New Semester, Different Challenges

If we learned anything from last year, it’s that plans change and it’s hard to not “know” what can happen. Last semester was a little hard for me, but I came out of the semester stronger, and I’m happy about that. I’ve struggled with mathematics my entire life so when I took my math class last semester, I was terrified of the outcome and wondered if I could even pass. To be completely honest, I crashed and burned in the course but, through that experience, I learned that not every class structure works for everyone. I took the advice of my advisor in the Business Advisement Center and a specialist over in the Career Center and I made some pretty interesting moves.

Two colleges and only one of me

I had been reminded that different teachers often teach the same material in different ways, so why not try a different school, course structure, and professor. As a result, this semester I decided to branch out from Missouri State and take my math course through St. Louis Community College. Don’t get me wrong…I love MSU. But when you know things aren’t working out, you have to try something else. Both schools are great at what they do for students and their departments work in similar fashions, so knowing how I wanted to do things, and what I was even doing, to begin with, was very helpful.

So far so good

It’s week four and I can say that I’m doing a pretty good job managing my coursework through both schools so that I’m not falling behind or stressing myself out to get everything done. All my classes are online this semester, but the math course is the first class I have had with a scheduled class period for using video conferencing. I know that I have to work hard to get the best results while staying in tune with my four other classes from Missouri State but I have to take on the challenge to get where I need to be.

During the break after the fall semester, I took time to figure out what I wanted and I made the big decision to declare communications as my minor. My classes from MSU are COM-focused for the term while my class from St. Louis Community College is just a math course, so everything at this point is balanced nicely. This is probably best described as dual enrollment from both MSU and St. Louis Community College.

Here’s the lesson I’ve learned the hard way: doing things a little differently can help you out more than sticking with something that doesn’t work for you.

I wanted to share this experience because many students take classes from other places for financial reasons or because it’s more convenient or fits their needs better. It’s okay to try different things or to find help in other places; don’t let a challenge stop you in your tracks for too long.

~Alexandria

(Bio: I’m the middle child of seven kids in my immediate family. I’m currently a junior business major at Missouri State University.)