Student life

There’s nothing like the feeling of being done, so hang in there

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

I have a good friend who just passed her final test for a bachelor’s degree that she has been working on for a bunch of years…..I think she is on year 7 of a 4-year degree plan.

But here’s the thing- she hung in there and did it! I am so proud of her. Folks, there may be times when you are stressed and want to quit, but don’t! There may be times when the instructors seem against you (most of us really aren’t, unless you are absolutely the most obnoxious student on the face of the earth… I had one this term, believe it or not. The kid argued about everything, including the final exam, which was apparently my fault of making it too hard for him to get more than halfway through…but I digress).

Like the old saying goes, don’t try to eat the whole elephant at once, just take small bites and you will eventually finish. That’s the key: it doesn’t matter how long it takes, it is just important that you do it!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Finishing strong

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Okay, you are at the end of your rope. You have almost made it through the semester but it is just so hard to finish things up. Surely missing a couple of small assignments won’t make a difference, right?

Wrong. I have a former student who decided to let her guard down at the very end of her time in my class. She had worked pretty hard and figured she would coast to the end.

That was not wise. She let go and let things ride….and almost did not graduate. She had two assignments that she told me she had decided not to do…and it made a difference between passing and not. It also became an issue because she had a job awaiting for her, but she couldn’t have the job without her degree.

So, she made a very quick decision that turning in something well after the due date and taking a chance on passing, even with a reduced score, was better than sitting out graduation, losing the job, and paying for the class again. That was very wise.

So hang in there, folks. Stick with the program and get the job done so that you won’t face the possibility that you won’t graduate and so that the job og your dreams won’t pass you by!

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Do your homework or dislike the results

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

I have been teaching college for 12 years now and one of the biggest mysteries to me is why students pay good money for their education, come to class on a regular basis, but do not turn anything in.

The only thing I can figure is that their parents are paying for their education, they enjoy coming to class, but they don’t want to do the work. Is college entertainment for them or did Mom and Dad say “go to college or get a job?” Do they figure that sitting in a classroom for hours every week is considered “going to college?” I guess it is, technically speaking.

I would love to read your comments about their mindset because they otherwise appear to be intelligent folks. Why do you think they do it (or actually, don’t do it, as far as homework is concerned).

Best,

Dr. Sheri

Finishing the semester strong

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

Sometimes my students get tired before the end of the term. It can happen to anyone…..it happens to instructors when we have bitten off more than we can grade.

Hang in there, people. There will come a day when you totally forget whatever  is plaguing you now. If you quit, you may never remember why.

Don’t give up. Okay, so you had a bad breakup with the person you thought was your forever-one-and-only. It hurts. I get it. But are you willing to sacrifice an entire semester’s worth of work for someone whose name you might not remember in two years?

I had a 17-year-old student in one of my classes who cried every day before class for weeks about her recent loss of a boyfriend. It was the end of the world. He was her first boyfriend. He was the only man she would ever love. Of that, she was certain. The breakup happened at the beginning of the semester. By the end of the term, she had forgotten him and moved on. It happens. In spite of her pain, she hunkered down and got the class done. She finished with an A.

Life happens, but try not to let it get you off track.

Best,

Dr. Sheri

College Organization Part Four: Walking around while studying

Posted on by Sheri Dean Parmelee

Hello everyone:

What do you do if you are tired of sitting and you still have hours to study? Walk around a bit. Believe it or not, you can study while walking. Let me tell you how.

When studying for my qualifying exams, I devoted six hours a day to putting information into my brain. That is a long time to sit, so I made up note cards with the information I needed and learned to hold them at just the right angle in front of myself so that I could walk on my front porch (which does not have a railing) and continue to study while putting in some mileage and not falling off the edge of the porch.

I also run on a treadmill each day, so I wrote out pages of study notes, blew them up into 24 point font, and put them on the wall in front of my treadmill. Since I run for an hour and a half each day (Monday through Friday), I was able to get in an hour and a half of study time before I had even had my shower!

Another good place to get in study time is in the bathroom. After washing my hair each morning, I would look at some note cards  while blow drying my hair. That was a good eight minutes of work; I have been drying my hair long enough to not need to watch myself do it.

Note cards became my constant companion. Was there a line at the bank? Time for note cards. Did I have to wait at the grocery store? Time for more note cards. Minutes that would have otherwise been wasted were turned into profitable study time. Was I at the doctor’s office or dentist? Well, you get the picture. Guess what? My Ph.D. GPA was higher than my undergraduate or master’s program GPA because I figured out how to turn nonproductive time into study time. The result? My GPA for the Ph.D. program was 3.86 (out of 4.0). If I did it, you can too!

I see this blog is getting a bit long-winded, so I will put your next steps on the next blog, which I will go ahead and write today. If you have any questions or comments, please use my name in your reply, so that I will know that you are not a robot.

Best,

Dr. Sheri