AVID ETNA

Submitted by Alex T, 9th grade AVID student

A few weeks ago, Ms. Rosa came back from college in the States. I had known her as an AVID tutor from last year. But this year she came back to be our guest speaker. She was there to give us an insider’s view into the world of college--things like how to get through a classes lecture you have a hard time in, how to get a good roommate, and what sort of extracurricular activities you should attend. I think it helped our students.

The first thing she talked about was how to get the most out of class-long lectures. She said that you should always sit in the middle or front row. Also you should make sure your professor knows your name. Finally, she talked about what you should do if you do not understand a subject. Since the professor knows you are a good student it would be fine if you approached him or her after class to ask a question.

Also she talked about how you should get a good roommate. She said that she lived in an apartment complex solely affiliated with the college. She said you had to fill out a personality survey that would pair you up with a person you could live with, but if you could not deal with this person, you could switch roommates.

Finally, she talked about extracurricular activities. She said that you should do things that you are interested in; like for her, it was Model U.N. And the good thing for her was that it had just started, so she became vice-president of it.

Her advice I think will help when we go to college. It also illustrates the importance of AVID-taught skills such as Cornell notes and Socratic Seminars that Ms. Rosa uses in college. It was a good lecture.