Jacob LoSchaivo
Self-Assessment
The syllabus that we received at the beginning of the semester described what the teacher wanted us to learn or strive to learn from the course. “This INQ section challenges students to immerse themselves in the college experience: juggle multiple tasks, be problem solvers, ask questions, take risks, grapple with difficulty, be creative, learn from failure, take ownership over their own learning, and apply abstract concepts to their actual everyday lives.” I also had to learn to better manage my time and to develop better study habits. I was successful with some of these challenges throughout the semester. However, I also struggled with some of them too.
The one thing I feel like I had success with in this course was being creative. I learned to be more creative through the blogs. The blogs were a great way to be creative and to express my thoughts on a past class assignment or discussion. I really liked the free choice blogs because I was able to write about something that I was familiar with but I was still able to be creative and express myself. Another challenge that I feel like I was able to accomplish was that you can always learn from failure. For example, in the beginning of the semester I skipped class more than I should of and missed a lot of work and was failing multiple classes at the midterm point, which not only affected my GPA but put me at risk to not be eligible to swim the next semester. I wasn’t failing because I wasn’t smart enough; I was failing because I wasn’t attending class every day. I learned, through failure, that it’s very important that I attend class everyday so I don’t miss any notes and or work. Swimming helped me to learn from failure too. Swimming is arguable one of the most difficult sports to train especially on a college level with two practices a day and weightlifting on some days too. Training so hard can leave you physically and mentally tired. Therefore, I do not always perform my best weather it’s at practice or at meets. At first, I felt like I was failing to help the team when I didn’t perform well at meets but I learned that I’m not always going to do my best and I should look at how hard I train and how it will pay off at the end of the season.
Although I have learned many things in my first semester I also struggled with time management and poor study habits. I thought that I would be able to manage swim practice, weightlifting, class, and still complete all my homework. However, I struggled to fit my homework into my day and either rushed through it or didn’t do it at all. It took me a while to figure out the best way to get my homework done, but I feel like in my future semesters I will be able to get all my homework done. One of the big differences between college and high school is freedom. In college, there are no parents, teachers, or anyone telling you to make sure you get your homework done or to study. One of my problems I had this semester was studying. It seemed that every day there was a test, quiz, or blog, someone always wanted to hang out or go out the night before. Having the freedom to do whatever I want, sometimes I made the wrong decisions and chose to go out instead of studying. Another thing that tends to cut into my study time is my computer, video games and sleeping. My computer has my music and the internet. I always find myself going on Facebook when I should be studying or doing homework.
In conclusion, this first semester has taught me a lot. Through inquiry class I learned that it is very important to develop a good schedule. Staying ahead of your work and making sure you get all your work done on time takes a lot of stress off and makes the class so much easier. I also learned that you need to use your time wisely. Time doesn’t stop for anyone and it is important that I use my time studying and getting my homework done. Inquiry class showed me what I need to do to be successful in college.
