Aminah Shareef

In high school, I never tried my hardest, but I always received good grades. I never had to actually study or do homework but when I came to college, everything was different. In high school, my teachers would tell me how different college would be, but I never listened. College allows you to be independent and make your own decisions; everything is up to you so when I came to college, I knew I wasn’t able to do what I did back in high school. I started to become more organized but I soon learned being organized wasn’t the only thing I had to do. I had to do things that would eventually help me pursue my career.

My career plan is to graduate from college in four years, have a degree in Early Childhood Education and become an elementary school teacher. Before I came to college, I knew the basic steps to achieve my goal but after my first semester, I started to understand exactly what I had to do. With organization, I also have to develop better studying skills, reading skills, math skills, and since I’m an auditory learner, note cards and highlighters will help me a lot more with each skill. My weakness is studying, but I learned I needed to set aside more time to actually study. When I do study, I remove all of my distractions, which helps me study a lot better. I make sure I make studying enjoyable, by making books, having colored notecards and studying with a study group. To finish achieving my goals, I will continue to find ways to help me understand my work in college.

When I first started college, I didn’t set my learning standards as high as I should have, but now that it’s the end of the first semester, I learned to set my standards high and to achieve my goals; I have to work hard for it instead of barely working hard. My success plans are to manage my time by setting aside time every day to study and go over my work. Before, I would fail my Biology tests in college because I didn’t apply myself enough. I didn’t study as much, or use what I had to help me. Now, I study every day and make sure before there’s a test, I understand all of the information. I knew I was capable of having good grades in that class, but at the beginning of the semester I didn’t have the right tools to do so but taking the LLED class has helped me a lot with that.

After the LLED class, it’s helped me figure out where I went wrong and Mrs. Wise knows every way to help me in each of my classes to help me have a better understanding. Studying use to be boring to me and I never wanted to do it and now, I have no problem studying because I make it fun for me. Success comes with a lot of work but if you know how to manage the work, the work becomes very easy. I’m excited to start the next semester, because I have so much knowledge now that will help me succeed, and accomplish all of my goals.