First Semester Reflection and Second Semester Growth

Inspired Read: Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

In a previous blog post titled, “Moving Forward”, I stated my first-semester goal to make the honor roll. I chose this goal in order to fulfill my plan of attending a good law school in the future. In the post, I also listed some ways I will achieve that goal. The 3 points I stated were utilizing a planner, finding effective study habits, and setting a priority list. Going into my second semester I need to reflect on these points.

First, I would like to congratulate myself on achieving my goal. Following the first semester, I completed 30 credit hours and maintained a 4.0 GPA. This achievement has given me an invitation to the UTSA Honors College. Academically, this was a very great semester. The tools I utilized were helpful.

Finding effective study habits was very difficult. Given that online school was different, I had to find a way to retain information on a weekly basis and apply it to later assignments. Most of my classes were writing and seminar classes which required me to write several essays and speak effectively about social justice, environmental, and political issues. When studying I tried to find ways to retain information about such complex topics and succeed in quizzes/tests. The most effective way for me was to listen and take notes during lectures and research the topics and facts that were debated about. Once this information is gathered then I proceeded to create a study sheet. This was useful for these classes because I could reference them during finals week. Honestly, it was hard to develop but it was useful and definitely helped me retain information.

Secondly, to the point of utilizing a planner, it was very different. It was useful in the sense of keeping track of assignments. But because college life is very sporadic, plans can change, so having a planner was not necessarily useful in planning my day. Although, it gave me a sense of what was occurring that day and to ensure I got all my work done. Next semester, I will invest in a big calendar instead to write down assignments. They are cheaper and require less commitment. I can write all my deadlines and it can assist in a constant visual reminder to complete my assignments.

Lastly, a priority list. This was the most helpful thing I have done. Each week I had to try to juggle several assignments at the same time. It was very difficult to make sure I did not forget a single one and completed them with quality. On my priority list, I tried to place the shortest assignments first to complete and get out of the way earlier in the week. This provided more time for longer assignments. I also tried to set aside time to study every week which definitely helped eased stress. Honestly, I strongly recommend everyone to try this.

Going into the second semester, I definitely want to keep this up and hopefully get on the dean’s list if possible. I am going to apply the same techniques and see if any of my classes require me to adapt. I can’t wait to see where this goes and how my experience at UTSA adapts in the next semester.

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Helpful Links:

Big Calendar:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2021-Big-Print-Plaid-12-x12-Wall-Calendar/399549022

UTSA Honors College:

https://honors.utsa.edu/