Tools for Success Essay

Tools for Success
Throughout the semester, I attended four of the Tools For Success workshops. Since I participated in the Super Sharks program, I was required to go to four of them. The workshops I attended were “Academic Integrity and Your Success,” “Undergraduate Advising,” “Winning at Math,” and “Stress Management.” These all took place in the Knight Auditorium during lunchtime. These workshops were meant to help freshmen succeed in their first year of college.
The first workshop I attended was “Academic Integrity and Your Success.” The presenters included two faculty members and a current undergraduate student. They informed us of what exactly academic integrity means. Some of the acts that violate academic honesty are cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, and plagiarism. When writing papers, students should always submit original work that was prepared for that specific assignment, and reference the author of the other work if you use any. They also told us that some professors use Turnitin.com, which picks out all the plagiarism in the student’s paper. They also told us that there are many consequences for academic dishonesty, including expulsion, suspension, verbal warning, failing the course, and any other consequence that the university decides on. This workshop was very informative as it applies to every student on campus, and academic dishonesty could lead to many problems.
The second workshop I attended was “Undergraduate Academic Advising.” They started by going over the procedure for picking out classes every semester. You should first look at your CAPP to see what you program requirements are, meet with your advisor, and pick your classes using Course Wizard. They also gave us the new phone number for academic advising, since all the counselors merged to one office in the Mailman building. This workshop was helpful, but the lady presenting was giving out prizes during the presentation and giving out the prizes took more time she should’ve used. She spent about 15 minutes presenting, and the other 25 giving away prizes. This workshop could have covered a lot more important information. The third workshop I attended was “Winning at Math.” This workshop gave us tips on how to succeed in our math courses and on our exams. The presenters were two math professors from our university. They talked about the different resources available, such as tutoring and DVDs available in the tutoring center. They also gave us tips on note taking and how to use different strategies to understand the material better. They said that even if the professor does not grade the homework assignments, we should still do them in order to prepare for the tests. This workshop would have been helpful if I was struggling in math, but math is my strongest subject, so this workshop was not as helpful as the other workshops I attended.
The fourth workshop I attended was “Stress Management.” This was by far the most helpful workshop I attended. The presenter told us about different things that can cause stress, and made us fill out a questionnaire so we could see how much stress we have in our lives. She then told us about different symptoms associated with stress. These included fatigue, weaker immune system, lack of sleep, and change in eating habit, etc. She then gave us tips on how to be less stressed, such as doing work on time, and told us about resources on campus that we can use, such as the counseling center. Her workshop was the most helpful since I was really stressed out this semester and I was able to use some of her tips to decrease my level of stress.
The four Tools for Success workshops I attended were very informative. I was able to learn new information that I will try to use during the rest of my undergraduate years, as well as take with me for later in my life. I wish I had attended some of the other workshops, as I am sure they would have been helpful too. Tools for Success was definitely a great resource and every student that attends this university should attend at least one workshop every semester. The information I learned in these workshops will help me be successful in all the courses I take.