Edci 1001 - Gotta Risk It for the Biscuit

Joshua Bigting

Dr. Herman O. Kelly

EDCI 1001

5 October 2015

Gotta Risk It for the Biscuit

        My journey as an LSU Tiger is slowly coming to an end. I am a fourth-year senior, pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. All six semesters that I have completed thus far have been quite the rollercoaster. I have had my good semesters and my bad semesters. However, my most recently completed semester happens to be one of my best so far. I finished the Spring 2015 semester with a 3.67 GPA, all while juggling extracurriculars and a social life at the same time. I have a pretty long list of goals for this semester, but an ambitious checklist is nothing out of the ordinary for me. I am currently applying to Physical Therapy school, so my goals for this semester include getting the highest possible GPA that I can to better my chances of getting into Physical Therapy School. Aside from getting accepted into Physical Therapy school, I am trying to improve my current study habits and I would also like to become more physically fit.

        In my opinion, setting lofty goals is easy. It’s the completion of those goals that is the main challenge. I know that if I want to better my chances of getting into Physical Therapy school, improve my study habits, and become more physically fit that I cannot simply sit around and wait for those things to happen. First off, if I want to improve my chances of getting into Physical Therapy school, I am going to have to boost my application in a number of ways. The main thing to improve is my test scores, so I have to try and raise my GRE score and my GPA as much as possible before the deadline for the applications. Those tasks will not be a walk in the park either. For me to raise my GRE score I will have to schedule another testing date sometime in the next couple of months, and I will have to take several practice exams months ahead of time. For me to raise my GPA, I will have to do very well in my classes for the next two semesters, so that means that I will have to study harder than I ever have since I am taking all upper-level classes now. Aside from raising my test scores, I can still boost my application by writing a good personal statement. In order to do this, I will have to analyze the prompt very well and spend a decent amount of time actually writing the personal statement.

        My second goal for this semester is to improve my current study habits. In high school, I had a good system for studying every night and I always felt like I was prepared before each and every test. However, in college I have a lot more free time, which isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes I find myself wasting time doing pointless activities simply because I have a little free time here and there. But I know that if I want to achieve my first goal for this semester that I am going to have to complete my second goal as well. For me to improve my current study habits, I have to structure my days into times when I need to study and review as well as having time on the side to have fun and relax. The text that we go over every class is incredibly useful to build a schedule for studying. The textbook talks about starting the studying process for a test at least a week in advance, while using various techniques such as “chunking” to review the information. If I follow the techniques shown in the textbook, I’m sure that I can improve upon the study skills that I already have.