Author: ice cream

 

Going through college is hard and takes a lot of hard work and dedication. To make things easier, every student needs to have a way to efficiently complete their assignments. This can look different for every student, and I feel like I’m starting to find my different tricks to keep myself focused and accomplish my goals. A big thing for me has been holding myself accountable. This was difficult for me the first couple of weeks. For example, I would have scheduled time out to do homework and then when it was that time, I sometimes didn’t do it because I didn’t feel like it. Now I have been getting a lot better and staying disciplined, and when I have time available to get assignments done, I have used it wisely. Balancing my schoolwork and my free time has also been very helpful. I know that I am at my best mentally when I include time to enjoy myself and have fun every day.

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        Staying disciplined and having fun are both very important in finding success, but when it comes time to approaching those assignments, I have now found a system that has worked well. One thing that I’ve noticed with myself, is that I cannot stay focused on a task for a long period of time. After about an hour of working on homework, my brain is cashed out and I start to get off task. Because of this, I have sort of changed my approach to studying. Instead of expecting myself to complete the full assignment at once, which would take me well over two hours, I have found it’s easier to break it into sections. This has worked great for me in my chemistry assignments. The first thing I do is go through and do all the problems that I know how to do, and if I don’t know it after five or so minutes, I just skip it. Normally I can do about half of the assignment by doing this. Then I try and learn the other questions later one at a time. Doing this, I have significantly reduced my stress from difficult assignments. Also, I have been able to understand the content a lot better. I would recommend for everyone to try these different ways that I have found to be successful.

 

Life in the dorms definitely has its ups and downs. From living in a multiple room house my whole life, to now just living in a shared space the size of one bedroom is a crazy thought. This small space can be very tight at times, and it feels like I have no place to relax other than my bed.  Every night before going to bed, I just imagine how much nicer my queen size bed back at home would be. Another big adjustment for me is not having access to a kitchen. I am used to waking up in the morning and fixing myself a quick breakfast before school. Now, I have to wake up and set aside another 12 minutes to walk to the food court to eat. With all of these not-so-great aspects of living in the dorms, the biggest downfall would have to be not having air conditioning. The first week on campus was miserable, as it was 90 degrees outside and probably 85 degrees in the dorm.

dorm room image – Bing images

Even with all these drawbacks, there are still many positives after all. Being in the dorms provides a great opportunity to meet new people. Having a good group of friends can make for a great college experience, and living so close to other students, it is very easy to interact and socialize with other people. Also, living in the dorms is very convenient for my day-to-day routine. All my classes are within walking distance which makes it very convenient for getting to class throughout the day.  Therefore, I haven’t had to drive as much, and I have saved a lot of money on gas as I have only had to fill up my tank once throughout my time being here. The best aspect of dorm life is having independence. After living with my parents for so many years, I would always have to do chores and different tasks on their schedule. Now, if I am not in the mood to do something, I don’t have a deadline to get it done.

A key life lesson is learning how to tackle the adversity that life brings. At first, I never really thought of college being a big change, I kind of just thought it was going to be breeze. Now, after a month in college I have realized the challenges that college life brings. Adjusting to college has its difficulties, but it also has its perks. No longer having basketball taking up just about all my free time has left me a little bit lost in finding different hobbies to do in my spare time. Throughout high school, I spent anywhere from two to six hours per day playing basketball and working on my skills to become better. Now that basketball has ended, and I am on my own, it has been difficult to find different things to do. This has been the hardest part of adjusting to college so far, and I’m still trying to find different hobbies that I enjoy. So far, I have spent some of my free time playing volleyball, hanging out with friends, watching movies, and of course, studying.

Along with finding new ways to spend my time, adjusting to college has brought me various responsibility tasks that have been difficult. With having independence comes having to do all my laundry, keeping my dorm and vehicle clean, and deciding when to eat on my own and many more. These responsibilities have now been placed on my shoulders, and I am the only one to hold myself accountable. This has required me to adjust and learn how to schedule time out of my day to complete these important responsibilities. So far, I have mainly struggled with keeping up with my laundry and setting the time aside to do it. Making these adjustments clearly has its difficulties, but these challenges will help build a great foundation for my future.

Image Sorce: https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.4OdyGKfT10iWXq-VC-KXOAAAAA?w=335&h=175&c=7&r=0&o=5&dpr=1.3&pid=1.7