Fall 2009 Semester

It is time to start classes, once again! Summer was fun while it lasted, I was able to do a lot of fun things including going on a Nickelodeon Family Cruise, visiting family in Florida, and just being lazy. I am very glad that I took a couple summer classes because it made it a lot easier to jump back into school for the first week! As I posted in my last message, I took Music Appreciation online as well as Anthropology 101 online. Both classes were great and I learned a lot, and espcially how to keep busy during summer by studying! I strongly urge any prospective students to take at least one, if not two online summer classes. They do not even require that you wake up to be on campus at a certain time, you work at your own pace. There were some days that I would not feel like doing homework or studying, so I would just make them up on a different day that I felt more comfortable doing so. In my opinion, it provides a better learning experience than being on campus for two or three hours when you would rather be sleeping or outside enjoying the weather.

This semester I am taking 17 credit hours as well as working 5 hours a week on campus, as the President of the Phi Theta Kappa Internation Honor Society chapter at Parkland, and over 20 hours a week at my job at Freestar Bank. It will be a busy semester to say the least, and I have already spent a lot of hours studying my first week, but it will pay off in the end. For those of you who work while going to school full time, it can be done! But you have to be able to set aside your personal life to do so. Working on campus is an excellent option, and I urge anybody who wants to work during college to contact the Parkland College Career Center and see if there are any opening on campus. By working on campus, your supervisors will understanding that school comes before work, so you will have a lot more opportunities to study, and receive time off for studying.

For Current Students: It is still early enough in the semester to become a part of many of the Student Organizations that Parkland has to offer. I encourage anybody and everybody to browse the list here to see if there is a group that interests them. It is a great way to meet new people with your similar likes and hobbies, as well as to put on your resume to help better your resume for later in life. Until Next time!
Chris

Summer Classes of 2009 Begin!

As mentioned in my previous post, it is time for summer school classes! I officially began on Monday the 15th, and am enrolled in Anthropology 101 and Music Appreciation. They are both online classes at Parkland which allow for me to work around my hectic work schedule at the bank, as well as at my own pace. The nice thing about online classes at Parkland College is that they are structured to allow for you to work at your own pace, however, they do set some deadlines depending on the class to force you get the best education possible! For example, my Art Appreciation class that I took last semester had strict deadlines; each and every week I had to have my homework and quiz done by Sunday. The same appears to be the case with my Anthropology class, which will cover a lot of material. However, for my Music Appreciation class, the work can be done at anytime as long as it is done before the end of the semester. I find it nice that my music class has a lot of freedom, however, I can see how procrastinators will be struggling the week before the class ends! Personally, I am not on to procrastinate, so it is nice to have a class with deadlines. Well, until my next post, I will leave you with more advice (as I have done in every post since the beginning of my blog)!

Chris' Advice of the Post:

• Don't Procrastinate!
• And of course, get involved with the extracurricular activities at Parkland!
  

Phi Theta Kappa - Conference 2009 (Chapter: Alpha Psi Eta)

Well, as many of you may or may not know, this year I was selected to be the President of the Alpha Psi Eta chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society. Last weekend we were able to travel to one of our regional conventions at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Illinois. It was, without a doubt, the most fun school trip that I have ever taken throughout my entire life!

I have to urge every college bound student to get involved within the college, especially in the first two years. You will meet so many wonderful people, and share many experiences that you will remember forever. At this conference, I was able to meet other students at colleges throughout the state of Illinois, and many of them I have been talking to ever since I came home from the conference.

Since this was a conference for the National Honors Society, it can be assumed that there were learning opportunities! Other than having phenomenal workshops that helped me learn how to be a leader, and promote healthy teamwork, I had the opportunity to be lectured to by a very influential and giving man by the name of Adam Carter. Adam Carter is a beer vendor during baseball season, and in his off season travels to countries bearing donations to help the less fortunate to live better lives. I really appreciated being able to hear from a person that was so active in his community just like I want to be. Many people look at their college experience as "half-empty", however, I only have a year left and so much more that I want to do!

Moral of the story:

• GET INVOLVED! Not only within the college, but within the community.
• Make your mark on society. Life is short, and when you are blessed with the opportunity to attend such a great school like Parkland College, try to get all of the experiences out of it as you can!

P.S. The picture was me trying to dance at one of the Phi Theta Kappa dances!

Summer 2009 Classes!

Well, it is that time of the year again, time for the beginning of more classes! I have been out of class for a couple of weeks now, and am very happy to have a break from school! However, I am noticing myself get lazy and quite possibly can see myself getting bored if I didn't take classes in the summer. This semester, I have enrolled in some general education courses that are required for me to receive my Associates Degree from Parkland.

TIP TO NEW STUDENTS!

• Order your textbooks early, so it is guaranteed that you will have the book before classes begin! (Last semester, I waited until the last week of winter break to order my books online and was without a book for the first week of my online art appreciation class!)
• Do not expect the college to remind you when deadlines for scholarships, paperwork, and other miscellaneous information, you are in college now and need to take responsibility! (I have missed a couple of scholarship application deadlines that would help make my already cheap tuition at Parkland College even cheaper! Who doesn't love to save money!?)

I will keep everybody posted on how my summer classes go and any other tips that I may pick up as I make mistakes, and feel free to ask any questions that you may have!

Chris Holmes

Introduction to My Life!

Hello Everybody!
My name is Christopher Holmes-Singh, but for short I just go by Chris! As I am writing this post, I have finished one full semester and working on finishing my second. I am also officially the president of Phi Theta Kappa (Alpha Psi Eta Chapter) International Honor Society for Parkland. I grew up in Urbana, Illinois and graduated from Urbana High School.

By growing up in the area, I had some idea of what Parkland had to offer, however, I did not expect quite as much as I actually received! I was accepted to the University of Illinois with Biology as my major with the intent of going to medical school, however, I heard so many great things about Parkland that I wanted to give it a try. Looking back, I can honestly say that I do not regret my decision one bit! I have met so many great people at the college and have learned so much and I am only in my second semester! Any Parkland student will tell you that the teaching staff is amazing, and make it very fun and easy to learn. With an average class size of 20 to 30 students, there is plenty of time for professor and student interaction, which is the key to successful teaching, in my opinion. I have so many great experiences to share, and I will post them here; so look out for more posts in the immediate future!

To potential students or parents of students, please feel free to email me with any questions and I will do my best to reply within a couple of hours.

To enrolled Parkland students, I will see you on campus!