Reading Reflection Personal Development

Reading Reflection & Personal Development

Part 1: Introduction

While one may be accustomed to the typical or traditional type of student, the one who transitions directly from high school to institution of higher education, today’s college demography is quickly being taken over by adults with more responsibilities beyond course assignments. This population of adults, usually more than 24 years of age, can be referred to as non-traditional students (Lamoreaux & Dillon, 2021). These students are usually financially independent, employed, attending college part-time, and have dependants among other differentiating characteristics. While I may not identify myself as a non-traditional student, I have met and interacted with quite a few in several of the classes I have attended. Interactions with non-traditional students can be quite beneficial. As Lamoreaux & Dillon (2021) notes, bring with them a wide array of expectations and experiences with a deep focus on acquiring skills necessary to enhance their position or open them up to better opportunities in the future. Observing and learning from what non-traditional peers are interested in can show a traditional student what to focus on to secure lucrative opportunities after school.

Part 1: Words of Wisdom

Kristen Mruk points out that students should take advantage of their campus learning center for assistance with research projects and papers (2021). She acknowledges that, for her and many other students like her, the initial experience of heading to the campus learning center can be intimidating (Ibid). The anxiety surrounding using the resource for the first time and can be overwhelming but notes that being in the company of your peer(s) can offer much-needed strength and courage. The resultant experience, Mruk observed, can be quite rewarding in terms of support received and grades acquired thereafter (Ibid). Mruk’s valuable lessons from the “Introduction to Computers and Statistics” course taught her to uphold routine and accountability while upholding the realization that her grades were her responsibility.

Part 2: Dr. Kristine Duffy

College is important to me because it offers me a chance to be a well-rounded member of society; especially in understanding and committing to a moral center (mine is loving my fellow human beings). As Duffy notes, I concede that I am not the center of the universe. I, therefore, do my best to understand and accommodate other people’s opinions, backgrounds, stories, religion, ethnicity, etc. (2021). While I do my best to learn/study, there are stifling inefficiencies in my learning methods that I am still working on removing. However, I appreciate my professors for the wonderful job they do in helping me learn.

Duffy’s (2021) confession of regretting not undertaking meaningful research work till graduate school highlighted to me the utter importance of acquiring and honing research skills. Given that most of the work I do in school involves research, gaining appropriate research skills then becomes an indispensable skill for my course work. To avoid failure of acquiring research skills while at Hancock College, I will get involved with research soonest possible and work diligently with others to ensure we grow together.

Part 2: Difference Between High School and College

There are many ways college is different from high school e.g., college courses cover material faster while expecting learners to do most of the learning on their own (with little or no supervision or follow-up); while a high school is often chosen for the student, college is often a student’s choice; while the how, and when of attending high school is dictated to students, college classes attendance is often by choice. In my opinion, the latter is the most intriguing. I tended to think that attending classes was ‘written in stone’ but now I see that I can even skip several classes in a row; one might even find a way around attending an entire course. At the same time, this realization scared me. It is vividly clear that most guiding behaviors and rules surrounding college life are prone to bad choices which can lead a student to an undesirable end of college life.

Part 2: Commonly Used Academic Vocabulary

From the listed commonly used academic vocabulary, I am familiar with Tuition, credit hour/unit, student number, admission, and academic year. College students like me use these terms almost every day; sometimes more than once a day. I use the term academic year almost every day. For instance, yesterday we were having a discussion with one of my classmates about the courses we are to tackle in the current academic year. We reconned that while we thought that learning will progressively become difficult with each concurrent academic year, we will have to build and maintain good study habits if we desire to stand a chance against whatever upcoming academic years will throw at us. While I am familiar with most of the listed terms in Chapter 7, I reckon that I have a vague understanding of the meaning of some of these terms such as general education or gen ed, Stafford loan, audit, and co-requisite. These are the terms I will have to explore their meaning and use.

References

Duffy, K. (2021). Words of Wisdom: Practice, Practice, Practice. In Blueprint for Success in College and Career (Vol. 1.4). Rebus Community. https://press.rebus.community/blueprint2/chapter/5-words-of-wisdom-practice-practice-practice/

Lamoreaux, A., & Dillon, D. (2021). Introduction. In Blueprint for Success in College and Career (Vol. 1.4). Rebus Community. https://press.rebus.community/blueprint2/front-matter/introduction/

Mruk, K. (2021). Words of Wisdom: The Student Experience. In Blueprint for Success in College and Career (Vol. 1.4). Rebus Community. https://press.rebus.community/blueprint2/chapter/3-words-of-wisdom-the-student-experience/