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Setting Goals
Goal setting is one of the more helpful strategies one can undertake to help achieve their ideal future. Setting goals is crucial because doing so helps provide clear direction and purpose to one's actions. Goal setting also guides us toward desired outcomes.
By establishing a few clear goals, one can impact their motivation, accountability, and focus. Goals trigger new behaviors, sustain momentum, and promote self-mastery. They should align our purpose with our daily actions, enabling us to manage and improve our efforts to achieve.
So, you aspire to be a Family Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Educator. Where do you see yourself in your ideal future? Take a moment to jot down your ideas and goals on a sheet of paper or a sticky note. This is a crucial step. Next, place it on a wall or mirror where you'll see it often. This constant reminder will help keep you focused. Remember, it's okay to revisit and revise your goals as needed. Some may be short-term, like passing all your classes in the first semester, while others are long-term, such as passing your FNP Certification exam.
One Bite At A Time
One Bite At A Time
So you might be asking yourself “How am I going to get all of this school work done while still meeting the demands of my job and family?” There is an old adage that states “You cannot eat the whole elephant in one sitting”.
You become successful at tackling the elephant when you eat just one bite at a time. This is the same with graduate school. You take it one day, one class, one semester at a time until you reach the final goal.
As you are tackling each assignment, class, and semester, your faculty will continue to encourage you to "Keep your eye on the prize." That prize----GRADUATION!!
Please take a moment and watch the following short video about eating the elephant one bite at a time.
Success Strategies
The traditional classroom often has allowed and even conditioned students to be passive learners. Taking responsibility for your learning is paramount to being successful. Students lacking sound study skills or habits will experience less success and satisfaction in an online learning environment.
To succeed as an online learner, you must...
be committed to learning
have a positive attitude
be willing to take on a challenge
possess time management skills
Your maturity and enthusiasm for learning will help you be successful as an online learner.
What Your Faculty Will Expect
Below are some expectations your faculty will have and should help you succeed as a graduate student.
As a graduate student, you will be expected to:
1. Perform on a graduate-student level.
This is not an undergraduate program. Undergraduate degrees provide you with the general foundation for your career and vocation. Your graduate degree will provide you with a higher-level, advanced, and specialized focus. Your undergraduate degree provided you with breadth; your graduate degree will give you depth. That depth will require greater intensity in your efforts. If this is your first course, this may be a new perspective. When you were in your undergraduate program you were on the ground floor at the bedside of the patient. You had direct contact with the patient and through assessment, critical thinking, interprofessional collaboration, and care planning you developed a plan specific to that patient to provide care. However, for the graduate program, you are now in a plane flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet. You are now at a level where you will be able to see how research, evidence-based practice, policy, informatics, and nursing theory impact the profession of nursing to impact the care at the bedside.
2. Communicate with all instructors, staff, and other students in a professional manner.
There is a right and wrong way to show proper etiquette on the web. Read the "Netiquette" resource in your course syllabus to ensure all of your communication, including emails, is professional. All email communication must use the angelo.edu account. Because this is an online program and many of our students are physically located in other parts of the state, communication is mostly online using your ASU email account. However, some faculty may schedule virtual meetings with you or communicate via phone.
3. Do your own work.
Again, this is a graduate course. This includes understanding all plagiarism policies. Instructors are here to help you, but will not do the work for you. You are expected to explore materials beyond those provided.
4. Read.
You will receive the greatest benefit from the assignments if you do not procrastinate and begin reading early. Whether a discussion board, an event, an activity, or a paper, do not wait until the last minute. Procrastination impacts grades. The due date posted is the final due date. Please work ahead to avoid points deducted for late work since unexpected events will happen. You also have a better idea of the flow of the course if you skim all of the information at the beginning of the session.
5. Ask questions if you do not understand.
The faculty are not mind-readers and just because something makes sense to us, it does not mean we have anticipated every possible interpretation. If you don't understand, ask! We welcome questions. Each of your courses will have a discussion board where you can ask your faculty questions or you may email your questions.
6. Keep up with your assignments.
Getting behind is not in anyone's plan. It sneaks up on us before we know it. At the beginning of each semester, we encourage you to look at your course schedules and consolidate them so you can make note of all assignment's due dates and times. If you sense you're struggling to keep up, reach out to your professor and your faculty advisor for assistance. We want you to be successful and can help you make a plan for success.
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