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I now have finished my first semester at Trinity College and I am going on break knowing a lot more about life in college than I did a few months ago. I have learned the best study and organization habits for myself and I now know exactly what I need to do next semester in order to do even better academically. In Andrew Roberts’ The Thinking Student’s Guide to college: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education he gives incoming college students helpful advice on how to succeed in college. One of his pieces of advice that I think is very important after going through one semester of college is tip 45: ‘Manage your time’. He says that rather than trying “to sneak in five minutes of studying here and ten minutes there” that students should “set aside several hours each day that you devote fully to your classes” [1. Andrew Lawrence Roberts, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education (University of Chicago Press, 2010)] if you want to succeed academically in college.
Although managing your time as explained in tip 45 is a big part of succeeding I have learned that it is not enough if you wish to excel in your classes. Studying the material that you learned in class right after you leave the class helps it become engraved in your brain while the topic is still fresh on your mind. Studying in between classes is a great compliment to managing your time. Other than the fact that it helps you understand the material better it also allows you to do it much faster because everything you were just taught in class is still in your mind so you do not have to spend any time re-teaching yourself anything when you go to study. From my experience as a freshman at Trinity when I study material from class right after I leave the class I always know that information much better than when I wait and go to the library at night or the next day. Then when I go to the library to study further at night I feel as if the subject matter clicks much quicker than if I hadn’t studied in between my classes.
In my most difficult class of my first semester, comparative urban politics, I had a lot of trouble getting good grades during the first few weeks. I thought that I was studying really hard for all of my tests and in reality I was but the problem was that I just wasn’t studying the right way for me to able to retain as much information as possible. What I would do is go to class and then either study later at night or the next day and I realized that although I spent a lot of time in the library trying to study everything that happened in class I couldn’t remember certain specifics that had happened in the prior class. Once I started studying directly after class and before my next class for only about a half hour I noticed that when I went to study at night that much more of the information that was taught in class was still in my head. As a result of following up the initial class with a short study period I was able to remember a lot more of what happened in that class when I went to study again at night and it showed on my next tests. My grade started to drastically improve and I accredit it all to my new study method. If only I had figured it out sooner.
By studying in between classes more you will find that you will have much more free time because though you will not be studying for as much time the quality of your studying is significantly better. You will be able to have your nights free to do things like workout, hangout with friends, or participate in school clubs is an added benefit on top of increasing your grade point average.
After reading Andrew Roberts’ book I have really come to appreciate the advice that he gives and the majority of what he says is actually very useful in order to be a successful college student. I agree with many of the things he said and have adapted to make them a part of my academic life so that I can better myself academically. However, one thing that I disagree with about the book is that it should be read before school. Personally I am big believer of learning from experience and that’s what I did my first semester at Trinity and although I may have done slightly better academically if I had read the book earlier I would not change what I did. My advice to any students would be to learn from your mistakes in your first semester in college and if you still have not found a good way to achieve academic success then to read Andrew Roberts book. But be warned, once you read this book you will have all the knowledge you will need in order to succeed in college so you have no more excuses for doing poorly in school.

Learn the campus and Important buildings

Andrew Roberts, author of The Thinking Students Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education, gives advice to college students looking to fully utilize all that their college has to offer. Roberts talks about choosing majors, interacting with professors, being successful and so on.  What I believe that Roberts does not talk about is how to utilize the physical campus itself and its surroundings. Trinity College is located in the city of Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford is a very diverse city and gives opportunities to any Trinity student who wants to experience activities beyond this campus. It is an open campus which allows the local residents to enter on their own free will but this also allows the students to explore beyond the college campus. When I first arrived on campus I did not understand where anything was except my dorm and Mather hall. I am an out-of-state student and was unfamiliar with Connecticut. Due to my lack of familiarity, I did not take the initiative to learn about the campus and the surroundings and decided to learn only about the essential buildings: Mather Hall, Little Dorm, and Seabury.

I wish that I had utilized the campus more during my first semester at college.  My advice would be to learn about the campus and its important buildings. There are many advantages to knowing your campus and important buildings in the campus. As you learn more about the campus you may find new interests that you may not have had before; many different buildings on campus are themed such as the social sciences, humanities, language, math, science buildings and much more. If you were to learn about them and the events they may offer they could provide unique learning opportunities find new interests, or even meet people that you would not have had the chance to meet. As a freshman you may not know what major or classes you want to take but if you were to just take a walk and enter a random building there is a variety of things you could find. Many buildings have bulletin boards that hold event posters or contacts for people with questions, comments and concerns.  You can walk into almost any building to find and learn about what it’s used for and for what you could utilize it.

During my second week on campus I needed to find Trinity Commons. I went to the Welcome desk in Mather Hall and asked for a map, however, I am not very good at reading maps. I tried following the map and went to many buildings that were not Trinity Commons, but along the way I found many other buildings. I was forced to explore the campus so I could find Trinity Commons. Along the way I found the Ferris, which is where school dances, sports events and the gym are located. If I had not stumbled upon the building I may not have had the motivation to ever use it. I also found the buildings and grounds office. This is the building that you go to if you have any problems with your dorm. We had a broken blind and heating problems and when the time came to find buildings and grounds it was an easy trip. Knowing about the campus is very helpful for many reasons but one that many may overlook is the social aspect.

College is not only for academics but it is a very social experience. Knowing where buildings are on campus is very important when trying to attend events or looking for space to hold an event. Getting to know people at college could be one of the most important college experiences because not only will it help you during college, but it could help you after when trying to find a job. There are buildings that were built on campus that are geared to people’s specific interest. There are cultural houses such as, AASA (Asian Student Association), UMOJA (African American Student Association), and LVL (La Voz Latina, Latino Student Association). These houses are important because they hold events weekly; not only can you learn from these events but you may also be able to make connections with people that are similar to you or have similar interest. I am an African American student and have an interest in Asian studies. I decided to find the Asian American Student association house, AASA, and introduce myself. By the end of the meeting I did not know that I would be running for freshman correspondent, and no sooner become a member of their executive board. Taking chances, learning about the campus, and finding important buildings may be scary at first, but it may help you embark on an unexpected journey.

Andrew Roberts’ The Thinking Student’s Guide to college: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education provided insights into how to get the best education out of the college experience. Roberts is an assistant professor at Northwestern University and a fellow at the Institute for Political Research, so his tips come from the standpoint of a college professor, and allows for us students to see how a professor would think about different types of students and situations. Many of Roberts Tips were very helpful, such as Tip 48: Ask for help or Tip 36: Choose a Major that you love, but the most helpful tip for me was Tip 46: Show the professor that you are working hard. In this tip Roberts describes how there is a difference between just working hard on assignments and showing your professor that you’re working hard, and how it will help the perception that your professor has of you as a student. When describing professors Roberts says, “They are not against you. In fact, if you give them a reason to reward you they probably will. So give them a reason to reward you.”[1] Professors give the students everything they will to succeed as long as the students put in the work. The best teacher I have ever had was my high school science teacher freshman, junior, and senior year, he taught me physics, chemistry, and environmental science. He would give us just enough help to get us to the brink of finding the answer, but he would leave enough room for us to have to work out the answers ourselves, and forced us to show him that we were working hard. Roberts also says that showing the professor your work ethic can have a direct effect on your grade in the class. Roberts says, “I have been in many situations where a student’s grade has rested on the borderline of an A and a B or a B and a C. The determining factor was often my perception of how much effort the student was putting into my class”[2] Many of my high school teachers told me that they had the same philosophy. Why would a teacher help a student whose grade is half a point away from going up if the student doesn’t listen during class or take notes, when they can help the student who goes to office hours regularly and visibly shows that they are putting in all their effort into the course?

Andrew Roberts covers almost all aspects of college academics with his tips, but I would add one more. Tip 76 should be about learning how to handle college level reading assignment. The first reading assignment I received at Trinity College was around 150 pages long and I was completely overwhelmed. In high school teachers will assign 20-30 pages due the next day, but since college classes rarely meet on daily basis the professors will assign more, and expect more from you. The reading load for most classes will be far too much to read the night before class, especially if you have other work to accomplish. You must learn to do break down the readings in more manageable size and read them over the two or three days in between the class. There will be classes you will take that you will be able to get away with not doing the reading, and just skimming the book and listening in class. There will come a time though when the professor calls and you for an answer from the reading, and you will not know the answer. There is no easier way to lose the professors respect and trust then showing him that you did not do the work he assigned, and as Roberts has already said things such as showing you did the reading factor in come grading time. There is another more important reason to manage your time so you can accomplish your readings. Many of the lessons the professor wants you to learn will come from the readings, so skipping the reading means your not learning what you should be and you’re cheating yourself out of a good education. One morning I woke to my roommate looking at his computer. I asked him what he was looking at and he said that the bill for the semester was released. He said the semester cost 27,000 dollars. He then looked at me and asked, “Have we really learned 27,000 dollars worth of information?” I was not sure and I couldn’t give a yes or no answer. I would like to think that I had learned as much as I possible could this semester, but I kept thinking about whether there was more that I could have done. So if you don’t find a way to do your reading then not only are you cheating yourself out of the education you deserve by getting into Trinity College, then you are also cheating you parents out of over 200,000 dollars over your four years in college.

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[1] Andrew Roberts, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education (University Of Chicago Press, 2010). P.96

[2] ibid

I’m halfway there! Well, I’m halfway there of finishing my first year in college at least. I’m still 3.5 years away from my college graduation, so I still have a long way to go. Looking back on my first semester at Trinity, there are a couple of things I would have done differently if I could redo my whole first semester. However, I am extremely proud to be the student I am today: a student who has successfully completed his first semester at Trinity, a student who has endured struggle after struggle and learned from his mistakes, and a student who is ready to make his second semester at Trinity better than his first. College is a whole new world. The transition from high school to college is very difficult. You are entering a new social environment and a new academic setting that takes time to accustom. What can I do to make the transition from high school to college easier and smoother? Take advice and tips from those who have experienced the difficulties of acclimating to the college’s atmosphere. Here is my advice to anyone who is about to start college: Read Andrew Roberts’ The Thinking Student’s Guide to College—specifically his tip #46 which I found to be the most valuable—and consider taking my advice of utilizing all available resources on campus—specifically the counseling center which I found to be the most helpful.

Adolescents never listen or take advice until they experience struggles in a situation where they are forced to take it. I ignored and pushed away all the people who were trying to give me advice about college before I headed to Trinity. “I got this” is what I told them. However, I realized that I didn’t “have it” when I started struggling with both academic and personal problems. I wished I could go back in time and listen closely to the advice I was given from my family, friends, and teachers. Rereading The Thinking Student’s Guide to College by Andrew Roberts made me realized how helpful his tips would have benefited me if I applied them earlier in the semester. In this book, Roberts introduces 75 tips for getting a better education. This book gives excellent advice, and I believe that these tips will help any freshman achieve his or her educational goals for next four year at Trinity College. This prestigious, private, and small liberal arts school has a very challenging and high-quality academic curriculum. Therefore, expect to work hard because nothing will be easy.

Graduating top five from a college prep high school with a G.P.A above a 4.0, I thought I had nothing to worry about, which gave me the confidence of saying, “I got this.” Achieving the grades I wanted in high school was extremely easy. I easily earned straight “A’s” by independently working hard without asking help from my friends and teachers. I thought I could earn straight “A’s” in college by following the same academic routine I had in high school. My obsession with getting straight “A’s” in my first college semester was a mistake because I kept getting paranoid when I get a “B” or a “C” on an assignment or test. I didn’t seek out help when I really needed it because I thought it showed a sign of weakness. However, now I know that asking for help is showing your professors that you care about your education and that you are an extremely hard worker. I learned this precisely by reading tip #46 in Andrew Roberts’ The Thinking Student’s Guide to College

“Show Professors That You Are Working Hard” is what tip #46 states. Andrew Roberts mentions, “By attending class, by completing your assignments on time, by participating in class discussions, and by showing up at your professor’s office hours” shows your professors that you are working hard and care about the class (96). I never went to my professors’ office hours, not even once. Looking back, I wished I would have gone regularly because it would have shown a sign of strength and dedication—and not weakness. If I would have attended my professors’ office hours and participated more in class more, I am positive that I would have earned the straight “A’s” I wanted. However, my obsession with “the perfect grades” soon changed when Jack Dougherty said, “It is not all about the ‘A’ you get in class; it is about what you get out of it.” I stopped being overly obsessed with my grades and started focusing more in class. I am not saying that getting straight “A’s” is impossible, but it will be hard work and reading some of Roberts’ tips will make things easier because you will have a map that will help you have a valuable educational experience. If a freshman wants to have the best educational experience here at Trinity, I recommend reading some of Andrew Roberts’ tips in order to have a successful four years in college.

“Freshmen year of college is always the hardest one” is what everyone says. I say that it all depends on the student. I have met students here at Trinity who came from boarding schools who found the transition from high school to college to be very easy. However, I also came across students who struggle in acclimating to the college life here at Trinity, much like me. In reality, there are going to be students in college who are more academically and personally prepared than others. Even though my classmates learned the material quicker than I did, I still felt I was academically prepared to handle all of the academic challenges that I came across. I never really encountered personal problems back home in Chicago. However, I found myself personally struggling here in Hartford, Connecticut on an emotional level.

Homesickness, depression, and guiltiness are uncontrollable emotions. I never experienced feelings this strong that invoked sadness, discouragement, despair, and hopelessness. I thought that these emotions were temporary, but they got worse the longer I waited to seek help. As days passed, the further away I was from myself. I found myself locking myself in my dorm room; I found myself sleeping more than usual; I found myself not eating; I found myself losing weight; I found myself getting extremely sick; I found myself crying; I found myself having trouble concentrating; I found myself not doing work or studying; I found myself not going to class; I found my grades slipping in all my classes. Most importantly, I found myself losing all the energy and motivation I had when I first arrived in Connecticut.

I was foolish enough not to seek out help when I was at my worst. I am very lucky to have a caring advisor like Stefanie Chambers who took me to the counseling center. At first, I didn’t want to go to counseling because I didn’t want help and because I thought only “crazy” people went to counseling. However, I soon discovered that many Trinity students go to the counseling center to deal with their stress and their other problems. Looking back, I am so happy that I gave counseling a chance because it really did help control my emotional distress. I felt more relieved, and I learned how to control these intense feelings. I wished I would have gone to counseling earlier, so it wouldn’t have drastically affected me physically, academically, socially, and personally. You don’t have to experience the same feelings as I did to go to counseling. Many Trinity students—freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors—have struggles. Dealing with stress is overwhelming and seeking out help is the wisest decision you can make. Going to the counseling center will help you cope with your stress. Most importantly, counseling is free here at Trinity. You have nothing to lose if you try it. Please, take advantage of this resource and use it. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

How is going to counseling going to help me get a better education? The key to a better education is having a healthy body, mind, and soul. I had trouble concentrating, studying, and completing homework assignment when I was dealing with my depression, homesickness, and guiltiness. As a result, my grades slipped. When you first identify a problem, do not be afraid to seek out help. Yes, it will be hard at first to get help when you never received help in the first place. However, do not hesitate to make an appointment at the counseling center. I was absolutely sure I wanted to leave Trinity after this semester when I was coping with my feelings. Nevertheless, counseling made a huge difference in my life, and I am extremely proud of myself that I decided to stay here at Trinity College to receive the best education I deserve. Utilize all resources on campus and seek out help when you are having trouble because only the strongest and dedicated of students will try their greatest to have the best educational experience.

Here is the current information of Trinity College’s Counseling Center:
135 Allen Place (Right on Vernon St. behind the Campus Safety building)
Phone: (860) 297.2415
Fax: (860) 297.2428
Email: Randolph.lee@trincoll.edu
www.trincoll.edu/studentlife/healthwellness/counseling/pages/

Bibliography:
Roberts, Andrew Lawrence. The Thinking Student’s Guide to College. ; 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. Print

About the Author:
Tommy is a Hispanic male from Chicago, Illinois. Tommy graduated from Noble Street College Prep ’11. He is a student at Trinity College ‘15, and he is a Posse Scholar. Tommy is in Professor Jack Dougherty’s first-year seminar, “Color and Money.”

My first semester as a student at Trinity College has presented its fair share of challenges and victories, defining moments and shameful slip-ups. Yet, despite the multitude of late nights and “homework emergencies,” every second of this semester has brought me a step closer to satisfying my objective of developing a distinctive level of ambition and maturity. Whether one attends a large university or a small liberal arts college, every first-year student shares a similar objective. Andrew Roberts’ The Thinking Student’s Guide to College provides sufficient guidance in this regard. Complete with 75 tips concerning everything from choosing a major to exploring post-graduation options, Roberts’ Guide presents the anxious first-year student with everything he or she needs to know to enrich his or her academic experience at an undergraduate level.

Of the 75 tips, I found the most truth in Tip #48: “Ask for Help,” in which Roberts advises students to seek out extra help from professors, TAs, and campus tutoring programs. According to Roberts, “not only will you get help, but you will distinguish yourself as a student who cares about the class.”[1. Andrew Lawrence Roberts, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education (University of Chicago, 2010).] Coming from a highly competitive high school, asking for help was certainly not something I was comfortable doing. I was strongly opposed to the idea of “admitting defeat” by letting someone know I was having trouble understanding a concept. Asking for help was equal to owning up to a failure, an insufficiency, a defect. However, Trinity College’s small class sizes and slim student-to-teacher ratio guarantees that faculty will have the time and energy to assist students on a level that is far more intimate and thorough than faculty at larger institutions.

My perspective changed this past semester, after taking an educational studies course. With a little over twelve hours left until my first paper of the semester was due and no solid strategy for how to tackle it, I reluctantly attended a session with one of my TA’s. She let me do all the talking at first, asking me about what ideas I was considering including in my paper, in no particular order. After listening patiently to my jumble of thoughts, she asked me follow-up questions like, “Your idea reminds me of this theorist. Have you considered that?” and “Your observations are interesting. What theories can you recall that could explain some of those?”  My choice to reach out resulted in a very helpful brainstorming session—much more productive than if I had spent hours stubbornly trying to de-tangle my own ideas. With my TA’s help, I had structured and organized my entire argument in thirty minutes, and not once did I feel inferior.

Tip #48 promotes personal responsibility and encourages students to hold themselves accountable for their learning. Thus, I would propose the addition of a similar tip—“Tip #76: Learn Your Learning Style.” The rigor of a high school curriculum and that of a college curriculum are completely different, so it is expected that your study habits will evolve as well. Try out different study spaces, note-taking methods, and organizational tools during the first few weeks to find what works best for you in each of your classes. In high school, I was an aural learner. In those classes, I benefited most from listening to lectures and engaging in class discussion. However, at Trinity, I found that just listening to a lecture was no longer sufficient in some of my classes. It was not until I re-took an online assessment about learning styles from high school that I realized that I am “multi-modal”, meaning that of the four existing modes of learning information—Visual, Aural/Auditory, Read/write, and Kinesthetic—students do not rely upon just one. There is no one mode of studying that suits all subjects.[1. Neil Fleming, “The VARK Categories,” VARK: A Guide to Learning Styles, 2001, http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=categories.] Likewise, it is likely that one mode must be supplemented with another. For instance, in my educational studies course this past semester, I was a kinesthetic and a visual learner. Simulations and other practical activities relating to real-life examples helped me grasp concepts. However, when it came to understanding theorists and their ideas, I found it helpful to prepare charts to categorize information. I eventually learned that, in addition to adjusting socially to college, academic adjustment was necessary as well. With the wide range of courses Trinity offers as part of its liberal arts curriculum, knowing how to maximize your potential for success in each individual course can truly be beneficial.

As precious as it is to discover yourself in college, it is equally valuable to know how to adapt. Roberts’ advice aims to help students learn to do so, particularly in regards to academics. Understanding the active role you have in making the most of your educational experience is the key to succeeding during your undergraduate years. However, such a responsibility can definitely be intimidating. Though Roberts’ intent is to ease the majority of a first-year student’s worries, no solution can truly prepare you for a fail-proof college experience. Rather, the only way to fully access your potential, both inside and outside of the classroom, is to approach situations head-on with the willingness to adapt if necessary. Such is the most genuine strategy for handling this new transition, as well as the one that will inevitably prove to be the most rewarding.

About the Author:

Nykia L. Tanniehill, a Chicago native, is a member of the Class of 2015 at Trinity College and a student in the “Color and Money” first-year seminar.

The transition to college is one that not everyone is ready for; while it may come easy to some it may prove difficult to others. Even though everyone handles the transition to college differently, the one challenge that most if not all students face is time management. Since the transition to college not only comes with new challenges, but also comes with new found liberties a lot of students get caught with that excitement. In Andrew Roberts’s book The Thinking Student’s Guide to College, he gives advice to college students on how to make their college experience one “where professors challenge you to do the best you are capable of, provide you with personalized feedback on your work and show you new ways of understanding the world” (Roberts,1). Unlike other advice books on college, Roberts is not interested in giving college students tips regarding their social life, he is more interested in giving advice on how to get the best possible education out of the college you decided to attend.

During your first semester at Trinity, you will encounter many new things but the one that will probably attract you the most is the new found liberty I mention earlier. For most people this is probably the first time they will be away from parents and even if you attended boarding high school, the college experience is nothing like the high school experience. In college you are completely responsible for your decisions and you will not have anyone telling you what to do with your time or making sure that you have done all your work, that is why it is very important for you to manage your time. One of Roberts’s most useful tips is the importance of time management. Roberts says that “the real problems in selective schools show up only with students who do not manage their time” (Roberts, 96). He also goes on to explain the importance of devoting large blocks of time to studying and ways to keep track of where your time is going. If you want to succeed academically at Trinity and want to make sure you’re not the student that is stressing out about a paper or test because your waited until last minute to get your work done make sure to manage your time wisely.

Coming into a liberal arts college like Trinity, you are expected to be involved in every extracurricular possible. You hear everyone around you telling you to take classes that you’ve never taken before, to participate in clubs and to do everything that is in your hands to become a well rounded individual, after all that is the purpose of a liberal arts college education. Coming to a college like Trinity can be overwhelming especially if you’ve never been expected to do all these things, or if you’ve never been in a place where you had all the opportunities Trinity has to offer. When I arrived at Trinity, I was overwhelmed and nervous about the expectations the college had from me. In my personal experience college wasn’t the only thing I had to worry about, I also had a job and most of my free time was dedicated to that. I found myself frustrated most of the time because even though I wanted to make time for the college experience I was supposed to be getting I couldn’t because I had other responsibilities I had to take care of.

Many of you may have the same problem I had, due to the fact that you may find yourselves with more responsibilities than just being a college student or because of the fact that you feel that handling your work is what takes up most of your time. One of the most important lessons I learned during my first semester at Trinity was that I had only so much time in my day and responsibilities that I had to take care of but that there was also a balance I needed to have. I had to make sure that I made enough time for my academic life in order to succeed and that I challenged myself as much as I could even if I couldn’t take part of the extracurricular activities that Trinity had to offer. I had to understand that not because everybody around me was doing all these extracurricular activities meant I had to. It is also important to understand that even though you may not have the time to take part of the opportunities offered at Trinity outside of the classroom means you shouldn’t challenge yourself at all. Regardless of the fact that you may not have enough time to truly take advantage of these opportunities make sure you take classes that you truly enjoy and ones that are going to challenge you rather than taking classes because that is what works best with your schedule. You may not always have the time to take part in clubs or community service but just remember the reason why you are in college and the fact that your education should be one of your top priorities!

Bibliography:

Roberts, Andrew Lawrence, and ebrary, Inc. The Thinking Student’s Guide to College 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print.

About the author: Evadne Coache is a first year student in the Color and Money seminar. She is from Hartford.CT and is a graduate from Miss Porter’s School ’11.

After completing a semester at Trinity College, I have gained a new type of knowledge regarding college life.  This has allowed me to better understand the atmosphere on college campuses, which is helpful when giving advice regarding how to better improve your college education.  Andrew Robert’s book, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College, addresses key pieces of advice that are helpful for college students.  This advice ranges from tips on how to choose your college, all the way to being successful at college.  Robert’s most valuable piece of advice is found on page 95: “Manage your time.”  He highlights the importance of setting aside at least a couple hours each day dedicated to studying in a location with minimal distractions.  This tip is crucial in order to get the most out of your education.  If you manage your time well, you will have a greater amount of success in the classrooms and will find yourself with more time on your hands.   This tip is particularly important for freshman to keep in mind because for the most part it is their first time really being away from home.  With this new independence, it is completely up to the students to decide when they should complete their work, as they have no one making sure that it is completed.  Further, college professors tend to be less understanding of excuses and if something is incomplete they will penalize you based on this.

Specifically for me, coming to college was a big step in terms of independence.  Within the first few months of being here I had to figure out what worked and what didn’t and what the best way was to ensure all my work was complete.  I am also on the ice hockey team, so I had one more thing I needed to keep in mind when managing my time.  I found study hall, a set period of time where as a team you are forced to do work, to be extremely helpful and allowed me to get into a routine.  No matter what it is, students need to decide what works for them and from there, use these strategies to ensure that their schoolwork is done and that it is their first priority.

Although Robert’s tips found on page 113, “Be Curious about the Subject,” and on page 115, “Visit All Professors during Office Hours at Least Once,” are strong suggestions, I would change these tips to include to importance of attending extra-help sessions and completing extra-credit assignments.  These tips not only have direct benefits on getting a better education, but also have indirect benefits.  Directly, going to extra help sessions will broaden your understanding of the course material and allow you to understand the topics better.  Also, completing extra-credit assignments are always worthwhile as they directly increase your mark in the class.  Indirectly, these tips show your professors you are interested in their class and care about succeeding.  Although this does not guarantee you a better grade, teachers like to see that you want to be in their class and will keep this in consideration when they are interacting with you and grading your work.  Working with these benefits it is clear that these tips will better your overall college education, and for the amount of effort you need to put into these tips, it is clearly worth completing.  These tips are particularly useful at Trinity College because of the small campus size.  Since teachers do not have an overwhelming amount of students, they are more likely to host extra-help sessions and offer extra-credit assignments.  Students at Trinity are also given a unique opportunity to get to know their teachers on a more personal level. These tips allow students to do that, while still improving their marks, and demonstrating a high level of interest in the subject matter.

This semester I was in a Biodiversity class, where I felt these tips were particularly important and I wish I had been advised of them before the semester started.  In the course, we had a quiz every Monday on the week’s material.  Our teacher always mentioned that she was available for extra help sessions, but I never thought anything of this until my friend starting attending.  My professor e-mailed my friend, who had not been doing well on the quizzes, to request to start meeting with her for extra help.  Immediately after she started attending these meetings her quiz marks increased dramatically.  Once I saw this happening I started going in as well and I was surprised with the same results.  It is not fair to say that just because we showed up for extra help, she started marking us easier, but that, combined with having a greater knowledge of the quiz material, were both factors that contributed to the increasing grades and overall better education within the course.

After reading Robert’s book and actually experiencing a full semester at college, it is evident that all students should be given some advice before coming to college.  Although Robert’s advice is strong, I believe that, while some advice can be generic, the most valuable tips you can receive are those specific to the college you are attending.  This is because different advice is more relevant on some campuses then it is on others, as schools vary so greatly in size, education, and campus life.  Specifically, at Trinity College, seeking extra help and completing extra credit assignments are both valuable pieces of advice.  Using this advice, students have the ability to better their college education, which will help them in many perspectives, way beyond just their college experience.

The Thinking Student’s Guide to College by Andrew Roberts is not just any book that will tell you how to get good grades, how to socialize with others or how to manage your workload, it discusses more than that. Rather than focusing on general areas such as these, Roberts mainly focuses on 75 tips to help students benefit the most from their education. The book is broken up into sections that include topics such as, “Choosing a College”, “Choosing Classes”, “Learning Outside the Classroom”, “Interacting with Professors” and even “Being Successful”. As a first year student at Trinity College I have already experienced some of these topics myself. The section that interested me the most within the book was titled  “Being Successful”. This is because of the fact that I obviously want to be successful throughout my years at Trinity and in life after college. One of Roberts’ main points, which I found most appealing was his statement, “getting good grades is related but not equivalent to learning the material and getting the most out of college” (95).  If you truly enjoy learning what you are being taught, good grades will naturally follow as a result of hard work and deep interest in your education.

I also feel that Tip 46 best represents how to get the most out of a college experience and has personally helped me succeed in my first semester at Trinity. Tip 46 states, “Show Professors That You Are Working Hard”.  This section then discusses how to go about making sure your professor knows that you are working hard and the potential benefits that may arise. Roberts’ strategies consist of attending class, completing your assignments on time, participating in class discussions and by showing up at your professor’s office hours. Although these bits of advice seem like common sense, it is very easy for first year students to overlook the importance of each pointer. I am currently on Trinity’s Varsity Football Team and when I first arrived on campus upperclassman and coaches gave me and my fellow first year football players the same advice that Roberts shares in his piece.

Since then I have made my best effort to abide by all of these tips and it has paid off. For example, I received a grade on an exam for my Economics class that I was not satisfied with. I used the advice that I was given and decided to go to my professor’s office hours to review the exam. I arrived on time with a couple other students from the class. As we waited for the professor to arrive we discussed the exam ourselves to review where we went wrong. The professor was 45 minutes late to his own office hours but in the time spent waiting the other students and I were able to learn from the mistakes we made on our exam. As expected the professor was very apologetic but as a result he gave the students who waited for him four extra points on the previous exam. As explained by Roberts, displaying extra effort does not mean you are guaranteed better grades but rather “it makes professors look on you more kindly” (97). From this experience I not only was able to boost my test grade but more importantly I learned from my mistakes and my professor saw that I cared about learning the material he taught. There are some other tips that have also helped me show my professors that I work hard and care about learning. Tips such as emailing your teachers about the material or questions you have did not make this section.

However, one piece of advice that I would add to this section would be to sit in the front of every one of your classes. You may have been told this before and like me maybe you did not think sitting a couple rows closer towards the front of the classroom would really make you a better student. However, it is not this action alone that will make you a better student but the effects of being closer to your professor will benefit your learning experience. Some of these effects include the professor noticing you, forcing you to attend the class and having to pay attention.  Because in some larger classes in college it is easy for a student to get lost in a class and a professor to not know who you are. Following Roberts’ advice of attending office hours will ensure that the professor knows who you are. Yet, you want to be noticed in class in order to show your professor that you are tentative and care about the course. This comes with some other obligations that you must follow through with. If you decide to sit in the front row this means that you cannot skip a class. Since the point of sitting up front is to be noticed, you will also be noticed if you are absent. This will force you to always go to class. Even when you are debating not going, which should never be considered anyway, you will have to go to avoid being noticed for not attending. Also by sitting in the front row you are forced to pay attention. In my Intro to Psychology class that had close to fifty students, I have decided to take this advice since day one. I have friends in the class who I would normally sit with a couple rows back if it were not for this tip. These students were often the ones talking to each other, using their phones and even falling asleep. By always sitting in the front row it is easy to avoid being apart of these disturbances and to focus on the material presented in class. After spending a semester with these tips in mind I clearly saw a difference in grades and the professors’ attitude towards my friends.

Even though these tips from the author and myself may seem obvious, they highlight the importance of taking full advantage of your education. From sitting in the front of the classroom to going out of your way to demonstrate your interest in the material you have learned are just small examples of things to do that will be beneficial to your education in college. There are plenty of other helpful tips besides these, but it is you who will ultimately make the decision to take advantage of the time you have in college.

About the Author: James DiBlasi is currently a first year student at Trinity College. Apart from being a player on the Varsity Football Team, he is also an active student in the Color and Money Seminar with Professor Jack Dougherty. He is from Winchester, Ma and a graduate of Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Ma.

Bibliography:

Roberts, Andrew Lawrence. The Thinking Student’s Guide to College. ; 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. Print.

At the end of a very interesting first semester of college, there are many parts of school to reflect upon. The social night life, cafeteria food and being away from home are all changes that students must get used to. However, all those aspects of college revolve around the main reason students attend a college or university after high school. Your education and the college degree that comes with it is the most important tool to success for anyone in the real world. To help new students take advantage of these opportunities and privileges of college, Andrew Roberts in his book, The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education, discusses his top seventy-five tips that a undergraduate in college should think about throughout their college experience. He covers topics that discuss the ideas of choosing challenging courses, managing your time and interacting with foreign students. However, I believe one of his most influential pieces of advice is something simpler than some of his other tips. He recommends students to “write emails judiciously and to answer them promptly”. The tip he mentions applies well to the way students interact and the way in which the world works today. E-mail allows students and faculty alike to respond at the most convenient times in their schedules.

The most vital point of Robert’s tip is the second part of his advice; responding promptly. He states, “If you receive an e-mail from a professor, it is best to answer immediately. Not only might you forget about it as it drops down your e-mail queue, but you are potentially annoying a professor who has taken the time to think of you personally” (Roberts, 120). Responding to e-mails quickly and in a professional manner depicts your character as both a person and student. Nowadays, students send e-mails with grammar mistakes and abbreviated vocabulary in their messages. In the world after college, these characteristics of an e-mail portray a lack of professionalism. They are changes that have to be made to demonstrate that you both care and can be taken seriously.

An additional reason why I respect this tip so much is because it fits into a vague piece of advice that I would encourage many incoming students to think about. I would suggest students to follow through. Although short and basic, it entails a great amount of experience. Like responding or writing e-mails, people depend on you to get things done in an efficient and professional way. As a student athlete at Trinity College, I so often find myself affiliated with the word commitment. Whether it is maintaining good grades, meeting students and teachers for scheduled appointments or being on time, others expect you to have the maturity to follow through.

I recall the first time I had scheduled an appointment with a teacher to seek additional help for a class I was struggling in at the time. Beyond the flexible office hours and tutoring sessions set up by the teacher’s assistant, my schedule did not match up to allow me to find extra help. However, because of a commitment to teaching and to providing all students to get help, my professor designated more time slots to fulfill my personal need to learn outside of class. To make this additional session useful, I was assigned a lengthy packet of material to review before my meeting. This packet was intended to help myself realize the problems I was having with the material and to provide extra exercises outside of the homework. Regrettably, the packet remained untouched while I focused on other work and hanging out with friends. When the time came to meet with my professor and fix the problems I had been having on exams, I had no understanding of what I had to accomplish. I failed to hold my end of the deal up. Rather than following through on my responsibilities, I wasted not only my time but the time of someone who made an effort to assist me personally.

I can tell you the obvious lessons from my mistake but the general point is college itself places more responsibility on students than they are used to in the past. Being able to take account for your own actions and behavior is critical throughout your four years at a university. Without the constant supervision of a parent or long time friends, responsibility to get things accomplished and to stay out of trouble becomes a one person job. Simple tasks such as completing you part of a project or making a phone call on the behalf of someone else are minor scenarios you will find yourself in all the time. Following through not only does you a favor, but it helps others as well. One of the best qualities in a young individual is the ability to be depended upon. Follow through.

Bibliography:

Roberts, Andrew Lawrence. The Thinking Student’s Guide to College. ; 75 Tips for                  Getting a Better Education. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2010. Print.

About the author: Casey Tanner is a first-year student in the Color and Money Seminar. He is from Wellesley, Ma and has created this work to help the incoming class of 2012 have a smooth transition into the college lifestyle.

“Go for variety, especially early on.” [1. Roberts, Andrew. The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print. Pg 49.] To me personally, tip number twelve was the most valuable piece of advice that I had read in The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. As the title states, this book is a collection of a total of seventy-five “tips” that the author Andrew Roberts has collected. He believes that the entirety of these “tips” along with other advice are what students should adhere to in order to maximize their learning experience during college. The author has tips from how to choose a college, choosing classes, a major/s, to learning outside the classroom. Among those categories and others unmentioned, as explained earlier Robert’s twelfth tip was what really helped me.

During this first semester at Trinity College, I arrived at the College like many other students with a set idea for the range of classes that I would be taking at Trinity College. As an incoming college freshmen from my senior year at my High school, I came believing that certain classes would be absent from my studies at the college. However, at the beginning of the year due to unfulfilled requirements, I was required to change those same classes that I was so set on taking during my first semester. Learning this fact only during the first week of school when the majority of students filled up various classes, I was forced to enroll in a variety of classes in a range of subjects as well as having to prepare myself for other classes. In the end, I ended up enrolling in entirely different classes than the ones that I had originally chosen other than my seminar class. For example, my choices had me taking Introduction to Ethics, one such class that I did not think that I would be taking in college. That class in association with Introduction to Creative Writing and Physics, has exposed me to subjects, techniques of learning and ways of thought which have had a significant influence on my choices. In my experiences in my classes I was not angered at the situation that I was in, but at the conclusion of my first semester at Trinity College I felt encouraged to take more classes in those subjects I had not given much thought to before. However, my first semester was not all sunshine and no rain. There were mistakes that I made coming into Trinity College, that I feel other students could possibly learn from.

In the same situation where I took classes that I was not expecting to take, as soon as I was enrolled in those classes I was set. I convinced myself that no matter what, I would stick through these classes and take them until the end of the semester. Even when I started to experience trouble in one of my enrolled classes, I was steadfast and said that I would “stay the course.” That was the mistake that I made this semester. In all colleges, less so in high School there is a period of time called the Add/ Drop Period. This is when during this time students can drop classes and enroll in new ones if their chosen class isn’t compatible or it just isn’t working. I however, made no use of this time period, too stubborn to drop out of the class. Waiting for a break of some sort. If I was able to add a new “tip” to Andrew Roberts list of seventy-five, I wold add one about the Add/ Drop period. My tip would state, Utilize the Add/ Drop Period. This is because this period is during a optimal time because at the time that it starts, students usually have a inkling of an understanding of how a class suits them. Me however, possessed a stubbornness that would allow me to take this route.

In the end of my first semester of learning at Trinity College, I have learned many things academically. This comes from the four classes that I have taken this semester and the subject matter that accompanies them. However, as I have enjoyed what I have learned, I have also experience things I did not desire. This is because I did not utilize the opportunities available to me to facilitate my learning experience. As a result, at times it has been a difficult semester because of an avoidable problem. I advise students who can be stubborn, to not ignore to level of difficulty that a certain class will give them. Unlike me I experienced troubles in both High School and this first Semester when I did not use this opportunity. The Add/ Drop Period is there to ease certain stresses while learing and should be used by students when there is a need.