How do I succeed as a student at IEC Southern Colorado?

If you read nothing else in this blog post, read this.

In December, we published a blog post about what classes are like at IEC Southern Colorado. It was based on the perspective of a first year student who, at that point, had completed half of the first year classes. Now, we're following up with more details from the same student, who has now finished the first year of our program.

When asked about how the workload for the class has been, Norah said, "throughout the first three quarters, I really gave it my all, putting in four hours each week outside of class between completing homework and reading ahead for the next lesson. I'll be completely honest, in the fourth quarter, I wasn't putting in nearly as much work. More life stuff was going on, and it was harder to make time to study."

When asked what she would feel comfortable sharing about her grades throughout the year, she shared that "I always did well on the homework, and I got good grades on exams in the first three quarters (I averaged 87% on those exams). For the fourth quarter exam, due to unforeseen circumstances, I did not get a chance to study at all outside of the review we did in class. I was terrified before the exam as I usually am a very well prepared student, but while I was taking the exam, I ended up feeling slightly more confident than I expected. I ended up scoring a 76% on the exam, which is 1% higher than the passing grade. ~sigh of relief~

While I am not happy with the score, I am shocked that just being in every class and completing my homework - the bare minimum - I was still able to pass. Now I'm just imagining how much better I could've done if I had even put in one hour of studying... I would have loved to have gotten an 'A.'

Not being able to study for the exam made me realize that when they told us in orientation 'as long as you go to class and do your homework and you'll do alright' they really meant it. The instructors are phenomenal, and while I will absolutely never skip studying for an exam again, it's true that going to class and doing the homework are the two best things you can do for your grades and understanding of the topics."

We also asked students what they think helped them the most with succeeding in the classroom. The top responses were:

• Paying attention during class,

• Taking your time on the homework / not doing homework right before it's due,

• Studying homework and quiz questions before the exams,

• Study groups,

• Asking questions,

• Listening to the audio book or reading ahead,

• Asking someone (in the classroom or on the job) to further explain topics that you're struggling with and show you more real-world examples.

One of the things that makes IEC Southern Colorado unique is that the staff and instructors truly want you to succeed. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, but don't fully grasp some concepts, we are here to help you understand key topics. The key is "if you're willing to put in the time and effort."