This semester was a lot different than what I had expected college to be like. Things were much easier in some aspects, but things were also much more difficult in others. I think it is good that college isn't exactly what I expected. The surprise of it kept me on my feet and although it made me stress out, it was a good wake up call. I think that the biggest lesson that I have learned from this first semester of college is to how to properly multitask. I never realized how bad I was at balancing my time until I got to college. In the beginning of the semester I had a lot of trouble with balancing school, homework and work all at the same time. The first couple of weeks were some of the most stressful days I can remember. I think the pressure hit me all at once. And although I didn't have a lot of schoolwork, I still found it hard to balance everything out. I was also very scared that I wasn't working hard enough. When I took my midterms I was terrified that I was going to do horribly. But alas, the grade came back and I got A's and B's on everything. I had stressed out over nothing. I think that is also something that I have learned to deal with. I've learned that it's not worth it to get stressed out over everything, because it only hurts you in the end.
As far as schoolwork and homework time I did have quite a lot, but at the same time I feel like I could have studied harder. Although I've gotten good grades, I am scared that none of the knowledge has really sunken in. I'm a big procrastinator, so when it came to exams I found myself studying last minute and cramming tons of information in at the very last chance. This may have worked for my exams, but I found that as soon as it was over, I would forget everything. I would say that that was a failure in my part. I feel like I'm at college at my own will, and the things I am taught here I should really learn and absorb, or else I'm not really getting my money's worth. This realization has made me realize that next semester I really need to be on top of everything. I need to stop putting things off until last minute and getting stress out when I'm swamped with a lot of work. Instead I need to take it one day at a time and study regularly. Last minute doesn't work in college.
Inquiry class has made me look at college a different way than I used to. It's showed me the importance of creativity, time management, individuality and a lot more. I think the goals for INQ were good goals, and I think I have achieved them overall. I think the most important goals that were learned were how to learn from failure, take ownership of your work, deal with difficult situations and know how to ask good questions. Specific lessons like the blog posts and capus safari's have made me learn to manage my time and school work and taught me that I need to get more organized and know when all of my schoolwork is due. There were a lot of small things that were needed to be done in this class, so there was a lot to remember, and I think that that was a good learning experience because it taught me to stay focused on all of my school work and what needed to be done. Another part of this class that taught me some good lessons were the class discussions. They were open and we looked at all sides of every topic. I liked hearing everyone else's opinion and they made me form opinions about topics that I never really thought about before. For example the class discussion we had about whether it's better to just get work done, but not to the best of your ability, or to do the best you can but risk not being done on time. I realized that I think it's not good to do either. And it's helped me gain perspective on my own work habits. Creativity is a major topic discussed in our Inquiry class. i have always felt that creativity is a really important part of succeeding in all parts of life, but the articles that we read and the videos we watched showed that colleges and future employers also believe that creativity is crucial in being a well rounded, and educated person. People who were creative were shown to have better job opportunities and that is something that I never realized before this class.
Overall I take a lot from this class. I've learned how to balance my time, how to keep organized, how to stay focused and how to put a creative spin and a new perspective on everything. These are things that I am happy to have learned and they will be with me for the rest of my college career.
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