Monday, October 12, 2020

Gator Update: First 8 Weeks Complete

When the school mascot is adorable. 😍

Hooray! My first (eight week) semester as a gator is completed. I am officially back in school mode. I was pretty nervous going back to school; I haven't really taken classes (that I was serious about) in a LONG time. I missed learning but I never knew what I wanted to study. I didn't want to waste time (or money) with something that wasn't bringing me joy. So here I am two classes in and my heart is so full. I took Financial Accounting 1 and Statistics and these are a few things I realized during the first 8 weeks:

Its QUICK 
Eight weeks goes by in a blink of an eye. I feel like I just started the class and now its over. You are consuming A LOT of information in a short amount of time. You have to stay on top of the all the assignments. 

For Accounting , each week I had to read two chapters, complete a discussion question, a discussion problem, responses and assignment for each chapter AND a quiz for those two chapters. 

For Statistics, I had one chapter to read and a various amount of homework for that chapter and a chapter test. The chapters were long and filled with a lot of information.

Accounting provided us with PowerPoint slides but in Statistics the notes were up to us. I took handwritten notes filled with equations, calculator steps and examples. It was long and tedious BUT it helped me in the end with the homework and tests. I am pretty sure my hand written notes for Statistics filled a 1 inch binder to the max. 

With all these assignments and tests to complete each week,

ORGANIZATION  and CONSISTENCY is Key
To make sure everything is completed on time, I worked on both classes a little each day. I knew what chapters I was reading each week from the syllabus. I would write down what I would work on each day to keep on track for that week in a notebook. 

I made sure the whole week was on one page; that way I could see the whole week at a glance and to keep myself accountable. I can also see the progress as I cross things off the list too. 

I would sometimes get up early to work on either homework or the readings; lunch time would be for Accounting homework and then at night would be Statistics. I would leave the quiz and test for the weekend along with my responses for the discussion questions. 

Sometimes I would get ahead of my plan, sometimes I would lag behind. I would always get the work done. Everything was due by 11:59 on Sunday night, I told myself that everything needed to be done by Saturday night so that would give some wiggle room, just in case. 

It felt like a whirlwind but I was actually really happy to be working so hard,

It's really REWARDING

This is going to sound really nerdy but getting a balance sheet to balance or getting the equation to work is really satisfying. I am especially proud when I find a mistake in a problem and I am able to fix it. This shows that I am retaining what I am learning and able to apply what I am doing. 

Doing what you love is so important and that will bring you so much joy.

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Needless to say, I am excited for the second 8 week session that will start in 2 weeks. I am also very excited to tackle some projects that I have been putting off during these two weeks. 

What have you done to make yourself proud?

[[What we learn with pleasure, we never forget- Alfred Mercier]]

-gabrielle

PS. In case you are wondering, I got A's in both Financial Accounting and Statistics. 

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