It’ll be a year in May since I graduated with my college degree online in Psychology. I went to Baker College which is located in Flint, MI and it was a pretty awesome experience. I completed my whole program online and a lot of people are surprised when I tell them this. It took me 5 years to complete it, mainly because I switched my major from Accounting to Psychology around the second year. I learned a lot about myself and I even picked up some new skills during my time of going to college online and I wanted to share with you guys some of the things that I learned.
6 Things I Learned When I Went to College Online
Time management and having a schedule
One of the things that I’ve never honestly been great at is managing my time. I used to always be a person that would be late for things or I wouldn’t properly assess how much time I had for things that needed to be done. With going to college online, I started to teach myself and learn how to manage my time. For example, I would plan time to study, to participate in class on discussion boards, and to write my essays. It made my classes run so much smoother when I made a schedule and a plan of when I was going to work on something. Now that I am out of college, I have used some of these skills with blogging and having a schedule for my blog.
How to speak professionally to others online
One of the things you learn is how to speak professionally and friendly to others through text. I feel like this is something that not too many people know how to do, especially when I scroll through comments on social media or even when I read emails that should be professional inquiries. Overtime you learn how to interact with others through text on discussion boards (since they were part of participation points in my online courses).
The government’s research website was my favorite source for references.
I absolutely loved the National Center for Biotechnology Information website. Since I majored in Psychology, I was always having to do research on mental health related topics and this was my favorite website to find peer reviewed articles. I still do searched on the website every now and then for different topics sometimes and it is extremely beneficial. If you’re majoring in Psychology, I suggest you bookmark this website.
Taking control and being the leader of a group isn’t so bad.
Before college, I never really realized how easy it was to take action and to become the lead of a group when stuff had to get done. I had a couple of group projects and based on the first group project that I did in a class, I realized that it would be better if I took control. I noticed that a lot of people in my group didn’t really know how to speak with others or how to get the ball rolling and I didn’t want to receive a bad grade considering I was using a student loan to pay for class. Even though I was taking online classes, taking control and becoming the leader really helped me learn how to evaluate positions of what everyone should be doing and how to set deadlines. I also learned how to be more organized with others and how to complete things ahead of time. You can get so much stuff done earlier and quicker when you take the lead or at least that’s what happened with me in my group projects.
It becomes easier to speak up when you have a problem or are having trouble with something.
When you go to school online, you can easily reach out to your teachers or to a tutor/helper if you are having trouble with something. I used to be a person who didn’t really care to ask for help, but with attending online courses you kind of have to speak up on any issues you have otherwise you’ll be left in the dark. You’ll also be left with a potentially bad grade that could affect your ability to receive student loans and grants in the future. I learned to become comfortable with asking for help or for things to be explained further if I had any issues which even affected me with asking questions in real life. I am able to ask for what I want and to deliver my thoughts professionally which I am pretty proud of after this experience.
Looking up Youtube videos and Ted Talks videos on specific topics were so beneficial.
So this is actually a tip that relates to my Tips for Taking Online Classes, Youtube videos and Ted Talks videos are absolutely wonderful. You can learn so much from them and you can even use some of them as references for discussions and even essays. Ted Talks offers a variety of lectures from professionals that discuss a variety of topics. I still watch a lot of Ted Talks videos in relation to self-help and mental health related tips.
So these are some of the things that I learned when I went to college online. I hope that you guys enjoyed this and share it with others if you did on social media! I’d really appreciate it a lot!
Also check out these other college related blog posts!
8 Reasons to Not Go to College
Is College Worth It? Top 10 Benefits of Getting a College Degree
24 Tips for Taking Online Classes
