4 Finding Support to Succeed in College

Introduction: Campus Support

When transitioning from high school to higher education, the stress level rises and the workload increases. In college, nobody watches over you and makes sure you succeed. However that doesn’t mean help isn’t available. In this section we will talk about where to find campus support and how it can boost confidence in anxious students. Self help, our modern day technology, and campus facilities all further students chances of success while making their educational career less stressful. The help is there, and always has been. It is time for students to reach out and make an effort to want it.

Self Help

by John

Coming to college, whether they take advantage of it or not, most students know that there are campus resources designed to help them. What some student might not know however, is that they can help themselves too! Some students help themselves without even knowing it. In this section We will go in depth and talk about the ways students can self help and better their chances at success in college. The topics that will be discussed are Using time wisely, studying environments, and Preparing for class and class time management. These three topics are all related to the individual and how they can do these tasks to make college life easier and less stressful.

Using time wisely is not something that comes nature to most. People need to figure out what works best for them and then use that to their advantage. When to sleep/take time to relax, How to stay organized, When to start and finish work, and how to become motivated are all the ways students can help themselves manage time. If a student’s knows he wants his night free to be social, then he must plan and finish the work that is needed before that free time. Blocking out time frames of when to do tasks will help keep a person focused and stay on track. That is also an organization skill. Planning out what needs to be done when, helps the individual clearly know the order and the tasks. Less confusion is important when trying to be productive and organized. It also plays into when to start and finish work. If the student made a list and designated an hour to work on a project, then they should start the project right when that time begins. Just because a task on the list is started, doesn’t mean it needs to be finished. Stopping a task to start another one, so the list maker doesn’t fall behind, Is okay. What might be better is taking a break from that activity, doing something else, then returning to finish the job. However; all this can be easy to not do if motivation isn’t there. Becoming motivated is hard to do, especially if the task is cringe worthy. An example of how to become motivated is telling oneself to finish the “bad” activity before being able to participate in the “good” one. Time management is an essential, but there are other colossal factors that can lead you to self success.

Where to study is also a big factor. If students don’t know what works best for them when studying, then they are likely to hold off, procrastinate, and sometimes not do it at all. this procrastination can push into a person’s free time and end up messing up their whole schedule. This articlestates that when studying people need to find what time of day, sound, lighting, and temperature work best for the individual. Students should chose, “study sessions during the time of day when they are most alert.” Giving them the chance to have the most retention when learning. People also concentrate better in a quiet environment. Less distractions equals more focus on the task at hand. “However, if you do choose to study to music, choose Baroque classical music. The tempo and instrumentation of this music seems to be most compatible with study and learning.” Also “Being aware that light does make a difference, you should study in the environment that best matches your learning preferences.” Whether the student likes it bright to be able to stay alert and awake, or dim because the surroundings might distract if they are lit up, the individual should find the best lighting spot for them. The last thing to be aware of when studying is temperature. “You should be aware of your preference for either a cool or warm environment.” If comfy and cozy is what the studier likes best, then warm is the way to go, yet if being cool makes the individual feel alert, then they should move to a space that provides it. Studying is tough, but by adjusting surroundings then it can seem like less of struggle.

The last self help is preparing for class and class time management. Classes are the whole reason why students go to college, so preparing yourself to succeed in them might be the most important step. This article states, “If the professor tells you to do the reading before class, do it! You will get much more out of class. Be careful, though, about how you do your reading. Many students seem to read as quickly as possible.” This quote is saying that most students speed read, or just reading it quickly to get and idea of the topic. If students do that they will not fully understand the concept and not truly learn. Skipping class is another big problem. Students think it is okay to skip class if they just do the assignments that are given, when really, “ ‘Eighty percent of success is showing up’ ” (Woody Allen, as cited in Safire, 2001, para. 11). The professors are there because they have the knowledge and experience in that topic that they are trying to pass on to the students. If the students are not there half the time, How is the professor suppose to educate them in their course. Class time is the student’s time, Even though the teacher dictates what is learned, the students decide how how much of that information they pick up. Nobody will help a student if they don’t start to help themselves. In conclusion, this is why self help is so vital in today’s educational world. Teachers and professors what their students to succeed, but they don’t have the time to go out of there way and hand you the skills on a silver platter. That is not the point of learning. Having the motivation, time management, study skill, and class preparation is the way that students help themselves, so help from others and learning become easier. Growing up Most adolescents think people just tell you what to do, but now its time to tell yourself what to do and keep you self in line.

Faculty Help

by Cassie

In college,  students can seek support in many ways. Either the support being for personal and social issues or issues involving academics or health issues. Schools provide many services that are here to help college students. Faculty is at every school and they are there to guide students through their college career. An academic advisor is assigned to each student and their job is give advice and support to students who are having trouble in a class or need someone to talk to. Advisors often recommend seeking help through the tutor center. At most schools, including Plymouth State, there are writing and math centers to support and help students who are struggling with their academics. It is free and very useful help for all students. Papers can be brought to the writing center to get organized or edited by faculty or by another student. The tutor center is also a free resource that offers any students a free tutor to assist them in any subject. This article discusses the significance of taking advantage of your school’s academic support services,  and resources that can be helpful involving personal or social issues. The article says, “You may be living on your own for the first time when you go to college — but that doesn’t mean you’re alone. Most colleges offer campus services that students can use when they need help with personal, social, health, financial or other issues.” Faculty is there to assist you with any type of problem a student may be having. Health centers are also very important, on campus nurses and doctors are available for assistance to all students.

If you are a student living in an on campus dorm, you have an RA.  This article says,“Residence Assistants or Residence Directors are students or professionals who live in the residence halls and are trained to help students with issues ranging from academic concerns, roommate issues, social issues, or personal problems. These staff members are often the first to notice problems since they have daily contact with students.” Residential faculty can be a useful resource, they are always there and can help with any topic a student may need support with. Residential advisors are there to guide and help their residents.

Every school also has a library, which provides students with a lot of services. The faculty at campus libraries are there to assist students with finding the resources they need to do a project, help with writing papers and also help with technology. Getting to know the faculty at the university’s library can be very beneficial to students. The staff there can fix problems you are having with technology or installing software to laptops. The library is one of the biggest support services for all students.

“If you’re having a tough time coping with stress, speaking with a mental health counselor at your college can help. Counselors can also help if you feel isolated or depressed or have other personal issues you want to work through.” Every school has counselors, that students can make appointment with and discuss anything that they are struggling with. These guidance counselors are different than the advisor that each student has. These counselors can help students who are struggling with anxiety and other major problems, the article says “If you need more than that, they can refer you to off-campus mental health professionals.” Talking with professionals is what students need when they want to get help with any issues. All members of the university’s faculty are there to assist students and guide them through their college careers, these people are the main contributors to all the campus support services.

Technology

by Jeremy

Technology has brought education to new levels, advancing millions of possibilities when it comes to efficient learning. It allows us access to faster and more efficient resources, for student, teacher, and parent benefit. For parents, it gives them access to see how their son or daughter is doing in school. Most schools have web pages dedicated to showing students and parents their updated grades, homework assignments, and notes. Here at Plymouth State University, we use Moodle. For teachers, the entire education game has been flipped upside down. Teachers are now given the opportunity to communicate with students faster than ever before. Email, twitter, text, moodle, and hundreds more of online tools allow students and teachers to have limitless communication. This can help students and teachers by asking about assignments, alerting if there is a class cancellation, notifying about specific questions, and of course hundreds more of good usages. For students, this technology is even more important. We can access millions of resources online within seconds, for either really cheap, or mostly, free.

Students have unlimited opportunity when it comes to using the internet for educational purposes. Information is uploaded every second on the internet, and is the most updated resource for information our world has to offer. It beats books, magazines, and newspapers, being able to present unlimited information to the fingertips of anyone in milliseconds.

One resource that should take most advantage from is textbooks. Textbooks have been a classic, trustworthy source of information for students for decades. The number one problem with them, is they cannot be updated every second. They also are heavy and expensive. Having an updated, trustworthy textbook in your pocket at all times is one of the easiest ways for students to keep themselves with the newest data.

Students also now have the opportunity to keep their work organized, for as long as they want. There are millions of websites and applications online that have the capability of storing information, usually without any limitations. Computers also can store information in their own systems, allowing us students fastest communication and most efficient ways of storing schoolwork.

Today in a classroom, technology integration is one of the most important keys in creating an efficient work environment. In the article “What Is Successful Technology Integration?” , technology integration is defined as “when students are not only using technology daily, but have access to a variety of tools that match the task at hand and provide them the opportunity to build a deeper understanding of content.” If a classroom can use these tools successfully, teachers and students will be much more in sync and it is much easier to have a civilized even learning network.

Citations:

“Managing Your Time and Study Environment.” Managing Your Time and Study Environment. Meg Keeley, 05 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

“8 Time Management Tips for Adult College Students.” Blog | How to Save on Your College Degree | StraighterLine. By Beth Dumbauld, 09 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

“Managing Stress.” Managing Stress During College. University of Michigan, 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

“Plymouth State University – Connect.” Plymouth State University – Connect ‹ Log In. Adam L. Putnam, Victor W. Sungkhasettee, and Henry L. Roediger, III, n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Irene, K. (n.d.). On My Mind. Improving Retention. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.plymouth.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=c21a7856-bbbe-4eba-af62-898914ce0089@sessionmgr102&vid=0&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==#AN=109183412&db=aph

Find Colleges – Campus Services: There Is Support When You Need It. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/find-colleges/campus-life/campus-services-theres-support-when-you-need-it#!