Life as freshman in Southeastern

My initial days in Southeastern was a total mess. I didn't know anything, i was like a child lost in the city. I didn't know where to go to register the class, what to bring and what not to. Whom to ask for help. But the orientation program helped me a lot. I met many people and i tried to solve the problem faced by together. Slowly but steadily i got in contact with the professor of my class, they helped me a lot.

Then i took SE 101 class. At first i thought since it wasn't gonna help in my major, it's just a waste of time but soon i realized i was wrong. Joining the SE 101 class helped me built my weaker points stronger. I got confident in many of the problem. I got information that i needed with the class lectures. I found the overall function of the Southeastern itself and i knew where to go when i got a problem. I met the adviser and he told me what to plan next for my semester and i think it was such a great help cause i knew i was weak at making plans.

Taking SE 101 class made me realized that always studying is not a good thing, communicating with other, interacting to new faces is must as you gain experience and in the same time you will have fun in the class as well. There were many programs in the Southeastern which i didn't know.

Talking about my grades, well grade didn't go i had wanted to but with the help of SE 101 class i found many alternatives to face the problem. Making academic plans, semester plans, steps to study, maintaining time for when to study and when to work, evaluating your marks time to time to check where you stand now. At first, i got only C's and B's in every subject then my adviser advised my solution and following those steps i gradually increased my grade. Now i have A's in three subjects and B's in next three subject which was already awesome for me as i am striking for 3.5+ grade and now i think i can achieve that goal if i just improve more than this.

Overall, my days as freshman was like a adventure where you bump into new problems and resolve them slowly and gain new experience and knowledge. I hope the coming new freshman wouldn't have to face problems like i did but even if they did then don't worry cause Southeastern staffs and facilities will help you in all our steps.

Goal Setting

Taking about goal or objectives, basically all the students come for one main purpose that is to be able to learn new things. But those goals cannot be obtained without proper planning and dedication. Coming to Southeastern and taking classes for SE 101 made me realized that you should set your goals better going ahead. There are many tools and utilities in Southeastern page like Leonet or moodle as well as webmail for reviewing your status, checking your classes and viewing your mails respectively.

Choosing a Major

Major is a specialized part of your degree program. My major is Computer science. And every students have their own major. Choosing a major is tough for me because as you study ahead the courses becomes quite hard and you can get an idea that choosing this major was a wrong decision for you. But luckily southeastern university provide a service of changing your major if you want to which is very much good thing.

Academic Planning

Plan your way to success

Forecasting  the possible classes for next semester is basis. Once you forecast your schedule you must create a four year academic plan. Frankly speaking this plan may not go as you have expected but this process will surely help you in identifying where you are. You can plan your semester in this link http://www.southeastern.edu/leonet/leonet_login.html

Time Management

Every single person has the same amount of time so one must conserve and use time in proper manner. At first my time schedule was a complete mess. I couldn't even wake up early. My working schedule was upside. I couldn't manage time for my lunch. But now it better. So managing your time is must. You can use tools like semester calendar or schedule your daily plan in your diary.

Don't waste your time on thing which wont do any good for you. Realize it before it's too late.
Remember procrastination is one of the main reason for your improper time management.

Studying and Test Taking

Studying styles depends upon one own characteristics. Some people study when they see things, some prefer with lectures and information provided, and some by doing thing. So know what kind of learner you are. It is the first step for studying.

Test!! Just thinking about it makes you go crazy.
But don't worry there are ways to overcome your fear for test. Answer is studying; simply putting remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. I always pray to god before my test begins. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't but i would recommend you to pray as well. It gives us a kind of hope which is good.

I usually study 1 -2 weeks before the actual test begins. But this is not enough cause the load of many topic of different subject will be too much to handle in your mind in just a week. And when you give the exam your mind get jumble up. So i prefer to make a quick revise of notes of the subject before the test begins which makes my fresh. I think you should do that too.

Getting Help When you need it

Initially you will do everything good in your ideal world but real world is quite opposite. You may run into many crisis or trouble which you cannot solve by own. Like you can suddenly fall into financial problem or even academic progress. For this kind of problems there are departments for specific help in discipline or course or center for Student Excellence for general support services.
Learning assistance program is also available for students any time, advising for classes or even teachers themselves are always there for you when you need them.

The office of disability services provides help for disability people which is great. I think its great that college provide this kind of academic and non academic assistance and counseling.