16V Freedom From College for Five Weeks

Freedom - the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint

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Now that this semester is finally over, I can finally take a break from school and have some freedom to do whatever I want! Having freedom every once in a while is a good thing. Having time to relax and do whatever pleases you is a great way to take a break from reality for a little bit. Freedom from school work over the next five weeks is going to be amazing. I have been working hard since school started and I deserve a break!

Two words I have learned this week are Cathexis and Klaxon. Cathexis refers to the investment of emotional significance in an activity, object or idea. Klaxon refers to a loud electric horn, formerly used on automobiles, trucks, etc, and now often used as a warning 

signal.

16ABI They Weren't Kidding When They Said It Goes By Fast!

Move in Day (August 24th,2013)

My first semester has been very successful. Though I was very nervous in the beginning of the semester, I have rid of those nerves finally and have developed into a college student who is capable of success at Southern. This first semester has really taught myself a lot about myself.  I learned that I am very good at being independent. Throughout high school my parents always pushed me to do things more and more on my own but when I got to college I realized how independent I had become. I was doing things on my own time without anyone telling me to, and I loved it. I was able to complete my homework, eat and relax whenever I wanted because I was for the most part independent from my parents, since I was living on campus. Being independent required a lot of self motivation which I have a lot of considering the fact that I wouldn’t be attending college if I didn’t motivate myself to apply to schools using my own money and then taking out private loans to pay for my finances. College has really taught me to be independent and also how to self motivate. Without learning independence and self motivation I would have never been able to have a successful first semester as I had.

My biggest success during this semester was doing extremely well on my only written exams in history and math. I scored a 93 in history and a 94 on my math finals. I was very nervous about my history final exam because I had an 80 in the class days before the final and I needed to do well in order to keep a B and above average grade in the class. In order to prepare for this exam, I attended the review session where the professor went over the entire study guide and basically gave us all the answers to the test. That night I made over 60 note cards and began memorizing them with only a couple days till the exam. To my surprise I was able to memorize all 65 note cards easily. Going to the review session and making note cards really helped me prepare for the exam because I was able to answer many questions easily without hesitation. As for my math exam, the only preparation I did was completing the review packet. Math 095 for me, was very easy and I got A’s on almost every test so I focused more of my energy on studying for history that I did for math, since I had both exams back to back on the first day of finals. I was really happy that I received a 94 on the final because I did not study too much for it. I am glad I did well on my first written finals as a college student. In high school, studying for finals was just completing a fill in the blank study guide which we always received extra credit on if we handed it in complete on the day of our final. I knew, especially for history, I had to put a lot of time and effort into studying for the exam if I wanted a good grade, and all that studying paid off.

There are many goals I have set for myself moving into next semester. First, I want

to keep the same motivation and drive I had in the beginning of this semester and carry it into next semester. I was so nervous about being in college, I put all my time and effort into completing my homework and assignments thoroughly because I wasn’t sure how I was going to be graded, or if my effort was good enough. Now that I am more comfortable with the college workload and how many teachers grade, I hope not to lose this motivation and drive I had in the fall semester. I hope to stay motivated and keep my grades very high next semester. Another goal I have next semester is to keep my grades above B’s. I have picked up some very usefully study tips from peers and from my own experience that I will apply next semester to my classes. Also keeping my grades up is very important to myself because I have to apply to the education building and be accepting into the psychology department. In order to gain easy access into these programs, keeping my grades up will be one less thing I have to worry about when I begin the admission process.

My first semester will be one to remember. I learned a lot and matured in such a short amount of time. Going into the next semester and beyond, I have a lot of hope for my success here at Southern. Many people say that your first semester reflects how the rest of college experience will be like, and if everything stays the same, I should do well as I go through the rest of my semesters in college. I am so glad I have choosen Southern as my school because I have loved every minute I have spent on campus. The friends I have made here have really helped make this transition into college easier than it would have been without them. This is an environment I can feel comfortable in and achieve my dream of becoming a preschool or kindergarten teacher. I can’t wait to see where the rest of my time here at Southern takes me! 

INQ Final - Adjusting to Dining on Campus

15I De-stressing with Puppies

On Wednesday December 11th, Southern hosted a time where students could destress by playing with animals. About 10 different types of dogs were brought over to the farnham programing space for students to play with. Studies show that playing and petting dogs helps bring down the level of stress someone might be feeling. Bringing these loveable dogs to Southern right before finals is a perfect way to bring down the stress level of students before final exams begin. I loved this event because I missed playing with my dog at home and it reminded me of him. Playing with these puppies definitely helped lower my stress levels before finals begin.  

15V Autonomy = Independence

Autonomy - freedom from external control or influence; independence

This week’s vocabulary word is autonomy. College is all about autonomy especially for those students who live on campus. For residents, they no longer have a parent or guardian telling them to go to bed, do their homework or eat at specific times. Students now have freedom and independence which can be difficult for some to handle.

Two words I have learned this week are slumgullion and largesse. Slumgullion refers to a stew of meat vegetable, potatoes etc. Largesse refers to a generous bestowal of gifts.

15A Getting New Ideas

It is always so helpful to see what other students have done on projects and essays to help spark some ideas for my own work. Watching everyone’s final video project drafts definitely help me gather some ideas and tips that I could apply to my own video final. As I watched my peers show their video draft, I thought of many things I can apply to my video to make it better.

Many students created a very creative and funny skit that went along with their topic idea. Most of the skits were very organized and well planned out. When I start creating my skit, I want to create a funny, engaging and factual skit that will help students understand my topic better. What I think I’m going to do with my skit is show students going to the dining hall. One student is going to eat healthy and another is going to eat unhealthy. Then the student who is eating the healthy food is going to convince the other student who is eating unhealthy to change their habits in order to avoid the freshman 15.

I also want to add a stronger beginning to my video. Many students had a very grabbing beginning by either starting with a skit or music that grabbed the audience’s attention. I think having a strong beginning will help make my video more desirable to watch. I think starting with a skit will help grab the audience’s attention.

As I work on this video project over the next couple days, I will reflect back on other student’s videos and apply some of their ideas and creative thoughts to my own video. Watching everyone’s video did really help me think of ideas I could apply to mine!

15B Finals Week is Here

Its the time of the semester than every college student dreads… Finals. In high school I normally didn’t stress out about taking finals because my teachers always made sure we understood completely what was going to be on the exam. Studying for my finals in high school included filling out a study guide which I would then hand it before the final to receive extra credit towage the exam. In college this isn’t the case ever. Most professors tell students that the exam will cover everything discussed throughout the semester; thats it, no fill in the blank study guides. Nothing.  If you are lucky enough to receive a study guide, its just a list of topics that may or may not be on the exam.

Since this is my first semester taking college finals, I am going to prepare and study a lot for my exams because I never had to in the past. For my history exam, I plan on making note cards and creating my own study guide of the important topics we discussed over the semester. I am also going to review the chapters we have read, to refresh my memory of historical events that we covered. For my math exam, I am going to log onto My Math Lab and go back to my past homework assignments and review the material. My math professor also gave us a sample final to fill out as it is very similar to the test we will be taking. History and math are the only two courses I am taking this semester that are requiring students to take a written exam.

My media classes final exam is a persuasive speech on any media related topic. For this final I need to prepare 3 credible sources to back my opinion on the topic I am choosing to talk about. I also am required to talk about the topic for five to seven minutes. For this final I am going to look up a lot of information and create notecards to guide me through my speech. My english class is another course I am taking which isn’t requiring us to take a written final. Our final is a reflection on the course and how we have grown as writers this semester. My professor is making us hand this reflection via blackboard instead of coming to class during a final exam block.

Starting next week I am probably going to be in the library for double the amount of time I am normally there to make sure I am focused on studying for my final. Most of my finals count as 30% of our overall grade, which is a lot. I need to stay focused and do well on all my finals in order to keep my grades at the same place they are now. Finals are going to be stressful but I am going to try to stay positive and pass them all!

Final Video Draft - Adjusting to Dining on Campus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igvIGTzVDTo&feature=youtu.be