Wow, It is insane to imagine the semester will be coming to an end in the matter of a couple of weeks.  It feels good to know that I have almost completed the first step of my college career. To be honest I personally felt that this first semester was a breeze. The schedule that I had gave me a nice balance of my time with college and life outside of my education. Upon entering college I have learned many interesting academic skills. As I was looking at feedback from my professors on graded assignments I noticed a huge improvement in my work. The striving transition that I had from high school to college really shows in the grades. One thing this semester made me realize was how I go about making my decisions. Previously I would just tackle assignments at random with no clear path. I have learned to set up a plan before starting any projects or assignments.  Before any new assignment I take notes on how I will go about working on said assignments. I Believe this technique helps submit better final products. Also things become way easier for me when I have a roadmap laid out for me. One of my most helpful courses was the “Introduction to College Life “. This class helped me to understand and prepare for what will arrive in the future semester and my upcoming years in college.  There was a lesson where the professor presented a chart to the class. The chart focuses on time management and battling procrastination. The chart was divided into four quadrants with traits of different types of students. We were taught to aim for quadrant two because the traits of this quadrant help avoid procrastination and balance time. This quadrant advises students to finish work that is important but not urgent. This method stops students from finishing work right before the due date. This also eliminates the fear of being overwhelmed with assignments.

     I haven’t just improved as a student but have changed in many ways. I have discarded many unnecessary work habits that could sometimes hinder my progress. When working on the essay for the career exploration  project for my Introduction to College life classes I blindly answered each question without applying my own insight. After recognizing this flaw in my work I went on to reform my process of how I  execute answering prompts given for an essay.  I previously thought making changes to the learning techniques I used was bad. This semester proved that I was really wrong and change does not always have to be negative. Even though I didn’t personally struggle much during this semester there were still a couple of roadblocks in my path. The course that was the most difficult for me was my “College Algebra and Trigonometry MAT 1275”. In the past I always had a problem with math classes but with some hard work I manage to prosper through the horrors known as mathematics.  One trait that I possess that greatly helped me succeed in school in my drive and determination. Passion can go a long way to help anyone find the success that they are seeking.  Since I realized the trouble I had in the math course I decided to develop was practice to aid my math skills. I began to study much especially on topics where I had some confusion.  One other method that was useful to me was self quizzing.  After utilizing these practices overtime, the results showed in my improved exam scores. Studying is one of the best things a student can do to higher their chances of success. A student having the option to refresh their minds on lessons can be very helpful in the long run. College is when I was first introduced to the Open Lab website. So far I think it is an excellent tool for students and professors.  One benefit of using Open Lab is the feature that allows you and your peers to exchange feedback on each other’s posts. Since we are restricted to remote learning this gives a sense of interaction that can be found in person. During one assignment I expressed a concern that I had and a helpful peer pitched in  and gave their potential suggestions. This type of advice can make them try things that they never had any knowledge of in the past.

     Writing is everything but how you consume content is as very important. Many of my teachers and professor has stressed how annotation is key for a efficient reader. While I have put in giant amount work to heighten my writing skills. I made should to also have my reading skills. Taking advantage of the text that is at  given can help guide you when your writing comes into play later on.  This first has brought me many memorable mentions in my writing. There are a endless amount of projects and assignments that I could choose for some fantastic quotes. Since the most writing takes place in my “English 1101″ course I decided to pull quote from there. These quotes show how I have greatly improved as a reader, writer and scholar. The first time capsule that was assigned at the start of unit one comes mind when I think of an amazing. I stated on the outro ” That continuous passion and drive will never let anything halt you from meeting if goals. Just anticipate how great it will feel eventually make it to the finish line”. This is one of my favorite quotes because it calls back to my mindset of not giving up. One of the most enjoyable parts of this class is creating our own  stories and narratives. This is a quote  from one of my stories also from unit one  “When I discovered that when you press and hold on an app then you get the option to  delete apps that moment was so surprising to me at the time”.  After reading this quote I just reminisce about being excited by everything as a kid.  We have reached the finale and this is an exciting quote “Writing is a way we interpret our thoughts, ideas and perspective”.