Episode 10: Lucas McWhirter -- Pursuing Your Passions

Name: Lucas McWhirter

Classification: Junior

Major: Accounting, classes in Film and Digital Media

Hometown: Austin, Texas

Have you ever wondered how to pursue multiple interests in college even when they look very different from each other?  Are you interested in developing a close-knit study group that will positively impact your understanding of the course material and help you flourish academically?  In this episode, Lucas McWhirter shares some great insight on both of these topics plus much more!  

Shownotes

Reasons for coming to Baylor:

• Originally wanted to go out-of-state
• Baylor felt like home

Study strategies:

• Effective Study groups
  • Meet after SI (supplemental instruction)
  • Reserve a room in the business school
  • Help each other with concepts and homework
  • Work on the homework individually before meeting
  • Open for new people to join

Study routine:

• Go over notes
• For accounting classes, you fill in your notes before class
• Prepare before class
• Read textbooks to fill in notes

Morning routine:

• Listen to the same song every morning
  • Spongebob Squarepants “Best Day Ever”
• Workout with the same playlist
• Eat breakfast
• Get ready for class

Study spots:

• Business school for groups
• Moody Library
  • Natural light
  • Instrumental versions of songs
  • Hamilton sound track
• Common Grounds sometimes
• Nexus E-sports

Overcoming challenge:

• College is significantly different than high school
  • Plan for tests coming up
• Getting sleep the night before a test is important
  • Made the mistake of playing Fortnite the night before a test
  • Got two hours of sleep
  • Got a horrible test grade
  • Grade in class dropped a whole letter grade
  • Affected his GPA

Words of advice:

• Don’t stop doing what you love
• Signed up for a choir class for fun
• Commit to what you love
• Be true to yourself and people will love you for it
• Take college seriously
• College will test you
• It prepares you for the future

Campus involvement:

• Choir
• Baylor Student Government https://www.baylor.edu/student_government/
• Senator for freshman class
• Help out film and digital media majors on project

Tools for time management:

• Phone Calendar app
• Accountability partner
• Organize your Baylor email
  • Folders for every subject
  • Separate folders for each class
  • Delete folders for classes you do not take any more Folder for each class with hard copy notes

Study breaks:

• Playing board games
  • Fosters community
  • 45 min-1 hour
  • Favorite games
    • Katan- diplomacy
    • Munchkins
    • Eclipse

Resources at Baylor:

• Success Center Tutoring at Sid Richardson

Hopes beyond Baylor:

• Receive a job in the film industry
• Be a producer at Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheery Monday Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/