GVSU Do Something Guide 2012

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As a resident assistant, relevant and interesting programming is a must. That said, most colleges catalog events and resources in a guide for new students to easily keep with them to offer advice and provide contact information for many of their related departments. The attached GVSU Do Something Guide 2012 is a rich, detailed resource that is relevant to freshmen-seniors and written by college students for college students. The guide is self-explanatory and will definitely assist new students with answering their questions, prompt critical thinking, and understanding new concepts they may not have considered/realized were relevant. Page 7 outlines my personal advice to new students.

Mario Adkins is a senior at Grand Valley State University (GVSU).When not drawing or playing his favorite video games, he can be found on campus facilitating programs and events as both a resident assistant and vice president of membership for GVSU’s OΔK Circle–a national leadership honor society. Follow him on Twitter @zerolocked.

Mastering the ‘Text’ in Textbooks

Textbooks are an almost necessary part of most college classes, and there is a huge difference between reading them and reading them. That said, below are five helpful ways to better understand the nouns, verbs, adjectives, graphs and photos placed together in most college textbooks.

Find Key Terms & Content 

It’s 2012, and many college textbooks today are a multimedia force. Writing wise, anecdotes and quotes combined with the author’s style of writing make up most of the text. This is to make the reading easy to understand and relevant to the student. It’s here where students need to differentiate what’s making the text easy to read and what needs to be known for exams. Underlined, bolded and italicized words or phrases and a HUGE indicator. Repetition is also a hint for context that should be remembered. Finally, photos and graphs often highlight subject-wise concepts that a student should focus on due to the complexity and subdivision of chapters.

Highlighting / Sticky-Notes

Many students use a highlighter to make notes of key sections of a textbook. This is kool because you focus on the most relevant, useful content that needs to be learned. Also, it creates a more refined chapter for students choosing to reread the chapter later. YES some students reread them! My choice of note taking is off sticky-notes. They act as bookmarks for different pages and allow you to write  in the book (on the sticky-notes!) for general notes, definitions, or relevant class lecture. You can also make a nice study guide with them instead of flipping back and forth through highlighted pages.

Test Yourself

Many textbooks have specific pages that test your knowledge at the end of chapters or sections. A few examples of these are defining words/concepts,  multi-choice questions and writing assignments. Though these are often optional, they really reinforce the knowledge that should be taken from the reading, meaning these can be helpful for exam preparation. Finally, many textbooks nowadays have an online component that is activated by either a code that came with the textbook or just visiting the companion website.

The Whole Chapter VS The Chapter Summary 

Alright, first and foremost, reading the end chapter summary  is not a shortcut substitution for reading the entire chapter. Most textbooks have an end chapter summary that summarizes the chapter together because typical textbook chapters themselves are broken up by content and context. The goal of the chapter summarization is to re-piece the puzzle together, not complete it from that ‘skip ahead’ chapter summary reading.

Bookmark

Taking a break when needed is key! Yes, it’s good to complete your assigned readings, though it’s all for nothing if external or internal factors are in the way (tiredness, schedule, Xbox). It’s always recommended to read when you have  total focus, so if it isn’t there substitute it with a bookmark.

 

With all that said, how do you read your textbooks?

 

Mario Adkins is a senior at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). When not drawing or playing his favorite video games, he can be found on campus facilitating programs and events as both a resident assistant and vice president of membership for GVSU’s OΔK Circle–a national leadership honor society. Follow him on Twitter @zerolocked.

RA = Resource Accessible

The acronym ‘RA’ has more than just its standard meaning of Resident Assistant, it actually means Resource Accessible. This is because being a resource for students and being easily accessible is the most important part about being an RA. Though there are many resources new students have, I have outlined the top five in no specific order. Any new students reading this you are not just limited to these five, asking simple questions such as “what time is it?” is are also welcomed!

Information

Information is the first thing new college students will want, specifically those living on their own for the first time. From directional information of the campus to laundry rules, the questions are always specific and RAs must always provide answers. However, this does not mean RAs must have knowledge of everything. Referring a student to a specific area is the key. For example, if a student wants to change their major an RA should direct them to the counseling and career center so this can be done officially and after discussion.

Events/Programming

Most new students are not accustomed to campus life, nor might they know where many campus events are. An RA plans events and programs in two ways. In-Area and Out-Area. In-Area events and programs are planned and facilitated by the RA(s) in their area so student never have to go far for something entertaining. Out-Area events are events RAs take students to that may be going on around campus, such as a homecoming event, a service projects or a campus-wide conference. These events are  usually academic-based or recreational-based.

Mediation 

Mediation = conflict resolution. In college many students have never had their ideas challenged or their style of living questioned. This can cause issues when this conflicts with a roommate’s living style–and the RA is the first resource for students. In no way is conflict destructive, in actuality it is constructive. Life is all about learning and becoming adaptable to different circumstances, and RAs aim to help roommates by encouraging them to create a fair game plan that works for them both–not in compromising, in collaborating.

Counsel

Low grades, homesickness, boyfriend/girlfriend issues and depression are just a few issues RAs may encounter from their new students. Everyone has their down days, and the most important aspect to remember is that these feelings are momentary–meaning they’re not forever. With that said, RAs aim to assist students by stating the problem, understanding how/why it’s affecting them, and working on a solution to remedy the issue. It is here where RAs use their discernment in knowing if they can successively remedy an issue or make a necessary referral for the student.

Entertainment!

Every RA has their own way of having fun with their students. From football outside, cooking and even watching a movie in Kirkhof’s theater, the options are endless! I’ll have an Xbox in my room so any of my students are more than welcomed to get beat in MW3 or defeated in HG! Though college is all about learning and doing new things, sometimes it’s doing your favorite hobbies with new friends that turns them into lasting ones.

[The site zerolocked – The Keys of An RA, will always proceed ‘RA’ with the article ‘an’ and not ‘a’, unless the word is spelled out–hence forth known as the RA Rule. This is because annunciation-wise, RA = Are. The grammatical rule is that if the word after the article is a vowel then an is used, while consonants use a. (An article, A vowel). There are exceptions to the rule. You would say “An Xbox”, even though X is a consonant. Again, annunciation-wise Xbox = Ex, so the RA Rule applies!]