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Editor's Note: Caitlin Emmons is a freshman at the University of California at Santa
Cruz. This is the fourth of a monthly blog Caitlin writes about her experiences at college.
Cruz. This is the fourth of a monthly blog Caitlin writes about her experiences at college.
| Caitlin's College Blog By: Caitlin Emmons After the completion of three papers, one exam, one creative assignment, and one research assignment I will have officially survived my first quarter in college, hard to believe, I know. In my second blog I talked about the keys to making friends and surviving college from a pretty naive perspective. Don't get me wrong, I still believe everything I said then but I think it may time for an addendum from a more experienced perspective. 1. Shower shoes are still a must, people's feet don't get cleaner just because you know them a bit better. 2. Find internships. I had never really thought about how important internships were to freshmen, but I can't imagine my life without mine. I am lucky enough to have this one with Athena and then another with the student government here on campus. Working with the student government gave me a chance to meet students who were politically active and genuinely cared about their school. It is also great preparation for a career in the future. Mine allows me to work with politically engaged students as well as meet members of the political community here in Santa Cruz. Schools offer hundreds of internships, find one that meets your interests and start applying. You may not get all the ones you apply to, but eventually you will find one that allows you to fill your niche in the college community. 3. Talk to your professors. Yes, they may be intimidating, but they are teachers. They want to work with their students, see them grow and succeed. It's true every once in a while you will find that you have a professor who is too distracted by getting their next book published to give you the attention you need but most of the time this will not the case. Try to find things you may have in common with them and go to their office hours (College lingo breakdown: all professors have "office hours" these are the days and times they are in their offices. Never assume that they will just be there because you need them to be. Find out their hours before you go half way across campus only to find out they only have hours one day a week). Forming bonds with your professors will help you when you need recommendations and will ensure they will pay more attention to your work. I was lucky enough to have a great professor for my intro to writing class, she has helped me through every step of college and adapting to life here. I am even taking another class from her next quarter, that's how great she is. I can only hope that everyone can find this kind of teacher wherever they end up. 4. Study, study, study. Often times your exams will seem weeks away and then one day you wake up and realize you have two days to study for a midterm that will make or break your grade. The key to studying well is to do it often and regularly. Don't end up like me, who spent last night writing a paper with a friend until 2 am in my hallway because my roommates were already asleep seeing as they had finished their studying at a reasonable hour. For me it really helps to start looking at a paper topic as soon as your get it. I read it over and over again and then I can start formulating my ideas and eventually I will start on an outline. The papers I spend more time thinking about before I start writing tend to get the best grades. But sadly for me, sometimes I would spend too much time thinking about them and not enough time writing about them, hence the late night writing sessions.When it comes to preparing for an exam, reread your notes the day after a lecture and you will retain more of it than if you cram the night before the exam. The earlier you start studying the more opportunities you have to make sure you really do understand everything you need for the test. One of the biggest mistakes I made when it came to studying this quarter was being afraid to ask the questions I wanted to. I felt like I needed to be the "smart" one in my study group so I would refrain from acting like I needed to learn the stuff as well. What ended up happening was that people would start relying on me to teach them and I wouldn't know what I was talking about. For me I had o start studying alone and then regrouping closer to the exam. This gave me a chance to work through my questions and forced the people around me to study on their own as well. I think it worked out better for all of us. 5. Make time for friends. It's cliche but don't become the one who is ALWAYS in their room working. Sometimes writing papers with friends is more fun and in some cases more productive. Regardless of whether your friends are your study buddies, make sure you make them a priority even when it's finals season. Seeing them will de-stress you and everyone studies better when they aren't stressed about other things. But an important thing to realize when making friends in college is that everyone comes with their own baggage that may not be apparent when you first meet them. Be willing to put the time into bettering your friendships. In my experience, talking about whatever problems arise is the best and healthiest way to solve them. Being honest gets you a lot farther than avoiding the subject. As I have said before college is a time to grow, whether it's your brain, your social network, or hopefully both. It doesn't take long to form habits, so make sure they are the good kind. Once you get used to studying regularly, it won't be an inconvenience. Once you figure out how to incorporate your social life into your academic life, you'll be a happier person. It is, after all, all a balancing act. |
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