If I've learned one thing this past year in college it's that planning ahead is everything. I am not taking any summer classes, but this summer I will be studying - a lot. In high school getting A's came easy to me; I didn't have to do much work, and I always seemed to grasp concepts easily. But college is a whole other ball game.
Since math was my favorite, and easiest, subject growing up I figured Calculus would be my easiest course this past semester. Then I failed. Yup, that's right, I got a straight up F. Seeing that letter on my transcript broke me; I had never experienced a failure like that. After I got over my immediate shock I signed up to take the class again in the fall in order to change my grade and receive the credit.
I started thinking about how I could approach it differently. I even signed up for an earlier class in order to take it with the most highly rated professor, but I couldn't help but think that I could be doing more. When my friend Sarah mentioned that she already ordered a book for her fall Biology class and was going to start reading it, I got an idea. I immediately looked up the book I would need for my new calculus class ( I used an online one last semester ) and found it for $20 using the College Prepsters' textbook link. When you find a college textbook for less than $100 you order it immediately, so it's safe to say when I found it for $20 I was extremely excited.
If starting your freshman year and are nervous about a class, or your a returning student and know you're about to go up against a tough class, consider prepping over the summer!
If you make all your study materials (i.e. flashcards, organized textbook notes, notes from helpful videos) it will give you background knowledge for when you actually begin the course, and allow you to truly learn and study without having to spend time creating all these materials.
I know that having this summer to focus on the fundamentals of calculus is going to be extremely helpful. Especially when I'm back at school and have other classes to do work for. I know that I'll already be prepared and therefore less nervous.
Do you have any summer classes or ones you're preparing for?
xoxo
AME
