this is my first post. After hearing again and again about how great this community was I decided to join!
I am a 32 year old mom and just last year decided to go to college. I struggled in school (home issues) and received my GED a few years ago. This week I'll be entering my 4th semester and am actively working on my nursing prereqs. My gpa is 3.75 right now and I am unbelievably proud of myself thus far. I am a first generation college student and feel amazing beating the odds and setting examples far better than the ones before me for my daughter. And then.... this semester I have anatomy and anatomy lab and feel completely overwhelmed. I've been out of school for longer than most students ages in my class (haha) and lack the bio and chem recollection most seem to poses at this stage in the game. I have been studying, daily for hours since the semester and have my first quiz Wednesday of this week. Just feeling defeated and behind the 8 ball already with the age disadvantage. I'm utilizing all of the study material, online tutorials etc I can find. Any tips for an older, overwhelmed student?
I don't typically do well with study groups at this stage. Granted I've tried them with students less motivated. That coupled with my anxiety and I was done. I should try to see if there seems to be a motivated group that'll meet up or at least do tutoring together.
Study groups are tricky. If you get in the wrong one, you end up wasting time talking about the latest and greatest TV show. A few tips on study groups: they should have 3-5 people, and no more than that, so as to keep focused and give everyone ample opportunity to participate. You should also carefully select the group members; choose the people who attend class regularly, actively participate in classroom discussion, and turn assignments in on time--this ensures you don't get stuck with the student who wants to bum off of your hard work. And finally, try your best to make sure you and your group members get readings and assignments done BEFORE you meet so that you don't waste precious time reading instead of discussing confusing topics and making the most of your time.
Congratulations on starting your pre reqs and going for a great goal!
I am a first generation college student with a GED and at 44 much older than most students. I took anatomy before I had my twins, so I must have been 41ish? I didn't find study groups helpful at all. What I did use was quizlet and I watched a lot of Dr J's video's on youtube. He is the best anatomy professor and I loved being in his class. Anatomy is really all rote memorization and you need to come up with little tricks and short-cuts like mnemonics to remember everything. Silly little things like..I used to use the phrase "What happens in vagus, stays in vagus" to remember how to tell which nerve was the vagus (if you wiggle it at the bottom it will wiggle at the top because it runs all the way up). The way I would remember the name of sphenoid bone was by noting that it looks like wings..and this is stupid, but Sven from Happy Feet 2 is the one that flies so that is how I remembered that. Here's a link to Dr J's youtube page I hope it helps. You can do this!
Thank you all so much for your amazing encouragement. It is very much appreciated! We are about 4 weeks or so in and I am still scared to death about passing these courses. Frustrated with myself. We've had a couple quizzes and a practical in lab and I am already at a high B overall, lecture is the same. Worried I won't be able to pull off a good grade. I've managed to keep my GPA at 3.75 and am so scared of it dropping with these classes now. My adviser said they were only looking at 3.55 at the lowest. I still have a long way to go before I apply I'm not sure what to do at this point.
I'm not sure what to do at this point.
Wave Watcher
751 Posts
I graduated with ASN at 38 yrs old. I just now finished my BSN online at 44 yrs old. Age is not a disadvantage. If you want it....go get it.