Exams.

     As you may or may not know, for most colleges, this week is exam week. For me, it is my first everexperience with college level exam week. At Saint Mike's, your final exams at the end of the semester are spread out over a week. Some classes have in classroom exams, while others require you to write a paper or do a project. This year, I have to take 4 in classroom exams. Yippie. (note the scarsam.) Although my last exam is on the absolute last possible day to take a final, I am oddly ok with that. Why you ask? Well first of all it is macroeconomics, I'm gunna need all the time studying that I can get. And 2, I don't have any exams today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday). That gives me two full extra days of studying. Lucky me! So this post is basically just going to be some of my tips for studying, either in college or in high school.

1) Know your study habits- this one is very important especially for those high schoolers looking at colleges. In college, everyone studies. I will admit that in high school, I did not study. So when coming to SMC, I was totally lost. Some people went to the library religiously, others sat in the lounge and some sat on their beds or at their desks. I have to say that I tried EVERYTHING. For me, the library did not help. The only time I go to the library is when I need to get some serious work done. I can't study there because it is ust too quiet that every little noise distracts me. So normally I end up in our lounge, sitting on the floor, listening to classical music. I promise you, if you know your study habits early on, you will get a lot more done.

2) Take breaks- Sure, studying for 12 hours straight may help you get a lot of information into your system, but in the end your brain will just be so mushy that it won't matter how much you studied. This sort of goes along with number one. Know how long you can keep your attention to one thing. If it is two hours, then studying the material for two hours, then get up and go for a walk, chat with friends or go get something to eat. I know that my attention span is only about 2 hours, after that, I don't remember anything and concentrating becomes much harder. When I break it up, I am able to retain more information.

3)Talk to your Professor- make sure you find out all the little details about the exam. No, I am not saying to ask for a copy of the exam, that is just plain dumb, but ask the format, are there multiple choice? short answer? essays? That way you just know what is on it so when you get into the testing site you don't completly freak out when you see an all multiple choice exam when you thought it was all going to be essay. Also, talking to your professor about questions you may have is a great idea. They are always willing to help you to understand the material better.

4)Night before the exam- No matter how unprepared you may feel the night before, make sure you get a good nights sleep. Getting the rest you need before an exam is crucial to your success. I would say that you should be getting about 6-8 hours of a good sleep before an exam. Also, before your exam, EAT FOOD. I can't even tell you how many times I have gone into an exam and the person sitting behind has a stomach that is grumbling so loud that it totally distracts me. Don't be one of those people that distracts everyone else with your stomach rumbles.

5) It the exam- as much as you may want to wear your favorite pair of sweatpants and the biggest, comfiest sweatshirt you may own, DON'T. It is proven that students who "dress up" or go to an exam not in their pajamas tend to do better than those in their pajamas. I assume this is because when you actually have to get out of bed, do your hair and put on a pair of jeans and a nicer shirt, it wakes you up a little more than just slipping out of bed.

I guess those are all the tips I have. I might end up coming up with more as the week goes by, but I will let you know! I plan on keeping you updated about my exams!
Love and studying,
Susanna

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Majors/Minors

Sorry for the completely uncreative title on this one guys. My brain is literally mush from all the work I have been having to do with finals coming up. I am actually really surprised that I able to put a sentence together. But that being said, here is a little post on my major/minor(s).

    I am first going to start off by saying that next semester about this time, these things may not be the same. Since I have been here at saint Mike's I have switched my major twice...I think? First coming into SMC I was a declared education major. On registration day, I made the switch to a business major. I felt like it opened up more opportunities for me in the long run. So recently I have been taking courses in the business department and I have been starting to think "eh, this doesn't really seem for me." So, in the spring, I will change my major (once again) to a Media Studies Digital Arts Journalism major (or MJD for short). I love all aspects of social media and I find it really interesting. I am really excited to start my new major in the spring and I have heard a lot of great things about this department.

     Minors? I haven't really given much thought to it. HAHA that's a lie. I actually have. In a prefect world, I would love to graduate with a MJD major and a business and theatre double minor. Why? Well, I think having a strong background in business with MJD will really benefit me in the years after graduation when I am looking for a job. Plus, I have already taken some classes in the business department so I figure might as well finish. As for theatre, I just really enjoy it. I love learning about plays and designing is my favorite. I think the creative part of theatre can really help me with the "digital arts" side of the MJD major.

Classes in the business major that I have taken:

Macroeconomics- for me macro was very difficult. I have more of a creative mind as opposed to a logical one. It was a struggle all semester. I spent countless hours in my professor's office asking him to go over everything so that I could understand it. I think it was so difficult for me because it was my first semester in college- I didn't know what to expect. But as the course went on, I began to grasp more concepts and start to retain the information. I loved my teacher Reza Ramazani. He is very good at what he does and is always willing to help.

Statistics-I really liked this class. Although it was challenging at some points, I really learned a lot. I loved my professor Lorrie O'Donovan. She is literally the sweetest human being you will ever meet and she really knows what she is talking about. She is always willing to help you out to get the highest possible grade you can get.

    As for classes that pertain with the theatre minor, I have taken Theatre and Social justice, which I believe is not a required course in the theatre department as it is a first year seminar. But never the less, it is a theatre class. I love this class. It is with Peter Harrigan who is amazing. Even if you are not a theatre major/minor and are looking for a good, interesting and fun class, I would highly recommend a class with him. I mean, he even had my class over for dinner the other night, who wouldn't like that?!

   As I said before, in the spring I plan to change my Business major to a MJD major. I have no classes that I can say I have taken yet, but I am sure that once the spring roles around, you will hear a lot about my experiences in Media Revolutions. I am so excited to take this class as I have heard a lot about it.

  Well, I guess that is it for now. SMC really makes it easy to find what you love. Even if you come in as a bio major, it is really easy to switch to anything. All of the professors are amazing and always willing to help.

Even this photo has appeared once on my blog, Christian told me that I just had to include it in this post.

 

   I (hopefully) will post another blog soon, that is, if finals don't eat me alive first!

     Questions? Comments? Just wanna say heyyyy?!!

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Weekend Festivities

Hello all! How have you been? I have been lovely, thanks for wondering. It is now coming to that time of year where things get super crazy. Finals are in 1 week and there is just so so so so much that needs to be done. So this weekend, my friends and I decided to do some fun things before the finals madness starts.

     Friday. We all got out of class and did not feel like starting homework yet. So what do us college kids do? Build a fort of course in the lounge. You probably think that I am kidding. But I'm not. That lounge was the best thing to happen to us all. It is literally amazing. It was quite a feat. It took a lot of sheets, blankets, thumb tacks, and moving furniture around to get it. It wasn't the best fort ever, but we have plans on making even better ones, you just wait. Also, Friday night was JibFest, which is so much fun. I love to watch trick riding for skiing and snowboarding and that is just what it is. The ski and snowboard club at SMC build a ramp with rails on the 3's field and get snow trucked in from a mountain. There are heaters, food and music. It was a blast despite the frigid cold temperatures.

JibFest 2012!

 

       Saturday. The girls and I on the floor decided to go down to Burlington just to wander around. We walked down Church street and then down to the waterfront. And might I say, the water front is absolutely beautiful in the winter. Even though it was cold, it was well worth going. We walked back up to church street, got some My Little Cupcake and Starbucks and even got to ride on a carriage pulled by miniature ponies. It was very fun and we were all so tired afterwards.

All us girls!
(l to r: Mar, Keri, Emma, Me, Colleen, Candice, Luci and Lida)

Emma and I riding on the carriage!
Thanks to Lida for snapping this awesome picture!

 

   And then I guess that brings me to today- Sunday. Woke up, took a shower, went to brunch and now here I sit in the bird's nest writing this instead of doing my Statistics study guide (I promise ma if you are reading this, I plan on finishing it.) That's about all that happened this weekend. Now back to reality of late night studying and classes. Only 2 more weeks left until Christmas break!

Love and SO MUCH TO DO,

Susanna

 

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