Online learning has truly been a blessing in my life. Before I became an online student, I was struggling to get good grades, make it to class, and focus in lecture. The second I decided to switch to online classes, was the second I decided to take my education into my own hands. In the past it was easy for me to blame my surroundings for my lack of success. But now, I am aware that I am fully responsible for my own future, happiness and success. This leads to me to a few strengths that I possess. Knowing that I am in control of my future is one of the biggest strengths I can think of. I am in control of my time, which helps me become better at time managing. Like I’ve learned and mentioned throughout this course, time management is something I have always been relatively good at. I’m very organized, and task-oriented. Lastly, I am very motivated to graduate and do well, which helps me successfully complete assignments, ask for help when I need it and strive for success. These few things really help me with my online learning and will continue to help me later in life. I would still like to improve my studying habits. I think a lot of times I learn information for a test or exam, and then afterwards I put it out of my mind and don’t truly retain the information. I can do this by making flashcards, lists, and reviewing information in visual ways (since this is my chosen learning style). By seeing how I best learn, I can figure out ways to better my education experience.
Aside from using my learning style to help me study for tests, I can use it in my daily life as well. Since organization is important to me, and also important to my success in the future, I can continue to make detailed lists, mark up my calendar, and set goals. From this class I re-learned the importance of setting SMART goals. Before I would set goals that were unattainable, because it’s easy to want to achieve something, but it’s difficult to actually put in the effort to do so (as I’m sure you all know). Now I know how to best set goals that are reachable and measurable so I feel productive and successful on a regular basis- I think this is important to overall happiness.
The resource I chose to use for my further academic involvement is Young Life. I think this organization will help expand my faith, network, and group of life-long friends. I have an interest in this organization because I have been a part of it for 3 years, and I would like to become more involved with the hope that it will make me enjoy Oregon State even more. I think another great resource at Oregon State is the clubs available for each major. I have been a member of the Human Development and Family Science club since the beginning of my sophomore year. It has allowed me to meet people both online and in-person, that take the same classes as me and are interested in and someday doing something similar career wise.
My goal for the upcoming term is to get a 4.0 GPA. I think this is very attainable because I am only taking 12 credits, and I have been able to maintain good grades for over a year now. I’m going to do this by keeping good study habits, working ahead, and always doing my best on quizzes and assignments. I identified this goal with the interest of raising my entire GPA at Oregon State. For my Master’s program I need to have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0, which I do, but I would like to strive for a higher one. It also is important to me because college is so expensive, and I want to make sure I am getting the most out of my education. Overall, I’m really excited about everything I have learned in this course, and I think it is applicable to my future education, but also succeeding in daily life as well!