First College Exam

Well, like most people I feel I have pretty much bombed my first real college exam. No matter how confident I felt answering the questions on the review, I left the classroom feeling as if I were a dog running out of the room with my tail in between my legs. That exam was nothing that I would have expected to encounter. I spent the last week studying and reviewing. I looked up concepts I did not know, read through the material, and revised my notes. In the end, What do I get? A big ol' feeling of failure. I wish I could magically have known the questions on the exam. I guess the biggest disappointment is that I have spent more time trying to review my material for this exam than any other exam I have taken in my entire life. I didn't even study for the SAT which was the test score that gave me guaranteed admission into the university. So, yeah I am upset. Anyway, now that I try to look back I figured that in the end no matter how much you actually study it comes down to two possibilities of an outcome. You either definitely know the material  or you don't have the slightest clue as to what is being asked and therefore will fail miserably. I wish I could have felt confident on this exam so I could continue the semester feeling confident. I now feel like for the rest of the semester I am going to have to play catch up just to pass. I guess it being a subject that I don't really care about just makes it worse. The only reason I am taking it is because it is a prerequisite for the next classes I need to take to obtain my major. I am only just beginning my majors requirements and already feel like I am a failure. At least my class with the principals of my major I feel I am successful in already. I understand that prerequisites are important in having success but they sure are a pain when you have to sit through the class. When your in the class knowing that you are being held back from furthering your interest in the field you are pursuing. Although I feel like I am already behind, I know in the end I will catch up. This is the first of my ten semesters I will spend finishing my degree. I just have learned that all the studying in the world sometimes doesn't truly help.

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Simple concepts on College Level

I never really thought that drawing kittens and unscrambling words would become a subject talked about in my college class. I was really suprised that those two concepts could be related to a serious topic and turned into an assignment. I never really realized that the opportunity cost of product can be related to just about anything. I like the fact that my professors try to relate these concepts to show us that it relates to the real world in many ways. I think it is important for me to see these concepts in this way so that I am better able to understand them. When I first recieved the packet handed out by my professor I felt like I was back in Pre K finishing an assignment on making all the faces look alike. This activity was then followed by unscrambling words related to the class. At first you think wow this is so lame I can't believe that I am actually wasting my time doing this, however by the time the real reason for doing these activities come into reasoning you are then asking yourself how something so simple can be so large of a concept when related to the objective at hand. Kittens and Words help you realize which one you are better at, after recognizing this you know which one you could efficently produce so that you are optimizing your outputs. When these results of my activities were brought to my knowledge through this view , I was literaly blown away. Being at a Private University I am happy that I have  a professor that takes the time to really put us actively into the class and have us take in the information.When I am sitting in class I think when I get an example of how to take in the information I will not stop there but rather make my own examples. I probably haven't got in that great of a habbit of automatically thouroughly glancing at the concepts. This simple task was a true eye opener of what I know and what I think I know. Im sure in the future I will continue to be mislead about what I know but hopefully I will look back and think about Kittens and go over what I thought one more time.  All my professors have been rambling on saying that I need to utalize my knowledge and take it into the world with me. At first I thought to myself, well I am already doing that. Although I thought I already was showing this concept of truly showing my knowledge, through this exercise I found out I really didn't apply it to all what I could have.

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College tearing away from your normal life

When I decided to first attend college, I didn't forsee any problems with keeping in contact with family or friends but here it came around to the time where I thought I could keep in contact with everyone but no one is around. My family owns a business so they are always busy and never really have time to call or communicate. I often times try to call, and when a response comes through to let me know that they are there I am often quickly reminded that they are busy and need to get back to work. The friends I have known since I was 5 years old are quickly fading and often no responses to any questions or concerns. Many of them did not go to college and could careless about the situation. The second week of the semester just happened to be my birthday, like most years I thought I would have dinner with my family and spend time with them. However, this did not occur I had work to do and they were busy as well so instead of a nice family dinner it was cut short to a text message and a we will have to catch up later. When I head back home to visit all my animals are ready to play and more entergetic than I could have ever imagined. My family and friends are country and I have always been out on the farm or ranch. So moving to even outskirts town, was still a good cultural change. I went from having at least 50 acres to having maybe 50 sq ft. Many of my friends don't want to come and visit because we are used to having fun in the pasture, yet here there is land around the school it is by far not the same. Having this type of cultural change has changed my life by far already. This experience has already taught me to be more social and go out and experience new things with new people. I have so far gotten along fairly well with the new situation. I would suggest for anyone heading into the college life to expect little to no contact with previous aquantinces but reather be open to having new experiences and people. I learned that we are all in the same perdicament here on the campus and learning to spend time with new people is the best thing for you. I have learned in already 3 short weeks that for you to move on you must be willing to experience everything as a new child and with excitment. When you lose contact with those that you were used to coresponding with, you quickly learn the ones who really mattered and which people led you to a good path of life and the ones you can do without.

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College Classes Combine for Big Idea

Shortly after starting my freshman year of college, I quickly came to the realization that my train of thought is going to be changed for a lifetime. After attending my first session with my Econ professor he had made it sure that learning is basically 4 steps, ( repeat information, comprehension, analysis, and utilization.) Following, this conversation a few days later I was assigned to read a reading that highlighted these same components. Learning only truly takes place on the analysis and utilization levels. Even a parrot can repeat phrases to please a master but until you can go in depth without hesitation I believe you cannot truly say you know that particularly understand the information at hand. Now, I know that this process is by far not easy and will not come to me overnight but I am willing to take on the opportunity and see if I can accomplish this learning process. When there is a topic at hand that is not interesting this is going to be very difficult to do. I really hope through my learning process that I will be able to be at this level. Just entereing college though, I know this will be harder. I have yet been able to comprehend a lesson or a reading the first time through. I have to go back think and think before I come to my own conclusion of what was being stated and the meaning behind the words. Overall what I learned in my lecture about levels of learning and the reading assigned to me a few days later is that all my life what I thought I learned I haven't completly. I know how to regurgitate it like a parrot but to fully explain many topics I would stare like a cow staring at a new gate. This opened my eyes and I think that it will give me a new outlook at how to approach my college experience. When I attend classes, unlike high school that gave me little preperation, I am now taking notes and looking over the information. I have come to a conclusion already that notes alone will not get me to this level that I hope to reach. I need to be able to orally translate my mental notes with analysis and examples. College definetly isn't what I have expected so far, and yet not as hard as I have heard about it. I think that in this discussion and reading it is trying to potray that when experiencing the unknown that dosen't come natural to embrace it, learn it, and eventually know it so well you would be able to teach it. This discussion helped me and I hope that the thought I feel about this conversation will carry with me every class I attend this semester and semesters to come.

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