point), and a blog that is both distinctive but personal. And most importantly give your blog a theme. That is what makes a blog stand out from the rest. By giving your blog and theme  and adding all the attention catching details, it will keep your readers/followers on their toes wondering what the next post is going to be about, and what message is it trying to portray. Should there be an underlying message within in your posts, or should you get right to the point and ask INQ questions within your blog? Maybe tie together both to make you blog unique.

Creativity and word choice are extremely important when writing each and every blog post. They need to grab the reader’s attention and pull them into the post. Writing posts that your followers can relate to is also something every writer should take into consideration. The language or voice of the blog needs to flow and tie together to keep the attention of the reader. Posts can be both sincere and informative but most importantly there needs to have a strong, obvious effort to make your blog stand out! Do not let your blog get boring. Have fun writing your posts; make your blog personal but also fun in an informative way.

Relating to other students blogs and getting ideas from their posts can really improve your writing skills, and to make you post stand out! I read through some of my classmate’s blogs and I found that both Michele’s Blog (A Whole New World) & Jessica’s Blog (My World) exemplify my ideas of what I like to incorporate into my blog to make it unique.

Michele’s Blog really related to mine because her titles are interesting and catch the reader’s attention right away and that is exactly what I try to do with my blog as well. Also, her style of writing related really well to mine. You can feel the passion in her writing; she puts the extra effort in her post to make them excellent. Michele’s pictures are also really great and I too always try to find pictures that relate my blog posts for the week.  Jessica’s posts are really fun and exciting to read. But at the same time they are also very informative, which is what I try to incorporate into my blog as well.

It was interesting but fun to read through some of my classmate’s blogs; to find out who has the same style of writing as me and who puts that extra effort into making their posts great every week. Effort and creativity: that’s what makes a blog standout!

                          

What's Your Major?!

As the mid semester will be approaching very shortly, I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by! Midterm advising is about to begin and students are starting to think about Spring registration and what classes they want to take, or need to take depending on their major choice. Many of my friends have not even declared their major yet, but I have…

Major: Pre-Nursing.

I am not completely considered a “nursing” student until I have completed all my pre-requisites and required courses to apply into the program at the completion of my sophomore year. The nursing program here at SCSU is extremely competitive, which is why I as a pre-nursing student have to stay focused on my grades and completely dedicated to my school work.

 I chose nursing because I love the anatomy and physiology of the human body and I also really love helping and caring for people. My aunt is a nurse and she is my inspiration. I love hearing about her position at the hospital and all the different patients she has dealt with. Nursing such a fascinating and exciting career and today nurses are in great need. Becoming a nurse in today’s economy will be such a rewarding accomplishment. This career choice is what I am passionate about and I will accomplish my dream of becoming an RN (registered nurse). I specifically want to become a maternity nurse and work in the maternity ward, dealing with not only the newborns but caring for the mothers as well. Pregnancy has always been is so fascinating to me. I always get so excited when someone I know gets pregnant. I love following their pregnancy and reading their baby books that show you the growth and development of the fetus week by week. I know nursing is a tough major but I am 100% dedicated to the career choice I have declared and I will not let myself down!

Because nursing is such a competitive field of work today, I do have a backup plan just in case I am not accepted into the nursing program. I know I want to work within the medical field no matter what I do, but I know for a fact one day I will become an excellent nurse. If my goal cannot be achieved here at SCSU I want to graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Public Health and then go on to become an ultra sound technician. I would work as an ultra sound tech and then continue to work towards my degree as an RN. Both Nursing and Sonography are fascinating career choices and though I do not what my future holds for me, nothing makes me happier than knowing I will one day have a career I am passionate and excited about.

          

SCUS Nursing Informational Website