Tip #7: Keep your life scheduled, but not too scheduled

College: the time to join new clubs, have fun experiences, make lifelong friends, and become a Lady Boss engineer in the process. To accomplish all these amazing things, it’s important that you heed my semi-professional advice. Despite the challenges that studying to become an engineer can present, your college experience can and will be amazing with the help of an old friend: scheduling.

Google is my best friend—not simply because I can search the winning score of the latest Penn State football game; but I am also able to utilize Google Calendar to help keep track of my potentially hectic life. Learning how to organize my time has allowed me to succeed both in and outside of the classroom.

At the start of each semester, before I even set foot in a classroom, I love to upload my course schedule into a calendar. This provides a strong basis from which I can supplement my spare time with productive and entertaining activities. Color coding—or creating individual calendars based on categorized activities—is a helpful way to keep an organized and aesthetically pleasing schedule. One of my favorite pieces of advice to give to incoming first-year students is to take advantage of professor office hours. These spaces of time are wonderful opportunities to meet, engage with, and learn from your instructor. Upon receiving class syllabi, the second item added to my semester calendar are the days and times of office hours. Placing these in a separate color from that of your coursework will help to remind and motivate you to attend these informative sessions.

         Although important, academics are not all that defines your experience as a Penn State student. To maintain a healthy lifestyle, both mentally and physically, it is important to participate in activities outside of the classroom. Two of my favorite past times include running and yoga. These exercises provide time to relieve the stresses of academia. In creating my semester schedule, I like to set aside at least one hour per day to participate in some sort of activity (i.e. running, yoga, SWE, SSAE, etc.). Placing this space into my calendar challenges me to escape from the demanding world of engineering.

         Providing time to complete coursework and study is another essential characteristic of my calendar. At the beginning of each semester, updating my schedule with homework, project, and exam dates per the class syllabi allows me to allocate proper amounts of time to each class. To further organize my studies, at the beginning of each week, I like to make a list of all upcoming assignments and exams, then I proceed to block a certain amount of time each day that I can devote to succeeding at my academics.

         Although your first-year of college may seem daunting, it is important to remember that there are resources out there (WEP 😊) that intend to help you succeed. Understanding how to manage both time in and outside of the classroom is an important key to success. Google calendar doesn’t have to be your go-to organizational technique. Utilizing sticky notes on your laptop, the corkboard in your dorm, a notebook, planner, etc. will allow you to maintain a healthy college lifestyle during your time as a Nittany Lion!

By: Katie Strohm (Mentor Team E)

Summer Options: Classes

Ah summer! A great time to relax by the pool, have fun adventures, travel, eat ice cream, you name it. Who would ever think to take class in the summer? Why struggle through lectures and exams when it is 90 degrees and sunny?

I had the same feelings after my first year of college. Transitioning from high school to university is not an easy task. To think of continuing your education during the summer after your first year seems crazy; however, not only is the summer a great time to get ahead (or catchup) on coursework, there are plenty of options when it comes to studying during the heat of the year!

There is a major difference between coursework in college and in high school. Not only do you juggle multiple classes per semester, but the amount of coursework jammed into that 15-week session can seem overwhelming during your first go-around at school. Although it is expected that you give each class your best efforts academically and that you should seek help (no matter the form) when you are having an issue with a professor, course material, etc., completing a course at University Park may not be the destined route for your first year. Completing an engineering degree is a process. The four years you put into achieving your dreams will be filled with stress, but also plenty of success. Not only are we, as a leadership team, here to help you succeed, we also wish to provide advice that will steer you on the right path towards your engineering goals.

Summer begins earlier in college (beginning of May) and lasts a lot longer (mid/end of August) than that of a summer break in high school. Typically, Penn State, its commonwealth campuses, community colleges, etc. will offer multiple 5-8 weeks sessions throughout the summer that are available for students to complete coursework. For example, as a Penn State student, you can complete coursework at University Park or any of the commonwealth campuses offered by the University. These are great options for students that will spend a summer at University Park in research or who live close to a commonwealth campus. Beginning a couple of days after the end of the spring semester, Penn State students may enroll in what is termed “Maymester.” This academic session lasts approximately 1 month and can be completed at University Park or any of the subsequent commonwealth campuses. Depending on the campus, Penn State also offers two summer sessions (5-6 weeks) where students can complete full courses.

For more information about course offerings during Summer Sessions at Penn State, please visit: https://handbook.psu.edu/content/summer-sessions

For those students who don’t wish to remain at University Park over the summer or live out-of-state, Penn State also offers a list of online coursework that can be completed throughout the summer months.

For more information about online course offerings through Penn State, please visit:

http://summer.outreach.psu.edu/

A great resource for students that will not be on-campus or in-state during the summer are online courses offered by non-Penn State universities, community colleges, or other academic institutions. For example, if you live in Ohio, but wish to complete Math 141 or Physics 211 or 212 during the summer months, community colleges in your area or around Pennsylvania are an option for enrolling in online summer credits.

For those students that are in-state, but cannot attend a commonwealth campus, completing credits in person at a community college or other academic institution is a wonderful option.

To review the equivalency of a course offered by another institution to that of the Penn State course you wish to take, please visit: https://www.admissions.psu.edu/my_admissions/tas/cart.cfm?CFID=129755533&CFTOKEN=62a195756d9ebca9-A0A5C2D8-E586-9FDB-35A6EDB7B127D893

This link acts as a “Transfer Course Evaluation Guide” that will help you determine if the course you wish to take is sufficient for use as a Penn State credit. Remember, those courses taken at another institution (besides Penn State and its commonwealth campuses) will only count for course credit and will not affect your GPA standing. For those courses taken online (through Penn State) or in attendance to a Penn State campus, your final course grade will count for credit and towards your GPA standing.

I hope you are ready to rock first year (and summer)!

By: Katie Strohm