Last week, I visited The Walter E. Dennis Student Learning Center for some help on my CHEM 1210 lab report for the LLT citric acid lab as well as additional help for the upcoming midterm. When I first entered the building, there multiple compartmentalized offices that directed me to whichever place I needed help in which was nice to see instead of just a clustered, run-down, average tutoring center. It indicated to me that this was a place that could actually give me the real assistance that I needed to excel in the upcoming chemistry midterm. As I sat in the room with the Chemistry tutors, I recognized one of my family friends working there who also was an OChem TA so I knew he could thoroughly tutor me on what I needed help on. I sat down with him, talked for a bit, and he first asked what we were learning in Chemistry. I told him that we were learning about heat, enthalpy, entropy, molarity, acids and bases, electron shells, bonding, etc. Immediately, he delved into the first topic and explained it in a way that no one had ever explained to me before; it was so concise yet simultaneously gave me every bit of information I needed to properly understand the topic. After he briefly explained the topic, he gave me around 10 practice problems and 5 bonus problems that were a bit tougher and forced me to think a little more. He would check my answers and when I got one wrong, he would go through the whole problem and provide tips and tricks for me to do better next time I see a problem similar to the one he gave me. He repeated this for all the topics, giving such a good explanation of the whole concept that I left that building feeling a ton of bricks had been lifted off my shoulder. I felt as if I could have taken that midterm right now and aced it. In addition to my friend, two other tutors joined and gave me extra tips that they thought were helpful in preparing for chemistry midterms and for doing labs. They didn’t show me their previous labs but told me important points to consider when doing a lab report and most importantly, account for everything. I finished my lab report and was confident that I would do well in it because this time, I knew that I was accounting for everything possible in the experiment.
Campus resources are very integral to the education and well-being of students on campus. From disability services to military services to academics to mental health, campus resources are there to assist students off and on campus for a wide range of problems. I initially skeptical about their effectiveness but later found that they are extremely helpful and are able to adapt to any problem that a student has. In the future, I’d like to help out at a campus resource center and assist other students with problems that I had in academics.
