Hi
everyone,
welcome back to My channel. Hopefully everybody's having a wonderful week.
I decided that this month I'm going to dedicate every video that I
make to college.
So last year I got my MBA and that was a two and a half year program.
And so I was juggling work MBA and a new baby
all at the same time during the last year.
And so I got really good at making sure that I had everything
laid out and I was productive when I could,
in those short amount of times to eventually get my MBA.
The other thing that is happening as well is that both of my kids are starting
community college at the end of this month.
And so it really got me thinking what I'm doing to help them prepare,
because they're asking you a lot of questions asking me for my help.
And so I decided that yeah,
this month is going to be all about what worked for me,
what advice I'm giving my kids and how you can get ready to have a
successful time in college. And for those who don't know me,
my name is Shevonne and I talk about productivity organization work-life balance
and just life in general with two young adults and a baby. So with that said,
let's go ahead and get started.
So the first thing that I recommend is going to the campus
before school actually starts many times,
especially in four year colleges, they have orientations and you can do that.
When I was doing my MBA,
they actually had a whole day of orientation where we talk to the Dean,
to the library, staff, to the professors,
and just got an understanding of what the program would be about as well
as I was able to meet my cohort and the people who I went through this whole
journey with that was really nice.
And the other thing is if your campus does not offer that,
then try to see if there's a tour that you can join,
or you can just go on your own. And that's what I'm going to do this Friday.
I'm going to take the kids.
We're going to go to the campus and just go there and explore,
try to figure out where their classes are.
Try to get an understanding of like where the student affairs offices,
where the financial aid offices,
where everything is just layout of the land.
So when they do go there, the first day of school,
they are not late trying to find their class or get stressed out,
trying to figure out where everything is.
And so that is one thing that I recommend,
whatever way that you go to the campus before your actual classes
start do that, that will help you so so much.
And also make sure that you don't get overly stressed or anxious on your first
day. The other thing that you would also want to do is make sure that you
understand what apps you will need every year. The past is by there more apps,
how apps are there to really help you make sure that you're on top of
everything. In college example, when I was going to James Madison university,
which is where I went from an MBA,
I downloaded the dual app because a lot of the schools are
now requiring students to have two factor authentication or
multi-factor authentication,
which is having more than one level of authentication.
So you can secure your accounts in James Madison.
It was duo for my kids, community college.
I noticed that they are now starting to require that, and it's a different app.
So you want to make sure to understand what apps are needed. James Madison,
we use canvas. It seems like their community college is also using canvas,
but then there's also other colleges that probably are using something else.
I know that when my kids were in like elementary school, middle school,
high school, we use Blackboard. I believe other schools. I think my sister,
um, they had canvas.
So you definitely want to understand what type of apps you will need.
If you are doing online school,
you want to also download any of the meeting apps that you'll be using for
when I started at James Madison, we were using WebEx.
So I downloaded the app because if there was a time that I was either at
work or doing something that I was not able to get home on time,
I was able to get the app connected to my car play.
And I was able to listen into the class until I was able to be in front of a
laptop.
That is definitely a must get to understand what websites are useful,
what apps you'll need, and that will get you started in the technical way.
And one thing that goes along with that is also getting your notifications,
right? A lot of the apps and a lot of the websites,
they do have different notification options that you can play around with.
So make sure to play around with that.
I would recommend that you review it every so often once a
month,
go in there and see what your notification settings are and see what
actually needs to be modified. So an example. So at work,
we use teams, I went ahead and had like,
there's three different options.
And I went with an option where I customized it.
And then today I went in there and I was like,
let me go see what my notification settings are.
And I realized that one of the notifications settings that I had turned off was
one of the reasons why I was not getting any teams, channels notifications.
So I went in and I turned it on.
So that's something you want to do is just go ahead,
always go review what settings you have and see what actually makes sense and
then make any changes that needs to be made and just do that every so often to
tweak whatever settings you already set. One thing I did forget to say,
when I was talking about like visiting the campus,
try to figure out your writing center, there's tutoring centers,
trying to figure out those type of centers as well.
I use those so much when I was doing my undergrad,
I was always trying to get help in the writing center.
And some colleges have tutoring centers. You want to go there.
It's usually free tutoring, free help with your writing to get them,
to give you tips and give you feedback. I, they always recommend that,
like my kids, community college, they also have a tutoring center.
I already told them they better be in there getting to know the tutors,
getting that free tutoring. And if there is one tutor that they really like,
and that tutor offers their own tutoring services. When,
while they're not working at the center,
then you have a tutor that you already built a rapport with and you already feel
comfortable with. And it's a great tutor.
That is something that I do recommend is get out there,
know where your writing center or your tutoring center or any,
they even have like math centers as well.
So you want to get to know those centers and visit them at least once
to get familiar with it. And then I'm telling you, if you go once,
you'll probably go back. A lot of colleges are starting to offer this.
And I think it's so great. They're offering like mentor programs.
If your college does offer like a mentorship program, join it.
Usually it's just a quick application and they'll try to have an interview with
you.
And then you're able to connect with someone that they feel will help guide you
through your college years.
And I have had mentors at work and believe
me, it is so nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of,
especially someone who's already gone through all that and has more experience
and they can guide you. And that's something in college. Yes,
you probably do have your parents or your counselors or other people that are
helping you. But having that one person that you can vent to,
you can say whatever you want to and they won't judge
you and they're there to help guide you and be there.
And to eventually graduate from college,
it is so priceless.
So definitely if your college offers a mentorship program,
sign up for it, it's fine. And you're,
you'll be able to connect with someone who has the experience to guide you
through college.
So even if you're paying for college from your pocket or your parents are,
you want to make sure that you understand the financials huge.
If you are doing financial aid, one thing that you have to realize,
and a lot of colleges have like loan entrance counseling.
So they do like a quick little training course for you to understand that.
But I don't think people really grasp it as they should is.
You are, are.
Going to have to pay that money back. So especially if you're doing that,
or if you're getting scholarships or anything,
any type of funding having to do with college,
you want to understand what that actually is. Get in there,
learn your college financials. Even if you're getting a full ride.
You want to understand what that actually is.
I recommend that you get to know that you review it every semester.
You're not going to be caught at the end of college,
owing a bunch of money or any just weird situation that will arise.
That is something that you really need to be having an understanding about is
the financials, check out the clothes and organizations.
My niece actually created her own organization,
which is something you can do as well. Get out there and know the clubs.
The organizations also know if there is intramural
sports that you can join for your undergrad.
You definitely want to join a club or two,
or even start your own because it's also a good way to meet
people who have the same interests as you.
And maybe it can spark a new friendship. Yeah.
Check out the other clubs and organizations. It won't hurt.
And you might meet a friend or two,
usually a week or two before the classes start, you'll get your syllabus.
Your professor will email it out to you posted on canvas or
whatever similar app that you're using.
You want to go in there and really review the syllabus,
get an understanding of the who the professor is,
his or her office hours.
And I'll talk more about that and just understand like the deadlines that
have been lined in the syllabus and the rules.
You want to make sure you get an understanding of that.
Because usually on the first day of class, you will review your syllabus.
And if you had reviewed beforehand,
you'll be able to jot down some questions to ask the professor.
If you're like me, that asks a lot of questions,
but then also you're someone who thinks about questions after the fact,
you can still email the professor,
but it's nice to just do it in front of everyone,
because then if there is someone else in the room has the same question.
You've answered that question for that person as well.
So that's the reason why it's always great to review the syllabus beforehand.
Or if there's anything that's a discrepancy,
you can email the professor privately and let him or her know.
So when they are in front of the class, they're able to address that.
So I always say review that syllabus and get to know it. The other thing too,
with that syllabus, I said, there is deadlines for different things like exams,
essays,
whatever you want to make sure that you take those dates and you put
it in your planner, calendar,
whatever you're using to be on top of your classes.
And if there isn't a notification that you can set for those reminders,
that's always a plus.
So make sure that you get to understand that syllabus every
word. So you can start off your classes the right way.
So I already talked about, um, the office hours quickly,
but I used to be someone when I was young, I was like,
I am not going to be sitting there kissing, blah, blah, blah.
But that was very immature of me. Now I'm older.
It's not kissing is getting to build a form of relationship with someone
and believe me school and work a lot.
All of it is networking and forming those bonds.
And that is something that you want to do with those office hours.
Go to a couple, go to three. I would say three or more,
go in there and get to know your professors.
Let's say if there's one day that you forget an assignment or something
happens,
the professor will be more lenient on you than someone who has
never shown up to any of the office hours.
You don't know how many students that professor sees.
So you want to make sure that that professor has a new
face to the name and they get to know you go to the office
hours, minimum three times, get to know your professors,
get to know the assistants. They usually have office hours as well.
So you can do like a mix of it, but just go.
That also is free tutoring. And let's say, if you're working on something,
if you go to the professor and ask,
you probably will get a better grade on it because you'll get a better,
a deeper understanding of what the professor is teaching than
someone who never goes to any of the office hours. So just go,
I promise you,
it will help you more than hurt you before I jump into how parents can help.
The last thing I'm going to say to you is get out of your comfort zone.
This is a time that you want to explore,
make mistakes,
take a class that you really hate or take a class that you really love.
You have to get out of your comfort zone. That's why I'm saying join some clubs,
join some organizations, meet people, dues,
just things like honestly being young is
the best thing, because you can do anything you want.
And if you do fail in some way,
always easier to get back up. So I say, take the risk,
get out there and just enjoy your college experience. Okay?
So I've talked about it as a student and what I've told my kids,
but now I'm going to tell you as a parent,
I have been guilty of this.
I think that because our parents
were super strict with us and very hardcore,
we try to be different than our parents because everybody has said it.
I don't want to be like my mom or my dad. Well,
your parents weren't completely wrong.
One thing I will say is parents we have,
or kids too much. My kid, my sister, and I talk about it all the time.
We have cuddled our kids too much. And it's time that we stop.
They need to be their own person. I have told my kids,
they need to get part-time jobs. It have to be 24,
30 hour a week jobs. It could be 10 20 hours,
but they need to do something.
So you want to make sure that they're able to one day stand on their own. Yeah.
Your kids might make mistakes in school. But when they come to you crying,
especially if it's something that they did, don't sit there and try to.
Fix it for them.
Have them deal.
With the consequences of their actions.
Like you don't want to sit there and fix anything for them.
I was always trying to help and fix everything for my kids,
especially with my daughter who has made some mistakes.
I have learned let her deal with the consequences.
And I've noticed that now that she's understand that life, isn't just the,
now you also have to think about the future.
I've noticed that she started to be more responsible and more independent
because I'm not giving her any money. I'm not doing everything for her.
When she started trying to register for community college, she did ask me like,
Hey, can you please help me? Of course, I'm going to help.
I'm always going to be there. So that's my other thing. Be an advisor.
Don't be the person doing everything for them. At this point,
you should be their advisor. If they need any assistance,
any questions, anything you should always be there to help your kids,
but don't initiate it.
And don't jump to help them when they're the ones that got themselves in
whatever mess that they've gotten themselves into,
you are there just to guide them and help them make good choices,
but not to make their choices for them. If that makes any sense.
And just as a parent, just be there to listen.
Listening is something that is so important.
So if your kid comes to you and they're venting about a professor,
they're talking about something, maybe talking about a friend,
they're talking about how, what a crap assignment this is,
or how stressful this is, whatever there they want to talk to you about.
We as parents are there to listen, not give advice,
not jump because I know I'm famous for that. Like, I would always be like, well,
maybe you need do this. Maybe you need that. Nope, don't do that.
Like now I've learned, I just listen.
And if they want my advice or something,
or they want me to help them with something, they will ask me, Hey mom, like,
what do you think, Hey, what should I do?
That's when I will actually respond to what they're saying,
but definitely just be there to listen,
be there to hug them when they're stressed out,
maybe buy them chocolate. That's only because I love chocolate so much,
whatever it is just to help guide them,
but don't do everything for them and let them enjoy college
and learn to be independent and be their own person.
So I hope that this video was helpful.
Let me know what you want to learn about college.
I will be posting more videos about college in the upcoming weeks
and I will talk to you next week. Bye
[inaudible].