CLC 120 College Success Seminar Portfolio by Santino Bernardi

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 21:00:03 UTC

In this section, the two activities I got the most out of were the intrinsic motivation scale and the grit test. Both of these activities were completed in class and opened my eyes to how I function. My main takeaway from the intrinsic motivation scale is that I need to improve my drive for education. Currently, I study and am in school because it seems like the best route for money, I do not have the drive for learning that I should. I can improve this by seeking out more topics that I truly enjoy and would want to learn about. For the grit test, I took away that although my score was not the worst; 3.42/5, I can work on working through the different challenges I face. Mainly by reaching out for help from others.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 21:11:44 UTC

The most helpful assignment from this section was the personal support plan because it forced me to think of ways that I could help myself by reaching out. The key takeaways are to use the tutoring center when I need help or don't understand something as well as reach out to the teacher for further clarification/help. I have not used the tutor center yet but I plan to do so as well as office hours a lot in the next week to solidify my understanding of Calc, and Chem. I have reached out to my different teachers as needed so that I could be more successful in my classes.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 21:26:07 UTC

Overall, I suck at time management. The assignments from this section allowed me to get a better understanding of how I am misusing my time and how I could change what I'm doing to be more successful as a student and in general life. Before, I was not prioritizing school as much as I should have been, I would take social events over school and procrastinate till the last minute on assignments. I was also not taking the necessary time required to be successful. When completing this activity and planning out a better schedule, I realized that I should be spending more time with school and planning out time for me to study while still having enough time to do the things I enjoy on weekends. I also ensured there was enough time for me to work out each day as this is something I strive to improve at.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 22:38:20 UTC

Concerning learning preference, the VARK questionnaire was the most useful for me to understand my learning preference. My top two categories are Aural and Kienetic. I believe that although the test deemed that I was more Aural, I think that I am more kinetic because I prefer to do activities that are hands-on and interactive. It is not enough for me to just listen to someone say something to learn I must do it myself. One way that I can use this learned knowledge to improve my study habits is to connect what I'm learning to different things I interact with on an everyday basis. This will allow me to make practical connections so that I can better understand what I'm learning. For a general understanding of my career, I could do stuff like internships or talk to people who are currently in the field. This will allow me to figure out if it's truly what I enjoy in a physical matter.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 22:48:38 UTC

What I learned from my reading strategies self-assessment is that I tend to take the bare minimum out of what I am reading. For example, one thing that I have gotten better at but wasn't at before is that I stop reading at major points to check that I understand what I am reading. Before I would just read something and be done with it. As long as it was enough to answer the questions that I was given, I was done with the reading. Now when I am reading something I take checkpoints at the end of major sections to review if I understand what I just read. If I don't, I reread the section or find a short video to explain what I just read about. This has allowed me to get better at truly learning what I am reading instead of just taking information in to put information out.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 22:58:07 UTC

For me, the listening and note-taking section was not too useful as I already have a form of notes that I enjoy. However, something that I took away from the Cornell Style Notes, is to have an area of your notes in which you summarize what you learned. I implement this every time I take notes now because it creates a value of repetition of the information giving you a better understanding. Learning about the different note-taking styles, led me to reevaluate how I take my notes. Instead of just taking notes on paper, I have switched to using my laptop and a stylus. This allows me to incorporate more colors and organize my notes in a better format.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 23:21:15 UTC

I don't have too many issues during the test, for me the issues come before the preparation for tests. I am not the best when it comes to studying but the lesson on study tips helped me get a grasp on what I should be doing. For me to sit down and be productive on homework or studying, I need to be in the mood to get it done, otherwise, I get distracted easily. The slides we went over taught me to split up my studying into smaller sessions and when I am studying to focus only on that. I need to make sure I am getting enough sleep to focus better and cut out all distractions. The place where I usually study and do homework is in my room because I have a nice computer and desk to work at. Now and then, I still am unfocused in this environment so I switch rooms to help me pay attention. I find it useful to have quiet music playing as it can help me get into the mood of working.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 23:28:05 UTC

Although the different stress assessments gave a vague picture of how stressed I am, I do not find them to be too accurate. The reason I say this is because a common trend that I have found about myself is that I am not stressed until I am doing stuff last minute, cramming to get something done before the due date. If this due date is non-existent or far away, even down to a few days, I do not get that stressed. To eliminate this stress, I can practice both good physical and mental health to eliminate even slight signs of stress as well as get assignments done before the last minute. If there is nothing I have to complete last minute, overall I will be less stressed.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 23:33:40 UTC

The financial Literacy subject was for the most part review for me. I am very grateful to have a mom who has pushed down the importance of smart spending and that every penny counts. Just like in the slideshows, I have been taught that it is never a good idea to go into debt. Although I have a credit card, I use it only as if it were a debit card, never spending beyond my means. I have done different budgeting stuff on and off over my life leading to now with the most beneficial one being for me to set a monthly spending budget. I find it too difficult to keep track of individual spending even with the help of apps so I instead have a set limit of $200 a month to be spent. This allows me to still treat myself to entertainment, food, and necessities like gas, while still having enough to set aside for savings. I have done different investment options like CDs but plan to look into starting a Roth IRA.

sbernardi13 — 2024-11-30 23:39:39 UTC

Something that I found funny during this unit was completing the survival game. I have done this game two times prior during high school in an outdoor ed class. Surprisingly, the answers I put when completing it in class were different each time which makes me wonder how my critical thinking has changed. I am someone who enjoys thinking outside the box and tends to think more practically when deciding things. I usually avoid the use of numbers and think out the pros and cons of my options. For me, this is a really simple way to analyze situations and questions without overthinking them since a majority of situations will not have numbers. I do agree that in some situations it is important to have numbers as you can tell without a doubt what the better option may be.