My freshman year of college at OSU has taught me many things that I was not aware of at the beginning of the year, and it helped modify some of my other pre-existing views. The aspect of college that I focused on the most during my freshman year was academics. The majority of my time each week was spent doing assignments and studying for General Chemistry. I only had a few assignments for each of my other classes, so that allowed me to focus on excelling in Chem 1210 and 1220. And I did, I ended with an A for both semesters. However, this meant that I only spent a little time right before my midterms and finals to study for each of my other classes. I ended up still doing well in these classes, but I realized that I was cramming instead of studying with the purpose of long-term retention.

I have now learned that balance is important as a student; During second semester, I realized that I would benefit in the long-run if I spent time reviewing each lecture’s material later that same day so that I was able to fully understand the material right away. This proved to be beneficial as I was able to spend more time reviewing my notes when it came time for midterms instead of trying to learn the material for the first time. I used this technique the most for my Neuroscience 3000 and Biology 1114 classes where a lot of information was required to be memorized/retained. Since I have discovered a new studying strategy that works well for me and my grades, I plan to spend more time next year on preparing for medical school by developing my leadership skills through peer mentoring, volunteering, clinical volunteering, and possibly research.