Lumberjack Link
Issue I
August 31, 2015
SFA 101
Freshman Success
What’s Inside:
Weekly Spotlight
2
Benjamin B. Bybee,
Editor
Attending High School
Differs
From
Same structured schedule every day in the same
place -- schedule takes up the entire day.
Classes
Many Lumberjacks excelled and were ranked
highly in their high school classes.
Competition
Attending SFA
Daily schedule differs: classes meet for 60-90 minutes
throughout the day--some classes are early in the
morning, some late in the day, and most are in separate
buildings.
The playing field is now level -- everyone is very bright
and it will take more effort to keep up.
Convocation Info
2
Used one textbook that is provided by the school
per course.
Books
Most courses require more than one textbook and all
books must be purchased by the student.
Events
3
Preparing minimally through memorization or not
at all.
Study Habits
Sign-off & Numbers
4
Wrote infrequently and briefly, maybe a couple of
5-10 page papers per year.
Writing
You will write much more frequently, often several 10-20
page papers per semester in some courses.
Spent the entire year on fundamentals.
Content
Much more academic content will be covered in a shorter
period of time.
Good study habits are essential: proper note-taking,
reviewing, organizing material, time management, test
prep.
Relatively small classes with plenty of personal
attention from the teacher.
Class Size
May be in larger classes for certain courses that may
seem impersonal or unfriendly.
Many students never conducted research in high
school; those that did so using only a minimum
number of sources and the limited facilities
available.
Library
Research
Necessary to develop thorough research skills while
mastering a larger and more complex library system with
many different types of available media.
Parent and
Faculty
Parents have minimal contact with faculty and decisions
related to academics are ultimately up to you, the
student.
Parents were directly involved in decisions
related to academics and probably had regular
contact with the teacher.
Students interacted with teachers in a
predictable, structured way; Teachers often took
responsibility for getting to know the student.
Student and
Faculty
The responsibility is on the student to get to know the
faculty by taking advantage of office hours, etc.
Spent on average of 30 minutes per course per
week studying outside of class.
Time & Effort
Will spend more time preparing for course outside of
class time than time spent in class. Recommended:
double the hours spent in class (so if you are taking 15
hours per semester, you should spend at least 30 hours
per week studying).
Teachers monitor daily progress with quizzes,
homework, asking about reading, etc. Grades are
given daily with many assignments, tests, and
quizzes.
Performance
Feedback
Students are responsible for self-monitoring; instructors
give little feedback other than through relatively fewer
assignments and exams. No one will ask you if you are
keeping up with the work.
Parroting back facts.
Learning
Dealing with theories and learning to convert raw data
(events, dates, names, places, and facts) into ideas,
concepts and generalizations.
Working at the pace set by the teacher.
Pace
Working at a faster pace, budgeting time and avoiding
procrastination. (the last minute approach rarely produces high quality work!)
Rarely needed help and teachers and parents
anticipated needs and knew when help might be
needed.
Help
Taking responsibility for yourself, being proactive, asking
for help, and researching resources to assist with
problems.
Autonomy
Students exercise greater freedom in decisions related
to whether to attend class or not, which courses to take,
how to balance academics and social life.
Teachers and parents guided most decisions.
Fewer consequences for poor decisions.
Mistakes
Now viewed as an adult so there are many more
consequences that can impact the rest of your life.
Page 2
Lumberjack Link
SPOTLIGHT ON: THE AARC
The AARC, or Academic Assistance Resource Center, located on the first
floor of the Library, is home to free tutoring at SFASU. Take advantage of this
while you are at SFA. Getting a head start on studying and tutoring ensures you
will know more class information and won’t find yourself lost down the road.
Most of the students who use the AARC have higher GPA’s and do better in
their classes. They offer SI Groups, which are subject specific study groups led by
a student who has already taken the class, as well as, one-on-one weekly
appointment tutors. They also have the OWL (Online Writing Lab) where you can
submit your papers to them for review. AARC Phone Number (936) 468-4108
Issue I
Page 3
Events!
August & September
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
28
Sat
29
Casino Night
7-10 p.m.
BPSC
30
1
2
3
4
5
Purplepalooza Watermelon
5 – 7 p.m. Coli- Bash
Traditions
Tours
Freshman
Tailgate
6 – 8 p.m.
Surfin’ Steve
The Class
of 2019
Class
Photo
6:15 p.m.
Stadium
Holler @
Homer
seum
Part Time
Job, Volunteer, &
Internship
Fai r 11-2
p.m. BPSC
Grand
Ballroom
9 – 10 p.m.
Homer Bryce
Stadium
4 – 6 p.m. Ag
Pond
8
9
10
11
12
BLOCK
PARTY
6–7 p.m.
Lumberjack
Lodge and
Landing
Main
Street
Mania
Involvement Fair
SFA vs.
University
of Louisiana
at Monroe
Soccer
Game
Day at the
Lake
Barnes &
Noble VIP
Night
31
3 – 5 p.m.
Surfin’ Steve
7 – 9 p.m.
Barnes & Noble
Bookstore
6
7
LABOR
DAY
Color Me
ZUMBAfest
7 p.m.
Campus Rec
3 – 6 p.m.
Downtown
Nacogdoches
5:37 p.m.
(23 minutes
before the
game) Meet at
Spirit Rock
Welcome to
Campus
Fest
EC & SC
5 – 7 p.m.
BPSC
Grand Ballroom
Jacks Charge
7 p.m. Soccer
Field
10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Lake
Nacogdoches
West Park
The Day Has Come: Day 1
Happy Fall Semester! Welcome back to your life of test taking, homework, and
staying up late for studying! That alone may sound like enough reason to go
ahead and repack your suitcase and head back home, but don’t fret just yet.
These next four years will be the most important years of your life. It may sound
cliché, but these are the years when you find out just who you want to be exactly.
Meeting new people is important because you need a group to keep you focused on
goals, but do not neglect studying time. The tests, classes, and homework aren’t
that hard if you stay on top of reading and studying. A lot of freshman will feel
overwhelmed and not want to study and end up not doing well because they didn’t
study as much as they could for a test. The biggest piece of advice I can give as an
upperclassman, is treat every test like its your final. I had a bad tendency to not
study for my tests and ended up getting C’s on them, and then when the finals
rolled around I would have to make an A on it just to make a B in the class. That
is a terrible strategy, and it’s nearly impossible to make an A on a final when you
didn’t do as well during the semester. So, with that in mind, study for every test.
Most importantly, enjoy SFA. This is a great school with a great town around it;
you’ll always feel at home. So, study hard, enjoy your semester, don't be shy, and
most importantly AXE ‘EM JACKS!
Our Staff
Dr. Timothy Clipson
936.468.1588
Residence Life - 936.468.2601
Austin Building, Room 131
Financial Aid Office - 936.468.2403
Austin Building, Room 104
Program Coordinator
Gloria Montes
936.468.2188
Program Assistant
Brittnie Rakestraw
936.468.4728
Graduate Assistant
Ben Bybee
936.468.6499
Student Assistant
Parking and Traffic - 936.468.7275
First floor of Wilson Parking Garage
Involvement Center - 936.468.6721
First floor of Student Center
Student Affairs Office - 936.468.3703
Third floor of Student Center
Post Office - 936.468.2307
Student Center Basement
Issues 2-8 can be found on the 1st of the month and the 15th of the month throughout the semester at www.sfasu.edu/sfa101/ Like us on Facebook!