This first semester in college has honestly passed quicker than I thought. I remember thinking I was going to have such a hard time adjusting to living in a new state so far from my family, but surprisingly I had an amazing time. I love my college because it is small and I feel like I was able to adapt quicker because of the small size. I feel that in a bigger school I would have felt lost in the huge crowds of students and I would have been more homesick. Fortunately, I have met amazing people not only in my dorm section, but also in the Latino Club I joined. Thanks to the people in Club Latino I didn’t feel so homesick this first semester because they immediately made me feel like a part of their family. I guess that would be another thing I love about Whitman, everyone is so nice and always willing to help with anything at all, it’s like we are all family.
In order to have next semester be more successful I am going to definitely manage my time more wisely. I feel that because my schedule this past semester consisted of mainly morning classes, I had a lot of free time, which made me procrastinate and leave assignments for the last minute. Another thing that I will change next semester is to go to my Chemistry professor’s office hours before my first exam. This past semester I didn’t go to my professor for help with my first exam, so I failed it and I did really poor in my homework assignments and quizzes. As soon as the professor told me I failed my first exam she encouraged me to go to her office hours, so ever since that I went three times a week to her office and I would do my homework on the spot with her. Thanks to her helping me with the homework I was able to understand the material much better and I improved on my quizzes, too. Next semester I will definitely go to my professors’ office hours for any help I might need, without waiting until the last minute or when I have already failed an exam.
The advice I would give myself back in August 2011 would be to make sure I always use my planner to write all upcoming deadlines for papers and exams, so that I can prepare for them ahead of time. I would also tell myself to organize all of my notes better by keeping them all in only one place, so that it is easier to look back on them when I study.
– Fabiola, Whitman College ’15
