Archive for the 'General' Category

Countdown for September 2012

Written by Student Services on July 18, 2012. 0 Comments

The countdown for September 2012 is on! We know that you’re getting ready to experience a lot of firsts right now: saying goodbye to life-long friends; moving away from home; finding a new place to call home; navigating a new city; preparing to meet new people; and of course, start learning in your college classes.  We were there once too!

We’re getting just as excited as you! We love the energy that students bring to campus each September. Let’s get you ready to navigate this new year. Watch our blog, Facebook, and Twitter (#cdLC2012) pages for tips to make this time a little bit easier.

If you are a NEW student, you’re probably wondering what’s next. There are a few things that you will want to take care of before you sit down in your first class:

  • Register for New Student Orientation.
  • My Horizon is the central hub of almost everything you need to know as a student: you can find your class schedule and even pay your fees. Just click the “Student Information” tab to start exploring.
  • Secure funding for your education. Next week our Financial Aid desk will give you some tips, but until then- check out their website.
  • Make an appointment with an Academic Advisor if you need help with the post-secondary process- this includes if you’re planning to transfer to another institution or if you’re taking College and University Preparation with us.
  • How are you getting here? You can purchase a parking permit at Physical Facilities (CE2301). Transit passes can be purchased at the Students’ Association Office.
  • Purchase your textbooks and supplies. A list of required textbooks will be made available the first week of August inside My Horizon (click “Campus Services” to find the Bookstore page).
  • Get your Student ID card by visiting the Buchanan Library in CE1340. This will get you lots of student discounts around town!

For NEW and RETURNING students, there are a couple of other things you’ll want to stay on top of.

  • One important update: tuition for the Fall term needs to be paid by September 12th or you will be removed from your classes.
  • Classes start on September 5th. If you need to make changes to your schedule, the last day to add or drop a class is September 12th. Other important dates can be found here.
  • For more information on the Health and Dental plan visit mystudentplan.ca.

We hope that you are gearing up for this exciting time. If you need to brush up on some of your “student” skills, visit the Learning Café. They offer lots of free sessions throughout the year on test taking, study skills, and more. If you want to kick start your academic career you can also check out these evening Academic Boot Camps.

10 tips to enjoy your college experience

Written by Jen Golletz on May 9, 2012. 0 Comments
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Your college experience is an amazing opportunity.  Here are some quick tips to make the best of it:
  1. If you are not a morning person, don’t schedule classes for 7am. You will not go.
  2. Get involved on campus. All work and no socializing is boring.
  3. Sit near the front of class.
  4. Many colleges have free tutoring centres on campus. Take advantage of them.
  5. Too much socializing = bad grades. Everything in moderation.
  6. Get your flu shots. Yearly.
  7. Just because you *can* do something doesn’t mean you should.
  8. Sleep. Get it. Get enough.
  9. Stay on campus on weekends. If you go home every weekend because you are homesick or have a girlfriend/boyfriend back home, you will be missing out on a lot of the college experience.
  10. Enjoy your college experience – it’s one most rewarding experiences of your life, academically and socially.

Lethbridge College offers a variety of services to support students in their academic and social activities.

What suggestions do you have for students to enjoy their college experience? Please share below.

Image from aoifep via Flickr

Researching your future to help you succeed

Written by Jen Golletz on April 24, 2012. 0 Comments
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When you are considering college it is important to find the right degree for you, if you are heading down the wrong career path and pick the wrong major it will be difficult to excel.  In other words, if your heart isn’t in it, you might not succeed. So carefully evaluate your career path choices.

It might take some time to figure out what career you want. If you are lucky enough that they know exactly what you want to do, you should take full advantage of this edge.

If you already know what area you will be seeking employment in, then do research on that field.  When you have more knowledge regarding your chosen field, you will see more opportunities.

This research will allow you to select possible companies that you would like to work for and maybe even change courses that you select while in college.  In fact, you might even decide to pick up a second degree or go on with your education.

Lethbridge College has advisors that are more than happy to help you figure out what career path is right for you and get you started in programs that would open up the options for your future.

Image from pkdon50 via Flickr.

To degree or not degree

Written by Lethbridge College on April 3, 2012. 0 Comments
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It’s the time of year where many colleges and institutes celebrate the accomplishments of students through convocation ceremonies.

As a student, it’s a very exciting time.  Your late nights, hard work and occasional last minute scrambles have paid off.

You’ll soon be a college graduate. But now what?

When I graduated from the Multimedia Production program at Lethbridge College in 1999, I asked myself that same question.

For me, the answer was to work.  I began working for the Government of Alberta in 2000.  Over the years, my career has afforded me many learning opportunities, which I am truly grateful for, but I always wanted to pursue a university education. For the last number of years I have been working towards my Bachelor of Professional Arts: Communication Studies, which has a 2+2 agreement for Multimedia Production graduates.

With my career and family it’s been a difficult and time-consuming process.  The challenges have often had me questioning my Athabasca University studies.  But I am committed and get closer each year, despite the difficulties.

Lesson Learned

The lesson I learned is simple: if you think you’ll want or need further education, don’t wait too long after college graduation.

Once you’ve established your lifestyle (financial needs, family, etc.), it is very difficult to make adjustments to your lifestyle.  The alternative is then to pursue your education goals on a part-time basis, which as I’ve indicated has it’s share of issues.

If you haven’t considered taking advantage of 2+2 agreements, read this blog post from Alex Kulas about her decision to transfer to university after convocation.

So as you prepare for your convocation ceremony, ask yourself to degree or not degree?

Education embracing new technologies

Written by Jen Golletz on March 29, 2012. 0 Comments
technology

Education is moving to into a new age of technical dependency. Most post-secondary schools are now equipped with online learning tools with class materials and assignment available online.

These moves towards technology have been happening for years and now more and more aspects of how our education are being delivered to us through technology.

There has recently been debate about moving away from traditional textbooks and towards purchasing online versions of textbooks, to be used on tablets.

But, what is better for the student?

Having your textbooks on a tablet would allow you to have all of your class materials in one place without lugging around a ton of books. But reading all of your education materials off of computer screens can become exhausting for student eyes.

Online learning materials enable instantaneous access to a variety of sources, but some argue that having a digital textbook doesn’t allow for highlighting and not being able to physically mark pages inhibits successful studying.

Online text allows students to access materials in a much more cost efficient way as the production cost for online is much less than printed materials. However, in order for the student to have convenient access to online information they would have to purchase a tablet or laptop.

It may not be long before most of our learning is done in front of a computer screen, but for now it looks as though we will continue to learn in a world of growing technology.

What are your thoughts on how technology influences education?

Image from sucelloleiloes via Flickr