In order to help make your first semester as successful as possible, we reached out to some of UNK’s professors and asked them to provide some tips, tricks and advice for the First Year student.
Some of the suggestions may
surprise you, and some may not, but all of them can help make your transition
to the college life and the college classroom a little bit easier. The professors at UNK want their students to
have a holistic experience in college.
College is not just about the in
class experience, but the out of
class experience as well. Here are Dr.
Carlson’s, Dr. Forrest’s, and Dr. Fleig-Palmer’s suggestions for a successful
first year in & out of the classroom!
In Class…
- Go to class. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I promise you, sometimes this is the biggest hurdle to jump. Just do it, roll out of bed, and make the effort—I promise it will pay off.
- Don’t assume college exams will be like high school exams or even assume that exams in some college classes will be the same as in other college classes. College is different from high school and college professors test differently. Exams are not reprints of study guides. Questions are not always multiple choice (unless your professor says so) and you will probably not do well if you give your study materials a quick glance the night before. If studying for a college exam seems harder than what you’re used to, that’s normal.
- Introduce yourself to your professors – they’re not as scary as they appear, and building relationships can really pay off.
- Study with others. Some of your best studying can be done in the presence of others, regardless of whether they are better or worse students than you. If they are better, they can learn from you. If they are worse, you can teach them thereby increasing your own knowledge of the material. This is a win-win situation as long as everyone in the study group has the same goals (i.e., understanding the material and doing well on the exam). If you want a date with the cute guy or gal in your class, save it for the weekend. Focus, focus, focus. Work together to develop examples, compare and contrast perspectives, and understand the big picture.
- Stake out a spot in the library that is your study space and do it now, don’t wait until finals week. Maybe even checkout the learning commons.
- Leave your cell phone in your res hall, or at least your backpack, when going to class.
- Invest in a book bag and three working pens with ink. Seems simple, but you would be surprised how many people show up to class without a) a book or b) a writing utensil.
- Read the text assignments before coming to class and keep up with the smaller amounts of reading before each class period so you are not reading a lot of information the night before. Take notes or outline chapter material and compare what you thought was important to what your professor chose to cover in class. If it’s the same then you are on the same page. If not then what you think is important and what the professor thinks is important is different and you may need to sit down with him or her and talk about getting the most from your reading.
- Reread the text assignment (or the notes) after class. Now you have your professor’s examples or explanations to help you through those parts of the text that seemed fuzzy before. If you are still unclear on a concept after reading the material twice and looking at your notes see if your professor has provided activities, worksheets, quizzes, to help you learn. You look like a more conscientious student if you have taken advantage of all of the available activities before asking for help.
- ASK FOR HELP! What can it hurt? You might feel silly, or it might make you uncomfortable, but isn’t knowing the answer worth the pain? We think so! We are here to help and WANT to help. We can’t do our jobs if students never ask questions.
Out of Class…
- Experience serendipity! Go to something you’ve never tried before – a lecture on a topic that intrigues you, a theater production…it doesn’t matter what it is as long as you meet new people and open yourself to discovery.
- Don’t go home every weekend. It is on the weekends that you truly get to know the campus, community and the people in them. Stay the weekend and try something new. Go to the community theatre for a production, check out one of Kearney’s amazing parks, or just stay in and get to know your hall-mates, you will be glad you did.
- Get involved. You will hear it over and over again, but college is not just about what you learn in the classroom. It is important to learn about yourself as well, and you can do that by joining different organizations around campus. Take on at least one leadership role. These opportunities will be just as valuable when looking for a career as the knowledge you gain in the classroom.
- ASK FOR HELP! See Above. :)
enszba@unk.edu
(308) 865-8291
(308) 865-8291
No comments:
Post a Comment