Grading System - Self Report

As I approach the last blog post of the semester, I just want to self-grade myself on my college balance as hopefully you can take a few pointers out of my junior year experience. 



Every semester I have had at USC has had a different theme to it. My fall semester was all about work. As I stated in my “hello world” blog post I struggled my time management as I was working 30+ hours a week and trying to maintain a full course load. With that it was hard to keep my social
life as other activities were prioritized.

It took me some deep thinking over that winter break to

realize that college should be both a fun experience and a time to learn
responsibility. Well I certainly put myself to the test during my spring
semester… 

So without further ado here is my college balance grading…

(Feel free to try this yourself!) Grades are scaled 1-5



Class Attendance: 4

            For the first eight weeks on the semester I managed to not miss one class! Not only did that help me retain the course information, but also I felt more active and busy walking around campus and going to class. Towards the end of the semester I started to sporadically miss a few classes which is why I give myself a 4/5. My philosophy has always been, if you’re paying tuition, might as well attend class.



Social Life: 5

            Yes and I know, 5 seems like an awesome grade to give to yourself for a social life, but compared to last semester, any sort of human interaction was an improvement. Since my classes end at 3pm everyday I was able to successfully get my work done in order to have free time a night. I stayed in contact with friends more often and even explored LA with them to go hiking, dinner, movies, etc. A good social life also keeps your mental state at ease and takes your mind off the struggles of school. 



Exercise: 4

            I am known to be an exercise fanatic so a 4 may sound good to most people but for me this is a little of a drop off. I managed to exercise at least five days a week, but I usually enjoy some sort of physical activity 6-7 days a week. The reason for this drop off is that my weekends got busier do to social life activities and traveling. It’s not like a gained weight or anything, it’s just that I would’ve liked to workout more. My fall semester schedule will allow me to workout in the morning rather then the afternoon when I’m tired after class. 



Studying:  3

            My ability to study took a slight dive in the spring semester, partly due to my course load. A lot of my classes required more written assignments rather then study memorization. Therefore there were fewer nights I spent scrambling lecture notes to retain in my head. However I still maintained my decent grades so all is good! Next semester will be more studying that’s for sure! 



Family Time: 5

            I know we are away at college but that doesn’t mean you can’t get good quality family time! My dad lives close by in Santa Monica so I got a few opportunities to visit over the weekends; it always feels great to be home every now and then. I also managed my time walking to campus by occasionally giving me relatives back east a phone call, it’s a great way to catch with the fam, and it makes the walk go quicker. 





Overall my grade results in a B. This is considered a success for me, as I am very happy with my college balance. IF you really think about it, it’s very difficult to maintain straight fives. Try out your own grading system and see where you stand on the balance spectrum for this semester! 

Voice Post

While scrolling through the Internet in search of a blogger with a strong voice, I came across Irene Medina who used her blog posts to chronicle her experiences as a first year student at Florida Atlantic University.

As with most freshman, your first year can be a time of learning about the college life…we have all been there. But with Irene, I was quite fascinated how her strong diction grasped the readers’ attention to understand her point of view. Through a comedic way, Irene turns a stressful situation of dealing with college, to a more fun way to learn from past experiences.

One of her blog posts that I loved was titled The Stressful Life of a freshman. This immediately grasped my attention to which I had to click and compare her stressful life to myself.

To my amazement, our stress is due to similar things, as I’m sure all college students deal with.

Irene begins this blog with a long list of her daily schedule, activities, classes, and assignments she must complete. By exposing her daily schedule, Irene put the reader in her shoes, as most students would develop empathy towards Irene’s hardships.

However, Irene doesn’t create a sad mood in her blogs, she ads some light to it with comedic thoughts. Some of her sentences are italicized as she makes sly remarks to counteract her stressful statements. An example is seen below:

5:00 p.m. - I’m stuck in traffic, I’m way past deadline and I haven’t thought about my new blog yet. I guess sleep is out the window tonight. Hello doubleshot espresso.

Irene does maintain her realism in the blog. She understands her stress is a major issue, but she tries to include the reader in her journey through the year in a “we’re all in this together” sense. Through the use of words like “we” and “us” she makes it about everyone, not just her. An example of this is seen here:

That is the biggest problem with us freshmen: we don’t know how to manage time. Therefore, we’re more prone to stress than more than some upperclassmen who have probably already figured out the system of getting things done on time and not stressing out.

At the end of the blog post she lists a bunch of alternatives to cope with stress. In a way she ends the blog post in a positive way to promote healthy thinking and a better outlook on college. In one of here alternatives she wrote:

4. Play your favorite video game — It’s Wii time!

This creates excitement for the reader. Not that it’s cool to play video games but even though she experiences so much stress, she still maintains positive light on the situation and is portrayed as “happy.”

Below is the link to her The Stressful Life of a freshman blog post: http://faufreshman.blogspot.com/2007/11/stressful-life-of-freshman.html

Another blog post written by Irene that caught by eye is called Collegitis. It’s comedic that she came up with the word of  “Collegitis” and it immediately resonates with readers as being similar to “Senioritis” – which is the procrastination of a senior year high school student who is ready to graduate… for those of you who didn’t know.

The reader gets to understand Irene’s sense of humor when she calls “Collegitis” the evil older sibling of “Senioritis.”

She uses figures of speech to describe the severity of her procrastination symptoms. Read below to see what I am talking about:  

I’ve come to the conclusion that my procrastination is killing me. Not only is it hurting my grades and my studies, but I’m wasting money and time. 

Her mood makes it seems like that “Collegitis” is a disease. It’s like Irene created a webmd.com article about the signs and symptoms of “Collegitis.”

Even towards the end of her blog she provides her “remedy” to overcome “Collegitis.”  Her list of remedies creates a step-by-step guide for students to follow, almost as if she is a doctor and knows how to cure “ Collegitis.”

 Even tough her dialogue is informative; she does it in a very comedic sense of college humor. Most students can easily relate to her struggles and procrastination moments. To end her blog she wraps up the post on a funny note when she says:

“I hope you found these tips helpful. Next time, I’ll be the one at the library studying rather than on Facebook adding people.”

She takes the serious matter of her “Collegitis” and lightens up the mood in which she expresses a way to improve herself.

Here is the full link to Irene’s “Collegitis” blog post: http://faufreshman.blogspot.com/2007/10/collegitis.html

Irene’s blogs contain many situational experiences that students deal with throughout college. Her mood and sense of humor really harnesses the attention of the reader. I definitely suggest you read a few more of her blog posts. Perhaps you will find a common scenario that you have dealt with before.

Profile Post

While perusing the Internet in search of some blog wisdom for The Ultimate Balance to a College Life, I came across a woman who has had plenty of blog experience when it comes to the college life.

College advice is arguable one of the most searched topics on the Internet, therefore there were plenty of bloggers out there who look to give advice just like myself. However, this woman’s blog stuck out to my above the rest for her blog topics, style, credibility, and reviews.

This woman’s name is Kelci Lynn Lucier, blogger for usnews.com. Kelci has a large resume full of experience when it comes to college. She has worked in college education for ten years where she eventually got into educational writing in 2008. Not only does she write for usnews.com, she is also the writer for the Guide to College Life at About.com and the founder of The College Parent Handbook. To add along to that impressive history, she also has a master’s in higher education from Harvard!

It is clear to see that Kelci has a strong passion for higher education and helping students deal with the complexities of the college life. When writing her blogs her angle comes from an informative viewpoint. With all of her wisdom and experience, she is simply just trying to help out students who are not knowledgeable about college.

Over the years, Kelci’s topics have been similar to mine as in they deal with situations that may arise amongst college students.

Here a few of her blog post topics….

-4 ways to Deal with a Bad College Professor

-How to Handle the College Winter Blues

-Manage your Academic Time

-Pay for College

The frequency of Kelci’s writing seems to be sporadic for usnews.com. Most of her blog posts come from 2011. Since then she has written very few for usnews.com but still continues to write for multiple blog outlets.

I wish I found these blog posts when I was a freshman at USC; her advice is some of the best guidance I have gotten. Since I never found her blog until now, it has taken me till junior year to learn about the hardships of college. It’s not to say that I would have been more knowledgeable when handling different situations, it’s just good to have a simple heads-up.

For Kelci’s blog posts, she engages all students of every demographic. She is able to have insight to every possible situation and is a great leader that all college bloggers should emulate.

She also gets positive feedback via comments at the bottom of her blog posts including shares onto twitter and Facebook.

I urge all of my readers to take a look at Kelci’s blog because that’s where the REAL WISDOM comes from. While I’m just a young buck giving advice, she has been a pioneer in the blogging world, enlightening students for years.

Blog Companion (The College Life)

The Internet is full of bloggers like myself who enjoy engaging college students on the difficulties and challenges of a college life. Millennials are essentially the largest consumers of the Internet and are always searching for tips and advice from different perspectives.

One blog that stuck out to me in particular is a People blog on usnews.com written by Kelci Lynn Lucier. Her main focus in many of her blogs is around college students and situational events that may occur to any student during their four-years at a university. 

Some of her most notable blogs dealing with college students are called:

“How to Get Some R&R During College Breaks”

“Embrace Growth and Change in a Student’s First Year”

“How To Survive on Limited Funds Until Semester Breaks”

“Learn to Manage Your Time in College”

and many more… Click the link below to check out the links to all of her articles.

http://www.usnews.com/topics/author/kelci-lynn-lucier

Her blogs go way beyond what I try to write about. My main focus is the balance to a college life but she exceeds my ideas by writing about interesting situations that students might not know how to handle.

A unique blog of hers is about “5 non traditional ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day in College.” This blog post gives out a different perspective to a student that just doesn’t mean they need a significant other on Valentines Day. One interested point she made in the blog was to consider volunteering. Volunteering is a great way to enjoy the fun on Valentines Day and provide a community service with a local organization!

One useful blog that every college students should read about is her blog post about New Years resolutions for students. Personally, I always find it funny by how packed the campus gym gets after students return from winter break. Surely students are trying to lose some weight but this goal seems unrealistic for most students, especially once midterms come around and they have no time to hit up the gym…that is what usually happens… What are left are your usual gym-goers.

Lucier’s tips regarding your new years resolution are simple but note worthy:

1.     Set realistic expectations

2.     Set both specific and holistic goals

3.     Focus on the means, not just the ends.

These are just a few of her blog posts that she has written since 2011. She has received positive feedback from many of her readers including numerous shares of her blog posts to Facebook, twitter, and many more social media outlets.  

It’s hard to engage college students to prove that you are a trustworthy source. If you have been writing blogs for years regarding the college life, then you should be considered a credible source. For me, I’m still new to writing my blogs but am learning through my own experience and others on how to become more reliable.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog.

Studying for the Big Exam

During syllabus week most students map out their semester to appropriately plan out when they have midterms, prelims and finals. This is a great way to start the semester but as those important dates inevitably creep up, most students fail to appropriately prepare.

As a Human Biology major I often find myself stuck in science classes with my fellow premed students who need good grades in order to go to the next level. Failure is not an option for these students, as they must achieve decent grades. For any person that is in a similar scenario you must know that time management is crucial.

Well here is my first rule…. NEVER PULL THE ALL-NIGHTER!

According to an article written by Shaniese Alston an all-nighter at the library does no good as it impairs reasoning and memory and can even lead to anxiety which is the last thing you need going into an exam. You should feel confident and stress-free.

http://blog.suny.edu/2013/12/scientifically-the-best-ways-to-prepare-for-final-exams/

Personally I like to look over my notes every night after class lecture regardless of when my midterm is. This can take only 15 minutes and if you do this consistently, you will retain the information over time.

As I talked about in previous blogs it’s also important to limit yourself from distractions. That goes for social media, friends, and television. Even though you should limit yourself from distractions that should only go for when you are studying. Even with the days leading up to the exam you should be able to have fun with your friends and relax. It’s just important that you plan you you’re time wisely and feel comfortable enough to be social and take some time off of your work.

Also in her article, Alston claims that a combination of cardio and antioxidants are a great way to prepare for the exam. Even just twenty minutes of cardio can change your psychological state and improve your memory. An example of anti-oxidant can be oatmeal that is high in fiber and slow digesting.

But we all know it’s hard not to resort to the high calorie, sugar loaded foods when it comes to those late night’s studying.

That’s why I personally like to study in the morning, especially on weekends. Nothing beats waking up and feeling well rested, getting a cup of coffee and heading to go study. If you study enough in one day, you can even use the nighttime to go out and enjoy the company of your friends. It’s a win-win situation!