Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Time is running out...to REGISTER! by Tara Bowman

With finals rapidly sneaking up on us, I think it’s pretty easy to forget that there are things that need to be taken care of for the fall semester: registering for class. With all those great classes in the catalog book that you’ve been wanting to take, you definitely don’t want to be caught making a last minute decision about classes that fulfill your degree requirement, but not your fun requirement. The sooner you register the more choices you have; and trust me; if you wait to the last second you could wind up taking some bizarre course like “Intro to Badger Anatomy”. Unless short-legged, omnivorous weasels are a hobby of yours, that probably won’t be worth your time, if you’re a computer science major.

Something I’ve also found definitely worth considering is summer courses. By taking some of those, I’m able to graduate next spring, on time; and right now is the time to register for those as well. Instead of the material being taught over a fifteen week period, it’s taught over a four to ten week period, which could be a positive or a negative. It obviously takes up less of your summer vacation, but there’s less time to cover the material, so it can be a little intense. The good thing about summer classes, though, is if you want to lighten your course load for the fall, and get one or two classes out of the way, you can. The summer is also a great time to take some of your wellness, or recreation classes. Some of the really cool ones that are offered over the summer are golf, yoga, kayaking, and I hear the vegetarian adventure is really good, too. So act fast! All the good ones will fill up fast, and you really don’t want to know that much about a badger!


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Things I Wish I'd Known in High School . . . by Tara Bowman

I’m a first generation college student; a path blazer; a trend setter; you might even say that I’m a visionary.
Before you go getting the wrong idea, though, I’m here to tell you that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. Sure, going to college was the best decision I’ve ever made, and choosing Corning was the second best decision I’ve ever made; but there are certain perks to having college ‘veterans’ to guide you along the way.
During my senior year of high-school, I had the daunting task of choosing an educational institution to begin my journey to epic awesomeness. While a lot of my peers were receiving advice and insight from older siblings, moms, dads, cousins, and the lot, I was blindly forging ahead, making one of the biggest decisions of my life. Like, I suspect, a lot of high-school seniors in my position were doing, I made a lot of assumptions:
  • I made the assumption that when I graduated from high-school, I had to dive head first into my next educational affair. That’s what you do, right? In reality, taking a year off to ‘figure things out’ served me quite well. I got a taste for how much it sucks to work your butt off, doing something you don’t enjoy, for very little money.
  • I made the assumption that whichever school offered me the most money would be the best for me. Seems logical, I suppose. There are a lot of things I wasn’t, and should’ve been taking into consideration, such as, if I even like the school. [Take my word for it; this directly affects your success!]
  • I also assumed that the ‘norm’ was to choose a school, take out loans, graduate, and be up to my eyeballs in debt for twenty or thirty years. Everyone else has to go through that, so I will too, right?
If there’s one thing that I wish someone had told me when I was a senior in high-school, is that more money doesn’t equal a better education. I started out at a four-year college, with a hefty scholarship. Without doing the math, [the scholarship to tuition ratio] I accepted. I was flattered that this school was recognizing my hard work, and was convinced I wouldn’t get a better offer anywhere else; and if I’m paying that much money, it has to be top of the line. I soon found out, “you get what you pay for” isn’t consistently accurate. My class sizes were much bigger than I was used to, I was lectured to in class, instead of taught, and I was paying a lot of substantial fees for things I wasn’t even using. It didn’t take me very long to realize it wasn’t a good fit for me. I was never challenged, I was never enthused about the subject matters, and I certainly wasn’t too keen on the price I was paying for something I had no interest in.
I’ve learned more in one week at CCC than I did in four, at a larger institution, and at a very small fraction of the cost.
I often wish someone had let me on that secret. Julia Duncan—a CCC graduate, class of 1998, summed it up pretty well: By spending my first two years of college at CCC, I enjoyed small class sizes and professors I could meet with and talk to outside of the classroom. My friends at larger, more expensive schools had lecture halls filled with 400 students and classes taught half the time by teaching assistants. We got similar educations, but I had the better experience for much less money.”

I Don't Think Stress With Get You An A by Kate Schiller

I feel as though no matter my experience and how long I’ve been in school, this part of the semester always creeps up on me. I’m thrown off by the fact I only have a couple of weeks left after break and still so much to do and figure out before summer break. It’s the week after break and we’re almost finished. At least that’s what everyone keeps saying. I think it’s a lie. They’re lying to us! These last couple of weeks drag more than any other. It’s because we’re waiting, anticipating and kicking and screaming our way through.

Every semester I look forward to after break and every semester I’m disappointed that I didn’t properly plan for it. Why? Finals. Yup, finals are almost here. As silly as it sounds, I forgot I had finals. I think it’s due to my work overload and I’m only part-time. Things have been all out of whack for me this semester.
So, if you’re freaking out like I am about finals already here’s some tips I’ve learned over the semesters I’ve been here…
  • Map out a schedule of your finals week – It helps you realize what final(s) should be your priority. The other ones that are at the end of the week you can study on your days off (if you have days off from finals).
  • Get a support system together – Find out who in your class seems interested in getting good grades and ask them to study with you. If you work better alone, that’s fine. Make sure your friends and family know about your finals coming up. It’ll be easier when you tell them you’re too busy to hang out or do chores. The week before finals week is the only time I can tell my mom I’m too busy to take out the trash and she’ll let it slide.
  • Warn your job – Let them know it’s your finals week and try not to only take off the times for the actual exam. Give yourself more time off. Because you have off from classes, doesn’t mean you should pick up extra hours. I learned this the hard way. I figured I could pick up some extra cash but when crunch time came, I really needed that extra time to study and/or relax before the big exam.
  • Start making flash cards and/or brainstorming ideas now – Everyone has their own routine for studying but I found if I started making flashcards the week after break week then I was absorbing the information I needed ahead of time. Also, if you have a paper due as a final start brainstorming now.
  • Utilize CCC resources early! – Don’t wait to go to the Math, Writing or Academic Study center the week before finals. Go now. Especially with writing a final paper, they can help you brainstorm and give you resources for researching, and most importantly, help you with citing. And don’t forget, make appointments! I can’t tell you how many people had to wait for me to finish babbling about my ideas for my next paper because I had an appointment and they didn’t.
  • Plan time to relax – We learn this in FYEX (First Year Experience). You need to make sure you don’t cram right before an exam. Remember to take breaks when you’re studying. Trust me, you’ll absorb more information. And make sure before the big test you eat breakfast!!!
I know it still seems too early to be talking about finals… but if you start planning now, you won’t be as stressed out when finals week rolls around. I don’t think stress will get you an A.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Impatiently waiting by Kate Schiller

The wait is killing me…

I love Corning Community College. I feel so at home here. I wish CCC was a four-year school. I had graduated from CCC last May, transferred to a four-year and then returned this spring. I’m still adjusting to the idea of moving away on my own and returning home. I feel more anxious than ever to start the next step in my life; I’m willing to do almost anything… even taking a trip to Disney World!

Yea, I said it, Disney World. I’m anxiously awaiting my response to the Disney College Program http://www.disneycollegeprogram.com/. Being college students, I’m sure you’ve seen the purple posters plastered all over our college campus. To me it always sounded “too good to be true”. So, I never considered it.


I have a diverse group of friends. The ones that are older than me have always encouraged me to experience new things now, while I’m young and don’t have a husband and three children. They all wish they had or have wonderful stories to tell. I want a sense of adventure and I feel now is the time for me. I have my Associates and I haven’t started needing to pay back large amounts of student loans yet…


It’s now two weeks after my initial phone interview and I’m already going insane waiting for a response. To pass the time I’ve spent countless hours watching YouTube. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGYHZX0EL38 . . . the best one I’ve found yet), reading blogs and partaking in forums about the Disney College Program. If you are curious about the program these are the best ways to get the inside scoop into the program. From my research I’ve compiled a brief list of pros and cons about the program…


Pros:
• Living in Walt Disney World.
• Working with a world-known company (great resume-builder)
• Disney discounts!


Cons:
• Paying my own rent.
• Working 40-80 hours a week.
• Getting a job that stinks… (custodial, quick-food service)
• Public transportation (that is, if you don’t take a car)

Could go either way…
• Moving away from home.
• Living in (hot) Florida
• Meeting new people.
• Gaining life experience.


I would like to point out that this program is not for people who expect to just hang out at Disney World on vacation for a semester. They will work you hard. The people I found who did not like the program were individuals who weren’t use to working hard, people who got roles (positions) they hated and those without a car. Take these pointers into consideration if you are interested in putting yourself in my shoes. The wait is killing me…

Monday, April 11, 2011

School is a Balancing Act by Stacy Wead

School is a balancing act. You have to know when to work and when to rest. Having a social life, connection with other people, is simply one more ball to juggle. Though this is true we still go out of our way to find time for friends. ‘It will be there when we get back,’ we say, and we shut the computers, throw the books down, and head for the door. Papers have to wait and study materials lay dormant while we are out forgetting the roles of a full time employee and a full time student. That’s the way it should be and sometimes we just need a break from the perils of life in general. Talk to people that you haven’t seen in a while or the people you only texted over the phone this whole semester, it will be refreshing to see them face-to-face when you haven’t for so long. With that, I bet we are all thanking our lucky stars for this being the last day before spring break. I know I am.



Let me tell you guys: you should relax when you can and be supercharged to end your semester, or even your schooling here at Corning CC, when you get back with four weeks to go. Use the services that the staff and Student Life here have created for you to aid in the reaching of your goal; the various learning centers and the Academic Study Center (at the lower level of the library) are waiting around just for an opportunity to help you succeed. The collection of staff and students that work here would be happy to see you walk through their doors. Use them, that’s why they’re here.


So put away your books and go someplace interesting. Focus on you for now; focus on having fun and forgetting the world of college stress as you lean towards spring break. You’ll have people here to help you when you get back from your long-awaited vacation.