Week 1 Blog: Campus & Community Engagement

With the first week of college classes beginning, students are trying to get settled in with their classes and become more comfortable with the workload and schedule that they are given. In the midst of the chaos of the first week, students, like myself, need to find ways to become more open and willing to accept help from others around us. With this in mind, students have plenty of chances to act on the opportunities available as there are plenty of peers, mentors, resources, and faculty willing to assist and provide healthy relationships that will give students a firm standing in their freshman year and onward.

Our First-Year Experience class tackled the word 'engage' in order to depict what the word meant to ourselves and others and show what it means to be engaged. Many students had a different point of view or perspective on how they interpreted the word 'engage'. Some peers in the class mentioned that to be engaged meant to be attentive or aware of the conversation or the situation at hand. Others claimed that being engaged meant to be involved in a conversation, group of friends, or even the local community. I spoke of how being engaged means to be present in the situation and participate in whatever a person may be doing. After our class discussion, we watched a TED talk called 'The Other 4.0 That Matters In College & Life' where Jullien Gordon talks about the importance of making the most out of your college experience. The speaker says that with the rising price of college and the uncertainty of getting a job after college, students need to not just tuck themselves away in their dorms just focusing on the academic side of college. Students need to get involved in their campuses and communities and capitalize on any opportunity that is presented to them. Connections and support with people will help push a student's goals and dreams further as having just a 4.0 GPA and a degree will not guarantee a person a job.

While being engaged in our campus and bettering ourselves is important, students like myself tend to be uncomfortable asking for help from others. Alina Tugend of the New York Times wrote an article called 'Why is Asking for Help so Difficult?' to give detail on the reasons why people have trouble asking others around them for help. For me, I hate to ask for help sometimes because it makes me feel uneasy and vulnerable as I do not like depending on another person for assistance with my own problems. I typically do not want to burden another person with my issues. Even though I feel this way, being vocal about my concerns and situations with my life is crucial because it will be more efficient to be straightforward in asking what I need help with then trying to figure things out myself.

Personal Reflection

The weekend before the first day of classes brought on its own types of stress and worries as I was unsure that my financial aid and scholarships would come in before the payment deadline for my first semester of my college experience. This stress trickled down into my classes on the first day of the semester as I was not very focused during classes since I was worried about if my classes, food, university fees, and housing were even paid for. In the midst of this, there are resources and people on the Georgia Southern campus that can assist my questions and concerns so that I could focus on my academics. While I was slow at first to ask for assistance, it was and still is very crucial for me to ask for support. After dealing with my financial worries, I can now focus on my academic needs. There are two major places that I can go to address my academic needs. For my struggles in my English class I can go to the Academic Success Center which is located in the Henderson Library. The Success Center can provide a mentor or tutor to me in order to develop and improve my knowledge in the English classes I have. The Writing Center located in the Department of Writing and Linguistics is another place that can help me in my English classes as the center can help improve my writing. The center provides sessions where they can help improve my writing style and guide me to resources that can further my knowledge and perspective in writing. These two resources will be detrimental in improving my speech and writing as it will help me gather up my thoughts when I am talking to another person or engaging myself in a conversation. Going to these centers also provides the opportunity for me to engage in my campus as I am getting involved with several different programs and centers in order to better myself. Bettering myself in this way will allow me to set my best foot forward and focus harder on my dream by making steady progress in my major by completing and gaining knowledge in my classes.

Resources:
https://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/fye/students/first-year/on-campus-resources/
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/business/07shortcuts.html?pagewanted=all
https://onbeing.org/blog/the-disease-of-being-busy/
http://cogdellmendrala.com/portfolio_page/zach-s-henderson-library/
https://cec.georgiasouthern.edu/it/