Study Tip: Get a Partner!

Going into the 3rd week of the semester, I already have a good sense about which classes I will do very well in and which classes I may struggle with. This last semester of my undergraduate degree is looking to be smooth sailing - except for one of my classes: Money & Banking. This is an online course that is taught through Aplia and it is perhaps one of the hardest courses I have taken throughout my college career. 

Usually I love online courses; however when the material is hard, I find that the class being online makes it that much more difficult because the teacher is not readily there to answer your questions. Of course, the teacher is available to help during their office hours, but with my busy schedule I am not always available during their office hours.

Two heads are better than one!

So here's my tip: find someone else in your class that is also a motivated student and have regular study sessions were you complete the homework and help each other learn the material. We've all heard the old saying "two heads are better than one" and sometimes (even if you're both clueless about the material) it can just be beneficial to have someone there to bounce ideas off of, and because you both have a vested interest in doing well, it should motivate you to stay on time with the assignments and focused on doing well in the class, instead of giving up when it get's too hard (which is what I tend to do!).

So, for Money & Banking, I have teamed up with Gina! She is one of my friends from campus and is actually another Student Blogger, you can check her blog out here.

How do you get through the more challenging classes? Do you have a study partner or do you go it alone? Do you have any tips for me?

Blended Courses

This semester I am experiencing a new aspect of Albertus academia: blended courses. Blended Courses are just like a regular class, except for one major thing: each week you meet once in class (called "on ground") and once online via eLearning. This is definitely new for me, but I am really starting to love it!

What initially attracted me to this format of classes was that because the classes only meets on ground once a week, I would have more time to work at my two office jobs. This is a huge help for me because I really rely on my income to pay my rent and bills, so to be able to have those extra hours that would normally split up my work day has really helped me out and put a nice little lining in my pockets!

The only downside to the blended courses is that sometimes it can be hard to remember when things are due; this is when keeping yourself organized becomes crucial. If you forget an assignment because you didn't remember to sign onto eLearning, you have no one to blame but yourself. The lucky part is that you're usually on eLearning everyday anyway for other classes, so it is no hassle to just look at all of your classes and see what is due. I find that a really helpful tool is to use a day planner and just write in a reminder every week to submit my eLearning assignments for each blended class.

The two courses I am taking in the blended format are: Grant Writing & Fundraising and Marketing Research & Strategy. So far, they're going great :)

I know everybody has very different views on online classes, have you ever taken an online or partially online class? Do you like it more or less? Did you have trouble keeping up with the class or was it easier for you?

Religion at Albertus

As you most definitely should already know by now, Albertus Magnus College is a Catholic College in the Dominican Tradition. This is because back in 1925, the school was founded by some Sisters from this religious sect.

Though we at Albertus are proud of this heritage, it does not necessarily show up all the time in the classroom or living experience. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of religious outlets should you choose to engage, such as Campus Ministry, Choir, and the weekly Mass held on campus; but because I am not associated with any religious affiliation (aka Agnostic), I have not sought out any of these experiences and the fact that Albertus is a Catholic school has really slipped by mostly unnoticed for the past year and a half. 

... That is until this semester when I decided to enroll in Roman Catholicism. In an effort to uphold the "and discover truth in all of it's dimensions" part of the Albertus' mission statement, it is a requirement to take at least one religion course before you graduate. There are tons of classes to choose from, such as: World Religions, Religion & Nature, etc. I chose this class not because of any particular interest, but rather because it fit perfectly into my schedule.

To be perfectly honest, I was not too stoked about having to take this class. Because religion does not play a role in my life, I found it annoying that I have to take this class when right now all I want to do is focus on business courses for my major. Also, spending an hour and a half (give or take) twice a week listening to a teacher drone on and on about Catholicism does not sound like my cup of tea.

That was my mindset going into this class, and when I walked into the classroom to find an actual nun as my teacher, my lack of enthusiasm turned in to dread. That was until the nun, Sister Mariette, started speaking. It turns out, Sister Mariette is actually really cool - she prefaced the course saying that she was not there to convert anybody, but rather talk about what Catholicism is and try to debunk and rumors we may have heard. 

Another cool thing that Sister did was give us a check-list of topics related to Catholicism that we wanted to learn more about. She recognized that this class would only be interesting if we all participated and were interested in the topics covered, so she let us pick out which topics we would like to discuss and learn more about for the rest of the semester - sort of like we are building our own, customized course!

Sister Mariette's enthusiasm and candidness with us was like a breath of fresh air. Instead of being locked in a room about to fall asleep listening to outdated, irrelevant preachings (like I thought this class was going to be) it actually seems like it is going to be very interesting. Sister was open to all of my questions and very honest about her life as a nun and her personal take on some of the Catholic teachings. I'm excited for our second class today!

Internship Opportunities

An awesome thing about the curriculum at AMC is that most majors require you do an internship in order to graduate. Though at first glance this may seem like an inconvenience, it is really a blessing!

I completed my internship this past summer at a local property management company, Whitney Management. I was the Marketing Coordinator Intern and I got to learn a ton about making sales-pitch power points, e-newsletters, website design, social networking, and a ton more. I ended my internship just before school began and felt completely satisfied on what I had taken away from my experience.

Though what you learn during your internship is vital, what is more important (at least in my eyes) are the connections that you can make and the future opportunities that may result from doing a good job and putting forth your best effort.

I can attest to this, because just last week I got a call from Whitney Management asking me to come back to work part-time for them. I happened to be looking for a job anyway, so I am really excited to be able to go back to Whitney and continue helping out. Because I also work in the Financial Aid Office, Whitney Management is willing to work with me on my scheduling and give me very flexible hours. I am really grateful for the opportunity they are giving me and recognize that this opportunity would never have presented itself if I had not needed to have an internship and had not given my best effort.

My first day is Monday, November 26th - stay tuned!

Getting Ready for Spring 2013

I am so excited because I have just registered for my final semester as an undergrad student! This moment has been five years in the making, and I could not be more stoked!

Registration for all students at Albertus happens this week, and I could not be more excited and proud that I have made it this far! As a transfer student who attended a community college in Texas prior to attending Albertus, it is safe to say that my college experience has differed from that of the normal 4-year experience. Though I would not trade a thing about my path to where I am now, it is certainly exciting to finally be in this position, registering for my final classes as an undergrad! (I specify as an "undergrad" because I most definitely plan on pursuing an MBA, though the where and when of that equation have yet to be filled in.)

At Albertus, the registration process is fairly simple. First you meet with your advisor; in this meeting you discuss the possible classes that work with your major and your schedule and they input the classes you select together into your account. Once the school gives the OK to register, all you have to do is pull up your "Planned Courses" and click the "Register" button. It is so simple, which I love because if there is one thing you do not want to mess up, its registering for classes - mistakes in this arena could cost you another semester before graduating! 

My Spring semester looks like it should be an easy course-load. One of the classes that I have registered for (Professional Selling) is a week-long, intensive course that happens prior to the start of the semester. It is Monday - Friday 8:30-4:30 for one week and then it is over; this was ideal for me because once I knock that class out, I will have a more flexible schedule for work!

I'm really excited about my schedule for the upcoming semester. I took a screen shot of my schedule below so you can check it out and see the format we have at Albertus! What does your schedule look like? Does your school offer you online registration? Is your registration process more or less simple then the one we have here at Albertus?

Study Tips 101

My assignment notebook for the past week.

These past few weeks have been so stressful! We have just passed the mid-point of the semester, meaning many of my classes had mid-term assessments and projects. I think I did well, but it was definitely an added on stress!

Sometimes when I look at my assignment notebook I get completely overwhelmed, but I've developed a few tricks to keep me motivated and keep me going:

• When I start to feel really overwhelmed I remind myself why I'm doing everything and why I'm at school. When you just go day-by-day so overwhelmed and stressed, it can be easy to loose sight of the bigger picture and why you're actually doing what seems to be endless, pointless homework! When you loose sight of why you're doing things you do not enjoy, you're much more likely to not do it... which will inhibit you from achieving your grand goal. My Goal: get my degree and move back to Austin, TX. What's yours?
• Make myself some tea. It may sound corny or old-lady like, but whenever I'm working on a homework assignment and I notice my mind drifting (like when I'm reading a 20 page "short" story that is NOT short and NOT an *interesting*story), I allow myself a break to make some tea. The break re-focuses my brain and gets me back on track, plus then I get to have some tea (which I love)! Making tea may not be your ideal break, so think of something that would be a short, productive interruption for you. While you're brainstorming what may work for you, keep in mind that Facebook, TV show, or any of the like is probably not a good alternative because if you're anything like me, you're very likely to spend HOURS doing that, versus 10 minutes.
• Speaking of Facebook, TV, and other distractions - DON'T DO IT! Do not open up your Facebook, or have your phone on Twitter while you're trying to do a paper, it is the most distracting and time consuming thing you could ever do! One thing I do on my Mac (not sure if other computers can do this) is put the No Distraction setting on. This feature makes the rest of your screen black except for the paper you're typing... this is SUCH a help because it doesn't allow me to be distracted by all the Internet tabs I may have open.
• Call a motivational person. I know (hope) everyone has at least one person in their life that really builds you up and makes you feel like you could leap buildings in a single bound. For me that is my oldest sister, Andrea. Whenever I feel completely frustrated, overwhelmed, or just plain ready to give up, I call my sister and she reminds me of how incredible I am (hehe!) and how she knows I can do anything I set my mind to.. etc. She is able to remind me why I'm doing everything and reassure me that I am totally and completely capable. Who is your person? Make sure to have them on speed dial during really tough weeks!
• Block out you time, set realistic goals, and be specific! It's so easy to be like "and on Thursday I'm going to finish my project!" ... but we all know that when Thursday comes around you're almost at the end of the week, you're tired... etc. Be realistic and specific in your goals. Instead of vaguely saying you're going to finish, outline exactly what you will finish, for example: "On Thursday I will finish my outline for my midterm paper and find all of the quotes I am going to use." That way, on Thursday you know exactly what you need to do. It's also important that when Thursday comes around you are actually setting aside an hour, maybe two (whatever the goal needs) to do it - don't put it off because then it will never get done!
• My last point is a quote from previous boss (I don't think he made it up, but he is who introduced me to the quote) that I always remember when the going gets tough: 

"If you have to eat crow (and we all do), at least eat it while it is still warm."

What this quote means to me in the school setting is that if you have to do the homework, you may as well do it on time! You know you're going to end up doing it at some point in time, so you may as well do it on time when you will get full credit for it, rather then doing the same homework later but getting point deductions because it was late. Of course, sometimes a homework assignment may slip past you - no one is perfect - but you should try your very hardest to get it in on time!

Those are some pointers I have for staying focused and productive even though the semester is almost over and ALL you want to do is relax and wait for Winter Break to come! Do you have an pointers, I am always looking for more study tricks!