In this article series “15 minutes makes a difference,” I decided to take a real look at how much of a difference 15 minutes can make in different aspects of life.
Photo courtesy of perpetuallypeeved.wordpress.com
This article’s topic is planning, academic planning to be specific.
Take a moment and think about where you want to be after you graduate. Do you want to go on to UH? Grad school? Some fancy program over seas? Have an office all to yourself? Be the boss of a company? Open your own company? These are all great goals but it takes some thoughtfulness and planning ahead to make these things happen, but most of all, it takes grades.
Sit down right now, and look up what it takes to get into UH, grad school, or that fancy program and now look at your academic progress. Sure, you might think English and Math 100 are throw away classes, but they are requirements on applications for almost any program or school. Grades in these classes will haunt you or help you for the rest of your academic career, trust me. Do you want to be repeating classes you already spent money and time on because you didn’t get a good enough grade to compete with other applicants? The answer is a very resounding no, so don’t let the 100 level classes fool you.
Midterms are in full swing right now, what do you need to score to get an A in that class? Take a few minutes to look over that syllabus again, what projects are coming up? Use this 15 minutes as a temperature gauge, calculate your grade, and to get you re-motivated towards your goals.
Don’t let this semester get away from you, use this time to reflect on the goals you set at the beginning of the semester. I start each semester by thinking, “I will read every assigned chapter this semester, especially since these books cost so darn much!” Have you? If not, don’t harp on yourself for falling behind. Start now. It’s midterm time, don’t give up after coming this far.
If you are unsure as to what you want to do, where you want to go and what programs you want to apply for, use the remainder of your 15 minutes to research. What interests you? What programs are offered at KapCC, UH, or other community colleges that involve those interests? If there isn’t a program here, where else can you go? If you are still unsure, take this time to set up a meeting with an academic adviser. It is their job to help you find what you interested in and meet academic goals necessary to succeed.
Go on, find what you are interested in, find out what it takes, and start doing it.