5I.5: Tailgate!!!

Before college I wasn’t even sure what a tailgate was. I thought it just meant when one driver follows too closely behind another. Now I am familiar that it’s a bonding event that occurs before a sports game where people gather to socialize, eat a bunch of food, and get hyped up for the game/match. On the 20th, last Friday, I attended my first tailgate. I even arrived five minutes early since it was supposed to start at 5:30pm, but to my disappointment they had started the free t-shirt give away extra early and shortly after I got in line the guy dealing with the shirts announced that they ran out. Although I was upset that I didn’t get a shirt I still had fun eating the burgers and snacks they had to offer while i socialized with my friends. Southern won the game against Merrimack 40-34, and hopefully they continue to do great throughout the season. I definitely plan on going to the next tailgate and game, and this time I’m going to go half an hour early to make sure I get a cool shirt instead of just a little white flag like the last time.

5V: Agency

Agency is the concept of taking action or having the influence or force to do something. After completing this week’s reading assignments it has occurred to me that to be a good student you must have the agency to develop important academic habits. I hope that I have such ability and that I can become a better student by improving my study skills.

A new word I learned in Sociology this week is emotive. It means to cause association with emotion. Sometimes people can use this kind of language in their writing to cause certain emotions to arise in the readers mind. 

Another word I learned is etymology which is the study of the origin and the history of words. It can be interesting to unravel where certain words were derived from and how their meanings have changed over time.

5B: Even though it has no wings it still manages to fly...(TIME)

“Minds change like the weather

I hope you remember

Today is never too late to be brand new”-Taylor Swift

Wow, can you believe we are already a quarter through the semester. Over the past few days we all had the opportunity to closely examine our daily habits. We recorded how we spent an entire week’s worth of time, a total of one hundred and sixty-eight hours. In the end it was shocking to see the varying numbers from everyone’s different schedules. After completing this time study there are several things that came to my attention.

I discovered that out of all that time I approximately spent sixty-five hours sleeping, sixteen hours getting ready or eating, thirty-nine hours doing homework or studying, fifteen hours in class, thirty-one hours socializing or relaxing, and two hours doing something other. To my surprise, I would think that someone like me who is always tired would probably not be getting enough sleep, but in actuality it turns out I get the normal recommended quantity of sleep after all. However, besides the fact that I usually feel a lack of energy I am proud that I at least was able to devote 39 hours to doing work outside of the classroom. Although it may seem that sometimes I tend to procrastinate a little bit by taking a small break instead of doing my homework directly after class, it’s not that big of a concern because I do it in a timely manner which allows me to keep a balance between work and relaxation.

I am glad that I have been able to manage my time accordingly so that I could stay within the standards expected of me as a college student, while at the same moment being able to set aside some free time for myself. I hope that I can continue to plan my weeks in order to routinely get things accomplished as I was able to do with this week. I also want to dedicate more time to reading my textbooks so that I can clearly understand the material plenty of time before my exams arrive. This study helped me realize what I should be getting done, and also that it’s not too late to change or to make adjustments. I plan on continuing to be productive throughout the rest of the semester by using this method of schedule along with some other tweaks to help me do so.

5A: Give it all you've got!

Have you ever had the thought “What an overachiever!” toward someone? If so, then did you take a step back and analyze what that makes you? Does it mean that you are under achieving or maybe that you are simply just not trying to achieve at your maximum potential? Then if that is the case you’re not doing yourself any justice. We shouldn’t ever be mad at or criticize anyone who strives to do their best, but instead we should be disappointed with ourselves for not trying to be the best we can be.

This brings me to the fact that we are already four weeks into the semester, and how we now have the chance to reflect on our academic habits as individuals. Personally, I must admit that college life can be quite exhausting. One thing that disappointed me was that I spent so much time and effort studying for an exam and only managed to get a mediocre grade. Coming into this I knew the work was going to be more difficult than it was in high school, but actually living it rather than just expecting it was a smack into reality. Something that came to my attention is that I already use some of the helpful tips and techniques mentioned in several of this week’s readings. Few of which include eliminating all distractions when doing homework or studying, staying organized, trying to edit and outline notes for studying, keeping a planner with assignments and deadlines, and working toward keeping a balanced schedule.

However, this in no way means that I feel I don’t need or can’t use improvement. As implied in “The Indispensable Importance of Setting Goals in College” by Dennis Congos, it is of extreme importance to constantly identify our goals and then make a plan on how to reach them so that we can avoid the feeling of being lost or of doing meaningless things that aren’t getting us anywhere. I constantly set goals and look for ways to better myself such as attempting to get at least a 90 on all my exams and dedicating more of my time to studying. I hope that these smaller goals in return help me reach my larger goals such as making Dean’s list and getting into the Nursing program. I have established where I want to go now I just have to follow a plan and develop new strategies in hopes of one day getting there.