Blog #10- Signing up for Classes

BLOG #10- SIGNING UP FOR CLASSES
So over the last few weeks I am sure that most students are signing up for classes, or even thinking about possible classes to take next semester. One thing that I can say for advice from me to you is to not wait. Do it now! Because there is no guarantee that these classes will still be available to you when you are ready. Classes are only capable of having a certain amount of students in them. Most of the required classes fill up quickly. I find it useful to have a print out of the check sheet on hand and as I take the classes, I check them off and put a grade next to them. This helps me know which classes I have taken and which ones I might want to retake because I do not like my grade. It happens to the best of us, we take a class with a Professor, we don’t agree with and end up doing poorly, and wish to take that class over with a different professor. If you are unsure where to find you check sheet you can either go to http://www.maine.edu, click on University of Maine at Augusta, at the top you will see a link called ACADEMICS, click there and go to Programs and Degrees. Find the Degree Program that you are pursuing. Once you have found it click on it, and on the right hand side there will be a list of things, one should be ALL CHECKSHEETS, click on that and then find the check sheet that you are looking for. This will not only have Degree check sheets, but it will also have certificates, and minor check sheets. I use these as a reference, and often find myself cross referencing them and taking the classes that will benefit me in the most ways. I look at all certificates and minors that may be of interest to me, and see if they are required classes for my Degree Program, and then I select and choose. If you are still having a hard time finding these check sheets, you can see either Jean or Roz in their offices. Jean is usually there until around 4 pm and Roz is most likely there until around 7 pm. They are great help, and will help you with any questions that you may have. When it comes time to sign up for classes, you can see either Jean or Roz as well. But there are some times where your schedule does not meet with theirs, and that is why we are able to sign up for classes on our own. If you are going to sign up with Jean or Roz, it is very helpful to have a written wish list available with you. Keep in mind though that a class you wish to take may already be full, so come prepared with a back up class that you are interested in taking in case that class is full. If you wish to sign up for classes online, you can go to our University page and go to Main Street. There you will sign in under your name, and I usually start by making a wish list. To do this you can go to student self service, then to student center. When you get to student center you can then click on Wish List it is in blue print. Find the semester you are looking for classes for and click on that semester. Where it says Search, scroll down to browse catalog, this will give you a list of all classes being offered online, ITV, and compressed Video. If you want to see classes being offered live here at the Rumford/Mexico center, there is a sheet in the lab at the center. When you click browse catalog you will see a bunch of letters, click on the letter that corresponds with you class. So if your class says, HUS 349, click on H and scroll down to see if it is being offered. If you click on the name of the class it will give you brief description of the class, and if you click on class selections it will tell you when it is being offered (if it is) and who the professor will be. After clicking on class selections and you find that it is a class that you would like to take, click select class, then next and it will be added to your wish list. Once you have added the classes you would like to take to your wish list it will show you a list of all the classes you have selected. Click all the classes that you would like to take, by clicking the little box, and then go to add selected and then next. Your class schedule at this time will be all done; you can print it off and use it for later reference. Note that if a green circle shows it means that the class is available for you to take, a blue square it means that the class is already closed, and a yellow/orange triangle means that there is a wait list, and as soon as there is an open availability it will allow you to take this class. This is a way to do it if you are unable to see Jean or Roz, and it can be helpful at times, so you can take a better look at all classes being offered, and there class descriptions. It is not all that hard, just at times it can be time consuming. Also if you try to go about doing it this and it for some reason does not work out, then write down the classes and take it into the center or call to see if there is a reason why it is not working, and see if they can help you. Don’t stress, it is just another day of life as a wonderful college student. Good luck to you all!

Blog #9- Meltdowns and Procrastination

Blog # 9- Meltdowns and Procrastination
Right about now, we have about a hundred papers due, and students running around the center like chickens with their heads chopped off, trying to get their papers done and register for classes in time. It is a great time, especially when your time restrictions don’t really coincide with someone else. People are trying to do more than their bodies can physically handle, and it is about time for them to take a step back. We all need to realize that going into things having a meltdown is not going to get anything done that much sooner. If you begin to have a meltdown it is really important to remember to breathe. When people have meltdowns in college it is usually related to having an overload in homework assignments that are due. If you feel like you are going to have a meltdown, it is important to step back and breathe. Take it one step at a time, tackling once class at a time. If you allow yourself to experience a meltdown, then nothing is going to get done, and you are going to find yourself further behind then to begin with. Procrastination can be one of the leading causes to college student’s meltdowns. Waiting until the last minute to finish assignments is never going to benefit you in anyway. When you procrastinate, you are probably procrastinating on more than one class at a time. Try not to procrastinate, I was the world’s biggest procrastinator, and at times I still find myself procrastinating. I do not find myself procrastinating all the time, more or less around the Holidays, only because I would love to spend the time with my family, and not with my face buried in the text books. Now that I have developed a system where I learn to do all my work before the Holiday breaks so I don’t have to worry about doing things at the last minute, nor do I have to worry about not being able to spend time with my family during breaks. I don’t worry about meltdowns anymore, and I find time to spend with friends as well. Like I said before, one of the biggest things to remember while have a meltdown is that you need to breathe, stay calm, don’t over react, and focus. It is not the end of the world, it will get done, and you should stop thinking about the larger part of the problem, and take in smaller doses. Go down through all the classes, and write down all the assignments that are due this week, and even maybe things you need to do for a project due next week. Once this is done, start doing work for the first class that you will have something due. Focus only on that class until it is finally all done. I have found that having an agenda has worked in more ways to benefit myself. I see others so much as writing all their classes down on one paper and what they have due in that class because they don’t have an agenda. My favorite is a friend of mine; she takes a little piece of scrap paper out of the daily notes to professor’s pile, and on the back as she is going through everything scribbles them on there. I myself would never be able to do this, but, hey it works for her and whatever works for you enough to get your work done, then I would definitely get on it.

Blog # 8 Holiday Vacations

Hello everyone! It has been few weeks since my last post and for this I am truly sorry. I figured I would take a few weeks off from writing to give me a chance to reconvene my thoughts, and to save things to talk about throughout the second half of the semester. With this is mind we are coming up on Thanksgiving break, and I thought I would discuss all of the inns and outs of Holiday vacations. One thing that I have found especially helpful for me through the semesters is to know my classes. Know all my homework assignments, when they are due and what is expected. The fall semester is usually the hardest for a lot of people because of all the bigger holidays. My fall semester usually consists of my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my son’s birthday and then Christmas. This is not mentioning all the other family members’ birthdays, baby showers, cook outs, anniversaries etc… Most families have split families now days, so when we have Thanksgiving and Christmas it is usually divided up between all our families, we call it Thanksmas! So on one weekend we will have Thanksgiving with my mother’s side the family, the next weekend we have my son’s birthday, then Thanksmas with my father’s side of the family, then Thanksmas with my fiancé mothers side of the family and then Thanksmas with his father’s side of the family. Which means we are doing Christmas shopping before Christmas, and are busy every weekend traveling. This becomes hard, especially seems how I use my weekends to do homework, and reading for classes. After being here for a few semesters I found myself trying to save me from my annual anxiety attacks, by doing homework long before it was due, just so I knew it was done. Every week that we did not have a lot of home work or even no homework at all I found myself working on papers that were due, or even projects that was due at the end of the semester. I did not want to worry about doing midterms/finals, and all the papers, and projects while I was trying to do last minute Christmas shopping and preparing for a birthday party for my son. I know that this can be hard for people, especially who are trying to raise a family. I try not to over stress myself in the process. It is kind of like, if I have the time then great. If I do not have the time, then I am not going to try making a Thanksgiving feast out of starch. In order for me to work on things I know what needs to be done at the beginning of the semester, break it up into smaller portions and do it accordingly. Therefore I am not overwhelmed by the time they are due because by this time they are already done and probably past in. Also I have found that in doing my papers and projects before they are due, they are giving me more time to review them, make changes where changes need to be made. In some cases I have even been able to communicate with the Professor, send them out to them and get useful feedback from them, finding out if I should add anything or change anything. This becomes very productive and my results end with a higher grade then I would have originally gotten. I rarely ever got the chance to review my own work, because I would do them so close to the actual due date. I now find much of my own mistakes at doing it so much earlier than other classes. The simple mistakes that you see when you get your papers back and you say, “Wow, I can’t believe I messed that up. What was I thinking?” or my famous one lately, “What in the world was I talking about?” A lot of people say that I have Obsessive Compulsive Personality disorder, because I need to have things done just right, or they need to be in before they are actually due. All I know is that I like having things done before hand so I can take my vacations and spend the time with my family. The last thing I want to be doing while my kids are home from school is homework. I would like to be outside sliding with them and having a fun time. If there is no snow, then we find other fun things to do. I do not like my life always being about homework and school, so I take these vacation weeks as a break. Besides if you don’t take breaks when they are giving you are likely setting yourself up for failure. You will become so overwhelmed, tired, frustrated, and exhausted that you become further behind in all your classes, and no ambition to do anything. So keep in mind that it is always better to do things ahead of the game instead of falling behind schedule.