Nice Weather, Good Luck Studying

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Robert

The first truly beautiful day of the year came today, just three days after the biggest snowstorm of the year. Some blame global warming, I just call it luck. Out on the quad between ANW and DMC, two dorm buildings by the gym, students were strewn about with laptops, with laptops and blankets; some tanning, some studying…most tanning. You can’t pass up a beautiful Saturday afternoon in early March.

One fun thing to do at McDaniel when the weather gets nice is run a trail around the golf course. It’s beautiful, the grass smells nice and is a nice soft landing for your knees, and there are plenty of hills. You also cannot overlook the fact that one lap around the course is one mile. In the springtime you can see plenty of students using this trail to get in shape and get outside.

Others who are more desperate to get outside, but can’t take a break from their homework take advantage of the courtyard outside of the library. It provides a nice, quiet study place while still allowing students to enjoy a nice day. There’s also a statue that some have nicknamed “The Pissing Rock” because of the slow trickle of the fountain that is reminiscent of…you guessed it. Anyways it provides a nice tranquil feel to the courtyard and makes it one of the most popular study spots on campus.

Personally, I took a jog on the golf course, worked out in the gym, then tried my luck getting homework done while lounging out on the quad. I was unsuccessful and ended up playing pick up soccer with some of my friends. Either Way, this week has come with a few crazy weather trends and while they haven’t been the most conducive to studying they were certainly great for hanging out and enjoying good company.

No need to feel stressed

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Amber Slater

It’s easy as a freshman to feel overwhelmed by the never-ending assignments that pile on your desk or the amount of due dates scribbled in your planner. As the years go on, it can feel similarly daunting to take classes outside of your major or even take a 3000-level class in your own field of study. Luckily, there are several steps that you can take to remedy the stress caused by difficult coursework.

The five-step plan to get the grade you want:

Set goals. When you know that you’re about to start a rough semester, think about what you’d like to accomplish. Do you want to go for an A? Or maybe just gain more of an appreciation of the subject matter? Write down your goal and try to look back on it throughout the semester.
Take advantage of office hours and tutoring hours. All professors have time slated in their week to talk to you about upcoming assignments or things that you don’t understand. Additionally, a lot of departments offer tutoring hours on a weekly basis. Making the extra effort to talk to your professor or attend a tutoring session shows that you’re dedicated to the class and can help sort out questions you might have.
Use a planner. On top of all your school work, you’ll have to balance your work schedule and meetings, so make things easy on yourself and write down all of your commitments rather than trying to memorize them. I write down everything from lectures to reminders to get my hair cut.
Start in advance. This should seem like a no-brainer, but it can be fairly hard to execute when you have a class, work, practice, and are attempting to maintain a social life. Try to block off manageable chunks of time to research for that big term paper that’s due at the end of the semester starting about a month in advance. That way, you’ll be organized and maybe even finished when your classmates are starting to freak out about how little time they have.
Drill your vocabulary and facts. This can apply to Spanish vocabulary, math formulas, or dates for a history class. Make flash cards and when you have a few minutes to spare during a car ride or while waiting for a class to start, pull them out and flip through them. When it comes time for that big test, you’ll feel less of a need to cram and the answers will come to you more easily.

Tough semesters don’t seem quite so ominous if you take time to plan and make the effort to write down assignments and communicate with your professors. Even though we’re currently more than halfway through the semester, you can still employ these ideas to boost your grades for finals or start using them next semester!

It’s important to take a break sometimes too…

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Robert

Fall Break means changing leaves, beautiful Fall weather, time with family, and, most importantly, a break from the stress and rigor of school. For me it meant homework, studying, reading, and, most importantly, becoming a recluse so that I wouldn’t fall any further behind in my classes than I already had. I spent Friday and Saturday on campus, and after deciding that I really did miss my parents enough that I had to go home, I through my laundry and my books into my car and drove home.

Anyone will tell you that since Fall Break falls right after midterms, their homework load is usually pretty light. Teachers give students a temporary breather before slamming them in the second half of the semester between homework and eventually finals. I was less than enthused that I had such a heavy homework load, and was not the best guest to my family since I spent most afternoons locked in my room working. Then I realized that I had a sizable presentation due on the history of Wine due on the first day back from break, which added greatly to my stress. I felt alone in my struggle, especially since I didn’t have any of my school friends nearby to lean on.

Thanks to the invention of Skype, I managed to get unite virtually the friends with whom I was working on the presentation. I had expected that I would largely be leading the assignment since that is the way these things go, but each of them told me they had been doing a little bit of work on theirs all along and were finishing them up and even offered to help me do my portion of the project. I was overjoyed but still had a lot to do. At this point my friend Barney texted me and told me that he and my friends Kyle, Carleigh, and Nicole were down in my area and going rollerblading and that I should take a break and join him. After some hesitation I decided that I would rely on the help of my peers in getting the assignment done and allow myself a break.

What a great choice that was. It’s nice when a community, like the one at McDaniel, is so much a part of your life that you’re a part of it even when you’re an hour away. Thanks to my friends I too was able to have a Fall Break too, I was even reminded by Barney to spend my final day at home with my parents instead of with my laptop which was a much needed. I was reminded that while the family I have at home is important to me, the family I have at McDaniel is equally important, possibly more so, because they keep me grounded when I forget what is important. I don’t recommend falling behind on your assignments, but it’s important to realize that working yourself to death is no way to live.

Best places to study on campus

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Amber Slater

We have midterms on campus this week, so everyone is looking for the perfect place to cram before exams. Personally, I have a hard time studying unless it is quiet around me. Over the years, I’ve sampled several places, and I’ve found a few that work really well for me:

The silent floor of the library

The perimeter of the L floor is lined with large desks that give you privacy from other students. I study here the most because there is such little opportunity for distraction. This floor also accomdates to groups, though, as there are two soundproof study rooms.

The balcony behind Academic Hall

I like to go there the most when it is nice outside or when it is dark outside and the football stadium lights are on. The balcony offers tables and chairs as well as a nice view of our athletic facilities. Studying outside is always calming, and I especially like writing papers on the balcony.

Harvey Stone Pavillion

Located at the top of the golf course hill, this pavillion is a bit of a walk from the dorms, but it is definitely worth it. In the middle of the pavillion is a fire pit, and it is surrounded by a circular seating area. While club meetings and other group events often occur here, it’s also nice to be there alone because the area is wooded and secluded.

However you like to study, it’s important to find the places that work for you. Our campus offers locations for groups and individuals, and it’s important to sample different areas to figure out which locations suit your studying style the best.

Gearing Up for Midterms

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Whitney Walker

The fifth and sixth weeks of the semester are always when people realize that Midterms are just around the corner. Two weeks from now, I will be on my way home for Fall Break. As much as I love being on campus and love McDaniel, it is always nice to go home and just relax for a few days. This weekend is not going to be one of those fun weekends for me. Each semester at this point in the semester, I take some time to gather up everything I am going to need for the Midterm. A few of my classes are not doing midterms this year, which on one hand it great, but on the other, I either have a test right before Midterm week or a paper due right after the break. Either way, there is always a lot of work to be done in all my classes. I’ll be spending the majority of my weekend studying for a test on Monday and the rest of it organizing everything for a midterm in one of my classes.
Organization is a huge part of preparing for midterms and finals. For me at least, I find it a lot easier to focus on actually studying the material once all the information has been organized. When I’m studying, my friends will find me in the living room with all my books and notebooks spread across the floor, which looks like a total mess, but is really just organized chaos. A lot of teachers have steered away from giving tests as midterms. Many times you’ll have a group project or presentation due sometime before Fall Break instead, or you’ll have a paper. Even if they don’t give out an actual test, they are still required to give you a mid semester grade. These grades usually go up about a week after midterms have finished. It is very nice to see how you are really doing in all your classes and to figure out which classes you need to spend more time on or pay more attention to. I always get nervous when I check my grades because I am a perfectionist and I always want to have A’s.
One of the most valuable lessons I have learned since coming to college is that the grades really do reflect what work, how much time and how much attention you have given to specific classes. Each class is structured in a way that if you do all the work and retain all the information, an A is not going to be a hard goal to reach, but if you try to cut corners and do the bare minimum, your grade is going to reflect it no matter how many hours before the test you spend cramming information into your head. Managing your time, staying focused, and organizing your notes and books are all things that will contribute to better study environments and better grades on tests and in the class as a whole. Put in the effort and the teacher will reward you.

Shhh…This Is a Library

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Robert

My favorite place to go to study is Hoover Library. Not extremely surprising, nor am I the only one. On any given day, the library is usually packed with students trying to get their work done, printing out a paper on their way to class, or just trying to get a coffee from Casey’s Corner which gets its supplies from Starbucks. The library has five levels, and each has a different feel in terms of studying. The first floor is the main lobby where the entrance is, but above and below are two floors which have various characteristics to offer.

My personal favorites are the second and third floors above the lobby. The second floor, on the far left side, has a wealth of study tables lining the wall overlooking the main quad. In each corner of the floor is a set of comfy chairs and a table that study groups can use for an easy, informal gathering location. I study frequently in the chairs in the front right of the second floor, but lately I’ve been using the tables on the far left because I’ve been falling asleep in the chairs while reading.

The third floor has a huge round desk that rounds the central circle of the library. This is usually a pretty quiet floor since nobody wants to walk all the way up to the third floor. I like to go here when I don’t want anyone I know to disturb me when I’m studying, and my friends all know not to bother me if I disappear up to this floor. I cannot study if it is very loud, and I cannot study if it is completely quiet so the third floor is nice for me since it is mostly quiet but you can catch the residual noise from the second floor every now and then.

The floors below the lobby are very quiet. I don’t like studying on these floors because the quiet always puts me to sleep without fail. While “L” floor is the designated quiet floor, “LL” floor tends to be pretty quiet also. These floors are mostly underground (even though none of the library is technically underground since it is built into a hill) but they very much give that feel, and so they have the feel of being tightly contained and alone and are definitely good study locations for people who enjoy the quiet.

Everyone tends to pick their own favorite study location within their time at McDaniel, and it’s funny which locations some people choose, and why they choose them. It all just depends on what conditions people look for when they’re studying and where they can most closely find that.

Stories from the Hill

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