Stephanie Avants

As an individual in college, I still feel as though I have never found a good way to learn,
and what is the best ways to study, or keep me focused. Throughout recent semesters; however, I
have found certain types of studying or areas will definitely not work for me. One major goal I
want to set high for myself this semester is to stay organized, and on top of my assignments. Last
semester, I had a rough transition with my transfer into Mason, and although I still had a high
GPA, and received good grades in all of my classes, I was not as organized as I would have liked
to have been. One way I can accomplish this goal is by marking homework, events, and other
important details about my assignments or schoolwork into my Google calendar. I enjoy using
Google calendar because not only are there many different colors on the planning screen,
although that is a plus, I can set reminders to appear onto my phone, as well as email me about
what assignments are due when. Paper planners used to work for me, but as technology got more
advanced, I began to neglect them, and avoid looking at them all together. This semester I plan
on putting all my assignments and deadlines into my Google calendar, so I know what is due
when, and I can start to plan accordingly.
Another personal goal I would like to set is to be more open about group collaboration. I
am the type of person who would rather do the work herself, and get it done in a timely manner,
and move on to the next assignment, without having to worry about what others may or may not
have contributed to the assignment. I would like to make this a personal learning goal because
individuals can learn so much from one another, and collaborate ideas off of one another. In
doing so, there may have been ideas thrown around which were not thought about before, or
even combining of ideas to create something completely different. I do not always like group
collaboration because it is stressful, especially in a school setting. If one individual does not

contribute, they still may receive the credit for it, or if they do not do something they were
supposed to, the whole group may suffer. Especially for this course specifically, one could do all
the work on their own, but it would be a lot of work, time, and stress. Working together
collaboratively would help alleviate some of those issues, and possibly create ideas which were
not thought about prior to the assignment.
I hope to achieve both of these goals this semester so I can use them within my future
semesters at George Mason, as well as with future employers.