Dear Future INDIS 313 Student

 Dear Future INDIS 313 Student,

       I can speak for my fellow classmates when I say that we did not expect our first semester of college to pan out this way, and I am sure we all have had an experience of our own as we went through the motions. Many students may say that this first semester of distance learning was miserable, but my experience was quite the opposite. At first, I was very doubtful about my abilities to succeed, but once I got into the swing of things I began learning quite a few things about myself as a learner. 

    In this semester I took 5 classes worth a total of 16 units, and besides INDIS, none of my classes were synchronous, so I had quite the workload. One piece of advice I have to give is to always keep a planner and color-code your classes. Without a planner, I would not have been able to manage my workload. With a color-coded planner, you can write assignments and tests on the days they are due according to your classes. What I found very helpful was using a highlighter to mark off assignments and tests I had completed. Crossing things off my lists of things to complete was an encouraging thing for me to do because it reminded me that even though it feels like every day of this semester felt like a repeated day, I was still getting things done. 

    Another thing I found very helpful this semester was not having any synchronous classes. As someone who suffers from social anxiety even if it is just talking through a screen, I did not feel the need to put that kind of pressure on myself. By having asynchronous classes I was able to discover that I am a very independent learner. More importantly, I was able to learn a lot even without having a teacher teach me through the screen. Since most of my classes were reading based, I would divide my reading throughout the week and take notes, and I found that I learned the best this way. I'm not saying to take asynchronous classes, but I suggest that you get to know yourself and the ways you learn best in order to get the best learning experience as a college student. 

    In high school, most of my notes were based on the presentations my teachers gave in class, but since all my classes were reading based, I had to learn to take efficient notes on my reading. What I found helpful was adapting an effective note-taking strategy. In high school, I learned to take Cornell Notes, but when I entered college, I figured that I would try to take notes a different way. Along the way, I learned that my way of taking notes was not very effective and I was not getting the best out of them, especially when I needed to study them for tests. With the help of this class, I was able to readapt to the Cornell Notes strategy and found how much more helpful it was to take and study my notes. When studying my Cornell Notes, it was really helpful high light key information, chunk ideas, and star significant questions/ideas you think would appear on the test. 

    Other than readapting to Cornell Notes, this course also helped me realize my unhealthy habits and change them. For example, at the beginning of this semester, I was living a very sedentary lifestyle and it was something I really needed and wanted to change. After our unit on health, I found the motivation to start making some changes. At first, it was really hard to get back into working out, but I pushed myself and even got a friend to join me so that we can hold each other accountable. Since working out and changing my diet, I have seen an increase in my ability to focus on my studies longer and even a boost of self-confidence. I advise you to try setting some time aside in your schedule to be active and workout because it can be a positive influence on your studies. 

    I wish you all the best in your first semester of college, and know that there are people all around that will help you when you have questions. 

Former INDIS 313 Student,

Polly Fa'anati