At the end of the fall semester, I ask my first year students to each write on an index card one thing they learned their first semester in college. I tell them that they can include things they learned in the residence halls or from their friends or in any class. Then I shuffle the cards and read them aloud. Here's what they wrote this year. I learned how to write lab reports and do research.
I learned how to freewrite – and why.
I learned to get up on my own instead of my Mom waking me up.
It’s means
it is. And that’s the only time the word needs an apostrophe.
I’ve learned how to work on an average of 13 hours of sleep per week.
The frustrating and amazing complexity of Biology. Not only the organisms, but also the numerous terminologies.
The really depressing effects of Chernobyl.
Facts about Lyme disease.
I learned that chameleon tongues are hydrostatic skeletons. Their short and fat tongues have a set of muscles that will stretch the tongue out so that the chameleon can catch its food.
This semester I learned that if I’m going to do something, I should take my time with it. Patience has a way of revealing answers.
Outdoor classes rule!
PowerPoints are BORING. And I want to stab myself every time I sit through one.
My high school math teachers were awesome.
Mountaintop removal really sucks.
How to use facebook.
I learned how to procrastinate. And that’s not a good thing.
How to make solar cells.
How to share a room with another person.
How very many hippies there are.
Why everyone loves the state fair.
Tiger Woods is a playa.
Budgeting your time is super important.
That it’s 2.3 miles from my dorm bed to the entrance of the library.
Snow is cute. So far.
Politics are hard to avoid.
I learned that you have to study way more in college than you do in high school.
I learned that there is never enough time to sleep AND get your homework done.
Also -- hugs are more necessary than you might think.
I learned to take more responsibility and to be more independent. I also learned what it feels like to be stressed, lonely, happy, confused, and what my family means to me.
I learned that squirrels can see in color.
Parasites have it easy.
