Journal #10:
MY LIFE PLAN
My Dream: I’m searching.
My Life Role: Student
My Long Term Goals in this role:
1- Get into Zicklin
2- Get my bachelors degree 2019
3- Internship at a law firm
4- Internship with any business in the food industry.
5- Get my masters degree if I’m financially capable of doing so.
Short Term Goals:
1- Join a sports team. Ideally: Girls soccer team
2- Tutor somebody
3- Pass math 1030.
4- Study for my anthropology final
5- Gather with my study group for anthropology

By designing my life plan I realized that the semester is over. Time in college is very limited and if I want to get things done I need to start now and stop taking it as a joke. Every second counts and everyday that I’m in college I should be doing something that is going to contribute to my long term goals wether that’d be something minor like studying for a class

1. An outer obstacle that stands between me and my success in college is my ability to focus. I tend to worry about everything else around me and others rather than myself .
2. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle is My sister. She is also a college student ,but she’s a senior. Like me she had a difficult time freshmen year so  I look to her for advise.
3. How this person could help me is by guiding me through the college experience. The lessons she has learned she can pass them down to me.
4. An inner obstacle that stand between me and my success in college is my confidence I don’t think I have what it takes to be successful.
5. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this inner obstacle is my best friend she understands what I going through and motivates be to be successful
6. How this person could help me is she can keep on checking up on me if i doing well in college.
7. The most challenging course I’m taking in college this semester is honestly math Ive struggled with my whole academic career its not something I’m confident in.
8. This course is challenging for me because Im just not good in math honestly
9. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this challenge is my teammates because we are all learning the same material.
10. How this person could help me is by studying with one another

2. Write about two or more choices you could make to create a stronger support system for yourself in college.                                                                                                                        Two choices i can make to create a stronger support system is to create a study group and learn the material. Also I can go to my professors office hours.

Write and complete the following sentence stems:
1. An outer obstacle that stands between me and my success in college is the lack of time to study for certain classes and the amount of reading assignments
2. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle is
3. How this person could help me is by
4. An inner obstacle that stand between me and my success in college is my shyness
5. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this inner obstacle is my mom
6. How this person could help me is by keep helping me overcome this obstacle that has been with me for a very long time.
7. The most challenging course I’m taking in college this semester is Anthropology
8. This course is challenging for me because certain material of the class I do not understand very well because the way the professor teaches
9. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this challenge is my anthropology professor
10. How this person could help me is by me going to her office hours to elaborate more on the subject for me to understand better.

2. Write about two or more choices you could make to create a stronger support system for yourself in college.                                                                                                                        Two choices that I could make to create a stronger support system for myself in college is to become more organized and to plan out what things are needed to be completed. As well plan out when it is the best time to study for my classes.

Qasim Ali

Freshman Seminar

Journal #17

• An outer object that stands between me and my success in college is not knowing how to balance hang outs and school, also I have a tendency to procrastinate a lot.
• Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle is my sister. She always motivates me to do the best I can and explains that with the way I work this will catch up to me one day and effect me in a negative way.
• How this person helps me is by giving me examples on what can happen to me if I keep up a slacker attitude. My sister always motivates me so I don’t fall behind.
• An inner obstacle that stands between me and my success in college is laziness and carelessness. I always leave things to last minute and feel ill do them when sometimes I just don’t end up having the time to.
• Someone besides me who could help me over come this inner obstacle is my mother. This is because she knows me better than anyone and can notice when I’m slacking in schoolwork.
• How this person helps me is by simple sitting me down and discussing it with me. There really isn’t any better method and its quite helpful.
• The most challenging course I am taking this semester is History.
• This course is challenging for me because I get long readings to due and I doze off and get distracted very easily when I’m reading them.
• Someone besides me who can help overcome this challenge is my friend from school. They have the same classes from with me and can help me focus better.
• This person can help me by taking me to the library and getting a study room so we can study together.

2. One of the main choices I can make to overcome my studying procrastination barriers is staying longer in school. If I put the time in and stay in the library I will have better work and hopefully better grades on my exams. I can easily achieve this by creating a study group and studying with me fellow peers. This will create a positive learning environment and will be beneficial for everyone. Another choice I can make is talking to my professors to see how I’m doing in their class. Some professor’s even proofread your work to help you do better. This will boost my grade and help me create good relations with my professor.

Qasim Ali

Freshman Seminar

Journal Entry 14

• The system that I use now to decide what to do each day is actually very wrong. It consists more of wanting to socialize rather than do my work on time. I see myself procrastinating a lot more leading me to a lot more stress. I think if I do all my work on time and keep it balanced with the socializing my college life can be a lot easier. With less stress on my head I will efficiently do my work on time and can be relaxed more often throughout the day. However, my system for work and projects is the only one that is wrong. When it comes to studying I tend to do it piece by piece every week and this is very helpful. This helps me to not cram all my studying on the day before an exam also creating less stress.
• Technology in the self-management system can actually be very helpful. This is because you are allowed to create reminders and alarms for things you need to do and when you need to them. In addition, in my case technology can also help when I feel I’m socializing too much. My smartphone can remind that it has been a certain amount of hours and maybe it’ll motivate me to get back to my work.

1. I don’t have a specific system to help me do everything everyday. I just remember to do things and I do them. Sometimes if something is really important I’ll put it in my calendar on my phone so that it can remind me to do it the day of.  With homework, I just check the syllabus all the time to see if I have homework for that day, and then I’ll just do it. When it’s time for tests I don’t have a system either, I just study last minute and hope for the best. I don’t prepare or study days before. I work best under pressure so sometimes getting a head start is not as helpful as it should be. I have been using this “system” my whole life, but I know it will most likely change in college because it won’t continue to work for me if I keep leaving everything for last minute all at the same time. While using this system, I feel calm for the most part until its time to do everything and then I feel a little stressed.
2. The five self-management tools could be helpful in my life but I don’t think I would actually do all of them. The monthly calendar is a good idea because it helps remind me of things that I have to do that day, or things that are due.  The next actions list is also a good idea because it helps remind you of things that you have to do eventually. If I were to use this method I would not put them in quadrants because it’ll just confuse me. I’d just list them and hopefully remember to actually check it. The tracking form is too much work for me, I don’t like this method and would not use it. The waiting-for list is unnecessary because I can just put that information on my phone to help remind me. The projects folder is also too much for me. I usually know where I put things so I wouldn’t need a folder for that. Having a smart phone is helpful because it can help  me use some of these “tools” like the calendar and the next-actions list. Since I am always on my phone, it’ll notify me and remind me of the important things and I’ll remember to check my next-actions list and get things done.

1.  An outer obstacle that stands between me and my success in college is not being able to manage my time which stresses me out. That makes it difficult to do homework and even more difficult to study for any upcoming test.
2.  Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle is my older sister.
3. How this person could help me is by first showing me how to manage my time since she who knows how to manage hers. She can also show me how to prioritize.  I also tend to do what I think is more fun and easy rather than do what is important.
4. An inner obstacle that stands between me and my success in college  is  my tendency to not want to speak in class because of my shyness. I often time do not want to voice my opinion or knowledge on a certain topic due to me believing that I may be wrong even if I am right or that someone might challenge me.
5. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this inner obstacle are my friends.
6. How  this person could help me is encouraging me to talk in class since I do my homework and have my notes in class.
7. The most challenging course I am taking in college this semester is math. I have not been able to completely comprehend the subject.
8. This course is challenging for me because of all the formulas. I never know when to use each formula.
9. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this challenge is a Baruch tutor.
10. How this person could help is me is by teaching me how to ready a question and know which formula to use.

2. Often times people, specifically students do not know about all the resources around them. I feel like I never took full advantage of everything around me. The thing that will greatly impact my academic life is learning to manage my time. I need to focus more and not leave everything until last minute. Another choice I can make in order to create a stronger support system for myself is to not be ashamed to get help. If I need someone’s support I should not feel that I am annoying them. If they can help you chance are they will and if they can’t they will tell you and you can just ask someone else.

1. An outer obstacle that stands between me and my success in college is the lack of time I have to study and review my notes. This leaves me unorganized at times and unprepared for my weekly classes. Most of my times is taken up with work and my commute to and from school.
2.  Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle is my parents.
3. How this person could help me is by motivating me to do better. They are currently motivating me to go to school and make a better life for myself. They reward me when they see I am doing good in school which is an incentive for me to continue doing what I am doing.
4. An inner obstacle that stands between me and my success in college  is  my tendency to procrastinate. I always wait until the last minute to finish my assignments instead of doing it on my free time. I work best under pressure this is why i do possess the tendency of procrastinating.
5. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this inner obstacle is my twin sister.
6. How  this person could help me is by introducing me to her schedule. I like the route she takes to get things done. She has always been a person to get things done prior to the last minute.
7. The most challenging course I am taking in college this semester is Anthropology.
8. This course is challenging for me because the professor does not grab my attention at all. Her method of teaching is not flexible.
9. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this challenge is my SEEK counselor.
10. How this person could help is me is by setting me up with a tutor if it is needed. It is not so challenging that I need a tutor but I know she has these resources available for me whenever I am ready.

2. One choice I can make in order to create a stronger support system for myself is by utilizing and managing my time more wisely. Instead of being so much involved with my social life, I should focus on school more often. I should take a portion of my free time that I have and direct it towards school assignments. I know it will all be worth it at the end. Another choice I can make in order to create a stronger support system for myself is by changing who I hang around with. I have found out over time that the people I am associating myself with do not have the same goals or aspirations as me. Many of my friends are not doing much with their life at the moment and it is becoming overwhelming. I think sooner or later they will just have a negative influence on me.

Zakia Abraham
Freshman Seminar

Journal #17

1)
1. An obstacle that stands between me and my success is that I lack appropriate amounts of study time and the courses are complex.
2. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle an individual that can relate, has experienced and overcame these obstacles.
3. How this person could help me is by giving good advice and/or tips for overcoming these obstacles.
4. An inner obstacle that stands between me and success in college is the lack of confidence I have and constant procrastination.
5. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this inner obstacle is someone that can motivate me.
6. How this person could help me is by giving me good advice and as well as making me feel motivated.
7. The most challenging course I’m taking this semester is Anthropology 1001.
8. This course is challenging for me because it requires critical thinking and a lot of reading that acknowledge complex concepts.
9. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this challenge is peers that are doing well in the course and understand the material as well as the professor.
10. How this person could help me is by sharing tips for simplifying complex concepts and effective study skills.

2) Write about two choices you could make to create a stronger support system for yourself in college:
The lack of confidence I tend to have in college has really had a negative impact on my performance. Courses are sometimes complex and it has made me worried about my grade and understanding of the material being presented. In order to create a stronger support system for me, I have decided to interact with my peers more to get positive people as motivators. I am also visiting my professors during their office hours for additional help.

1. An outer obstacle that stands between me and my academic success in college is having a lot of work to do at the same time.

2. Someone besides me who could help me overcome this outer obstacle is my cousin.