Posts

Module 7

Nearing the end of the semester, it is common for students to become discouraged and just flat out tired of school. Especially during a strange time like this it can be very easy to become distracted and stray away from the important tasks at hand, such as finals, final projects and anything else the wild end of the semester can bring. It is very important for students to understand the importance of grinding it out until the very end. Just think of the semester as a marathon, you can run a great time up until the end, but if for the last 100 yards you slow down, someone can pass you up and all the hard work you did in the beginning to put yourself in a good spot can all go to waste.

A helpful resource from this module would be the web program ‘Tomato-Timer”. This easy-to-use program provides timing and planning while doing schoolwork. It will remind you of important tasks you need to do, and give you that extra push to help you complete a tedious task. It will also incorporate breaks into your study session, which is very useful to prevent from burning yourself out. The end of a semester can be wild and stressful, but it is important to stay on the grind and finish it out with flying colors.

Module 6

In this module the idea of researching was the focus. It is very important to remember that when you are researching, you make sure that the sources you are taking the information from credible sources. When it comes to finding credible sources, Google Scholar is one of the best at it. Google Scholar goes along with the regular Google search browser, but instead of showing all results, it shows only “scholarly” articles that have been reviewed by people that really know what they’re talking about. If I was giving advice to an underclassmen about how to find information for a paper or report, I would pint them towards using Google Scholar to ensure they are finding the best resources possible.

https://scholar.google.com

A resource that I will pay more attention to in the future is the Ohio State University Libraries and all the resources that come along with them. I feel like the libraries don’t get enough love on campus, but they are often the source of the most credible information you can find. When in need of certain facts, going into the library and taking to someone in there or just blowing the shelves could sometimes be the best way to find a certain fact you may need.

Module 5

In this weeks module I found the idea of strategies of memorization to be especially helpful.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/memory-tip-1-keyword-mnemonics-98466

In this article it gives good insight on strategies that can help you to remember topics. I have used this strategy since my early days of high school. I have always been good at hearing a song and being able to remember the lyrics perfectly. I have used different strategies of being able to remember something, but putting the information I need to remember in a song or tune makes it much easier to recall. It is very common for students to become stressed out or get very nervous when they are given a long list of vocabulary words or different terms for a course, but by taking a familiar tune and adjusting it and changing it to terms you need to remember it can be very helpful. As silly as it may seem, I have always taken words I need to remember and made stupid little made up songs to help me retain information more accurately. Before I did this little trick I was never able to catch on and remember things, but then I started using this goofy strategy it has been very beneficial to my memorization skills.

Finding My Own Happiness

The book I selected was the Happiness Equation.  I chose this book because when I was searching through the options, this one stuck out to me. I have always held being happy as my highest goal and it is the one I strive to attain above everything else. Like I said, my main goal is to be the happiest version of myself that I can be and my goals are things that can lead to a happier me. The two goals I had were to make a ” 5 day plan” for studying for an exam and follow it strictly. I usually have an issue with procrastination, but I forced myself to follow this plan and it made me much happier by eliminating the stress of feeling like I am behind. The other goal I had was to be more productive in the mornings, especially Saturday mornings. I am notorious for sleeping in late, but I wanted to make a change and see how much happier I am when I wake up early and get things done.

The book gives 3 “secrets” on being happy and they go as follows,

  • Be Happy First
  • Do It For You
  • Remember the Lottery
  • Never Retire
  • Overvalue You
  • Create Space
  • Just Do It
  • Be You
  • Do Not Take Advice

Of these 9, the one that resonated with me the most was to overvalue myself. This can seem selfish or even conceited, but I think the goal of this tip was to tell people to not feel lesser than others. Not everyone can be a movie star, or a famous athlete, but EVERYONE can be proud of who they are and value themselves very much. This was a great tactic in being happier in my opinion, it really allows you to feel your own worth and recognize how great everyone is in their own way.

These are my tracking methods:

The first tracking example was me tracking my productivity on Saturday mornings. I woke up at 8 a.m. and I tracked what I did every 15 minutes. This was very helpful in increasing my productivity and getting me up and ready for the day which just made me feel good.

The second tracking example was my “5 day plan” that I used to prepare for my economics exam. I took the 5 days leading up to the exam and used a template we previously used in the class and created a study plan for myself to stick to. This prepared me very well for my exam, I ended up getting a good grade so I got the satisfaction from that and I was able to avoid the stress of feeling unprepared.

My biggest takeaway from this project and book was to do whatever makes YOU happy. Life is short and we don’t need to waste time worrying about everyone else. The biggest piece of advice I can offer, is to live unapologetically you. Live the way you want to live and everything you do, make sure it makes you happy.

 

 

 

 

Module 4

In my time at Ohio State, I have been given tons of articles or chapters to read for a certain class. It can be very tedious and I just flat out do not want to do it sometimes. There are times when I feel like its just repetitive information and just unnecessary. One thing this module has helped me realize is that the articles are not given just for fun, they are given to help us learn something and reading them should be taken as a priority. In How Do You Read to Learn? there is some helpful advice when it comes to focusing on a given piece of information and picking up on whatever it is you’re supposed to learn.

https://open.lib.umn.edu/collegesuccess/chapter/5-2-how-do-you-read-to-learn/

This link provides 4 steps when it comes to helping yourself focus one what you learn, preparing, reading, capturing key ideas and reviewing. These tips can be very helpful when you feel that going through an article is tedious work.

From this module I have already used Quizlet. Quizlet is something I included in my discussion as a very useful resource and it is something I have used since high school. It is a great way to study and to look into a topic very thoroughly. I would HIGHLY recommend quizlet to any student of any age.

 

Module 3

The most useful aspect of this module is the way it directs the idea of Procrastination and ways to prevent it, or at least minimize it. The video 3 Powerful Techniques To Beat Procrastination very helpful advice when it comes to beating procrastination. An idea it proposed was to ask yourself 3 questions, “Where are you?”, “What do you want to do?”, and lastly “How will you feel after doing it?”. If you have a task at hand and you sit down and think these to yourself, it can be very helpful when trying to eliminate your desire to put it off. From experience, there are always assignments I have to do that just seem so awful at the time, so I put it off to protect myself from the pain of completing them. All this does is delay the inevitable pain I feel from doing the assignment mixed with the stress of not having it done, so if you just think to yourself how amazing it will be once you have completed the dreaded assignment, it’ll be much easier to muster up the courage to just do it.

The idea of using google calendar is a great idea and will be something I use in the future. This is a great way to keep yourself on track and eliminate putting off assignments to the last minute. So, if I could offer any advice to younger students it would be to find a way that is beneficial for you and use it to keep yourself focused and on task so you can live a stress-free life.

Module 2

A very useful takeaway from this module is the description of how to properly format an email to a professor. This comes in handy In college as there are definitely tons of obstacles every student will encounter that you may need to reach out for help to overcome. Which Is never a bad thing, it is definitely better to reach out to a professor, TA, tutor, etc. to get help on something rather than go it alone and end up falling on your face. This is also something very useful for the future as all students plan on eventually being employed, you may need to reach out to a boss or someone higher up than you for assistance. This also falls under the ability to communicate online. Especially with the pandemic and most classes being put entirely online, you must be able to figure things out without talking to a person face-to-face so the ability to communicate effectively online is important. Some advice I would give to an underclassmen that I felt fits this module in a way is you must be able to adapt. You must be able to roll with the punches and be able to figure things out, and that also means be able to figure out if you can’t figure it out on your own so you write a wonderful email to a professor; who then helps you figure it out.