It's started with an apology... followed by advice

Can I just begin by apologizing at how much I let go of the blog! I'm truly sorry, this A&P class has taken over my life and I haven't blogged since. The course is/was 6 weeks, and has been so demanding that every spare second I had was spent studying for the course. I'm a little more than half way through considering that Monday is the last week of Lab and the following Wednesday is my final for the lecture. It's safe to say I've done well enough in the course, the last time I checked *this past Wednesday* I had a 85% in the lab, and an A in the lecture (she didn't give me the percent for that one). I'm hoping I can keep those, or make the 85% better when it comes time to finish the classes. I won't be stress free until I know what grades I got, but I will say this, there's nothing like taking a course, and feeling great through the whole course. I don't think I've ever studied for a class as much as I have for this class. 

If you want my advice, don't take anatomy until your last semester. People might say that's crazy, and you should always take easier classes towards the end, but I think that is bogus! When you start college you're transitioning from high school, and its a big change. You should start off with your basic core curriculum, and make your way up to the higher level, more intense courses. When I started college my first semester was ENC1101 or English Comp, MAC1105 or College Algebra, CHM1032 or General Chemisty (literally just the basics of chemistry), and HCP0001 or Health Careers Core Curriculum, which basically just taught us the basic in health care. How to put sterile gloves on, how to take vitals, how to wash your hands, etc. These classes were all the basic requirements in college, and I took them first, then I went on in my second semester, not knowing how difficult it was going to be, and took A&P 1. It's safe to say that I failed that class, and I can explain why. 

When you start college, your mentality is still the same as when you were in high school. You expect your professors to be as helpful as your high school ones, in that when you miss an assignment, they accept it late and they pretty much baby you. In college, you miss an assignment, then you've missed that assignment, unless you get one of those professor who really don't want to see you fail, and work with you. Regardless, you don't think about studying, and you don't think about working as hard. It really does take the few easy classes in the beginning of your college career to learn just how much you have to put in to school, and how much you have to study. 

The first time I took A&P, I wasn't spending that much time studying, I would go about college the same I did with high school, minimal effort, and to be honest, it worked with the few 'easy' core classes. When I took A&P I learned just how wrong I was about studying, and I had a lot to learn about how to study effectively. For me, it's important you learn that before you take the classes that will effect you in the long run, because you don't want those on the admission committee going through your application wondering, "Why did she get an F?" "Did they not put forth maximum effort?" "Do we want someone like this in our program?" 

It's not to say that you can't ever fail a class, hell I failed A&P with an F in the lecture and a WF (withdrawl fail; I stopped showing up) in the lab, and I'm still going to get in the program. I'm just saying you don't want that on your record because you don't want people to question you and keep a close watch on you. 

I'm retaking the class and hoping that I'm getting an A in the end. This way the nursing admissions committee can see how much I've grown and changed over the years, and they may give me a shot. But speaking from experience, you don't want to be scared about what's going to happen to you because of one grade, just listen to this advice, and when you've learned how to study effectively in college, start taking your more difficult classes. It'll help you so you can pass with flying colors! Trust me! 

I'm not expert, and I'm not a college adviser, but I'm speaking from personal experience! College isn't a joke, it's your future, and you should take responsibility in making sure you have a good experience, but you also have good grades.