Taking Human Physiology and anatomy as a freshman, I have found the course to be appropriately challenging and a great introduction into biology major. In the first few days of the course, the materials were somehow overwhelming to me. Everything needed to be memorized, and preview and review are required to do well on the quiz. However, the stress level was what I was expecting. I was hoping to learn more about biology and to decide if I can major in biology. Therefore, though I was a little terrified at first, I continued to work hard in the course, and I did gain more than I expected. Dr. Klepach had quiz after almost each lecture, and this stressed me out at first because I did not have the habit of reviewing things after each class. Being a procrastinator, I was more prone to leave everything before the finals despite the fact that I knew it was a bad habit. This course helped to reform my study methods. I have developed the habit of previewing and reviewing for each class, and the new method works perfectly. Another issue, which remained to be challenging, was the huge amount of terms of the labs. It was extremely difficult to remember hundreds of terms of minor body parts and to avoid forgetting them before the lab tests. For many time during the tests, I knew I had memorized the name of the model but could not remember how to spell it or the complete name. I did poorly on the first lab tests, but I had to admit that I did not work hard on the labs as I did for the lectures because I procrastinated the memorizing task to the last night. Despite the laziness, I forced myself to review for each lab, and as a result I did improve a lot from the first lab test to the second one. I am sure the reason is the amount of effort I put in for the second lab test. By the end of Jan Plan, I have been much more familiarized with human body than I was. The mysterious and complex human body amazed me so much that I cannot wait to learn more. My goal of learning more about biology and deciding if I want to major it was achieved, I have found myself interested in biology. Overall, I enjoyed the course of Human Physiology and Anatomy a lot and gained more than I have expected. Most significantly, this experience solidifies my decision of majoring in biology. Moreover, I have developed a better study method. Avoiding procrastination and just simply finishing preview and review for each lesson, I arrived at the score I am satisfied with, and I believe this method will help me to do better in any future courses. One more thing, with the time sheet, I did lead a healthier lifestyle in January, sleeping enough and eating regularly, than I did last semester. I would absolutely recommend this course to anyone interested in biology and ready to be appropriately challenged.
A specific activity that I particularly enjoyed:
I had a mixed feeling toward the quiz after each lecture. I really hated them at first because they forced me to study after each lecture and challenged my bad habit of procrastination. Also, I was panic when Dr. Klepach said that the average grade for the quiz was a C or D for the past years. In order to get a score higher than a C, I reviewed with extreme attention everyday. At first, it was very difficult to fight against my laziness and painful to avoid procrastination. I was frustrated when my friends taking easy Jan Plan courses had nothing to do while I had tons of things to review. However, my efforts did pay off. I did pretty well on the quiz and I was very satisfied. I begin to enjoy the result coming with the painful procedure of fighting against procrastination. Though I did know working hard and stay on top of everything could bring much better result than procrastination and laziness do, but knowing something and actually experiencing something was very different. Knowing working hard would help did not motivate me to actually do so, while when the quiz forced me to work hard and I did experience the result of the effort, I was motivated. My feeling toward the quiz changed from hatred to enjoyment and thankfulness. After well preparation, the quiz became a great ways to examine my mastery of knowledge instead of a frustrating torture. Moreover, the quiz helped to reform my study method to a better one. Even though the beginning of the forcing from the quiz was painful, the change it brings will benefit me in an unpredictable way in the future. The habit of previewing and reviewing can make me understand and memorize things better through the repetition of content from each lesson, which is much lesser amount of things than whole semester. Another thing to mention, this daily study habit not only brings better grade, it also improves efficiency and helps me to lead a healthier lifestyle. By procrastination, I left a huge amount of work to do the few days before exams; while I stayed late in those days before exam, I just wasted time irrationally on other days. Staying up late means low efficiency and unhealthy lifestyle. However, with the newly formed study habits, previewing and reviewing for each lesson, I put a reasonable amount of work for each day; the reasonable amount of work can be done without staying up late, and thus efficiently. The quiz offered was a boon, for the change it brought to me will benefit me in any courses in the future. Knowing how procrastinated I was, I did not anticipate the course to change my study habits so radically, but it does and I really enjoyed the change. Just as Dr. Klepach said, the course not only helps the students to learn biological knowledge, it also helps the students to from a better and healthier learning method and even lifestyle.
