That Education Student

A freshman at Post University studying Child Studies, and hopefully Criminal Justice.

[thateducationstudent]

Late A Day In My Life | Easter Sunday Edition

5:15pm - Plan for Next Week (Monday - Saturday) With midterms out of the way and only two weeks left in class, planning for next week is my first task of this study session. I do all of my planning using iCalendar and Google Calendar. I do this because of the reminders I'm able to set for my MacBook and my phone.

5:25 - Begin Taking Notes for Next Week For the next 20 minutes, I will be taking notes to prep for next week. I take my notes digitally using Microsoft Word and always love how they turn out.

I didn't get much done in the 20 minutes, but I did get a good start. When originally writing my notes, I never pay attention to grammar as they are meant to be quick. At the end of the topic (week) I go back and rewrite anything necessary and improve any grammar or spelling issues. By mainly, if I can read them and can get through the week with them, that's all that matters.

5:45 - 15 Minute Break While some may question why I take a break after 30 minutes of work, it's to refresh my mind and allow my eyes a break from the computer screens I work in front of. During this time, I usually read my Bible or another book I've been reading. Today, I'm reading my Bible - especially scripture surrounding Jesus Christ's rebirth from the dead.

6:00 - Bible Study and Journaling Considering I read from the Bible during my break, I start to deep dive into my Bible study and journaling for the week.

I read Luke 24:1-12, the scripture for which we get the Christian traditions of the Easter holiday during this session. After reading the scripture, I wrote down anything that stuck with me in my journal.

6:30 - Long Break from Work to Watch Hop An Easter tradition my girlfriend started me on a few years ago is to watch the movie Hop. Thus, to wind down a bit, she suggested watching the movie. I agreed.

8:10 - Return to Bible Journaling My next session includes reading Esther Chapter 1 (Esther 1:1-22). Just like with Luke 24:1-12, after reading, I took notes on what stuck with me.

8:30pm - Wind Down for Bed After completing my Bible journaling, I decided to curl up in bed and wind down with a book before falling asleep.

Today was very productive and I'm happy to say that I'm proud of myself for what I achieved and accomplished. While I did take a ton of breaks and did get started late, I still got a lot done - especially considering I didn't have anything that needed turned in.

[thateducationstudent]

College Preparation: Why It's Important, Tips, and Resources

Introduction

Hello everyone! Since I'm heading into starting college for a second time after transferring, I figured I would post a college preparation blog and include some tips and resources.

You might be asking yourself, "Why is college preparation important? Don't they teach you what all you need to know in high school and the early weeks of college?" The short answer is, no, they don't teach you what all you need to know. College preparation is important because it allows you to, of course, be prepared for what's to come, but will also allow you to understand the way college works.

For me, college prep would've helped me tremendously in my first term at Purdue. They through me in blind and a few of the professors would state that the discussion board was one way when it was completely different. Assignments wouldn't be completely laid out and I often had to ask questions on what to do, which was met with a lot of hostility, and I actually lost points for following their directions.

So nobody has to go through that, I decided to write this blog post. I don't want anyone to struggle like I did.

Tips

1. Read the syllabus for the class. This will allow you to see grading policies, grading scales, class policies, instructor policies, and anything else you need to know for that class. In some cases, it'll even allow you to see assignment deadlines and exam dates.

2. Read the rubrics. Always, always, always read the rubrics. Make sure you know what is on the rubrics because that tells you what you need to include in your assignment and what your professor is grading off of.

3. Ask your admissions advisor what writing format the school uses. Going into your classes blindly without knowing the formatting you will have to use for your papers and assignments isn't ideal, especially with most colleges requiring APA formatting. For example, if all you know and understand is MLA because that's what you've always used, being thrown into a class with APA formatting will cause a lot of confusion.

4. Reach out and keep contact with your academic advisor. Your academic advisor can help you with a lot of things. They are there to guide you through your term, semester, school year, or whole degree - depending on how long you're assigned to them for. If you don't know who your assigned academic advisor is or how to contact them, reach out to your student support office.

5. Reach out to your professors before the start of classes. If you have access to your professors' contact information, contact them and introduce yourself. This will begin the foundation for a good relationship with your professor. Keep contact with them, if need be. Ask questions! If you don't understand something, ask your professor!

Resources

If you'd like resources to help you prepare for college, here are some that I've personally used and enjoy.

1. 10 Steps to Earning Awesome Grades - this book has helped me personally get better grades. It explains how to get amazing grades without spending all of your free time studying.

2. College Prep on Pinterest - yes, I am including Pinterest. They have good posts about scholarships, financial aids, tips, and much more. Yes, you can get lost on it and spend hours scrolling and scrolling, but I highly suggest looking at some of the things on there.

3. U.S. News' 12 Ways to Prepare - this blog has amazing tips for modern day college students. It goes more in-depth as to what I stated and more. It is set up more like a slideshow so be prepared for that when you click on it.

Outro

I wish everyone luck in their college careers and future studies! Thank you for reading!