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It would be a great benefit to you to be a SAGE member. I can guarantee that.

because it has made a difference in my learning. Umm...like I said, I'm proud to be a SAGE member.

Hi, my name is Anthony and I'm a displaced worker. I worked in the furniture industry

for 24 years and I ended up coming back to school.

If you're struggling in a class, SAGE tutoring will be really beneficial. It helped me a lot.

When I was struggling in a class they had tutoring that was able to help me pass my class.

In the math program, I had to start with the basic math and I've had tutoring all the way through my math program

And, if it hadn't been for that, I don't think I would have passed any of the math.

What helped me the most is obviously the tutoring. I mean, it's drastically improved my grades;

it's kept me focused.

Ummm, but with SAGE, I found that I had support, guidance, and counseling.

And, SAGE has been my peace haven. I come here; I study. I've made close friendships.

I'm here in between every one of my classes everyday. I've actually started out

as a tutee. Now I tutor quite a few different subjects and I've had

just so many different days I've broken down and cried; I've just

been so happy. I've gotten hugs from everyone for my accomplishments.

SAGE has been very, very beneficial to me.

The other thing that I'll really stress to you is that you can meet other students

in the same situation that you are and you have that commraderieship that

helps you through school. And I just encourage you to take advantage

of the SAGE program here at Wilkes Community College.

And also, in SAGE, they have a book loan program that i've taken

advantage of. I've borrowed some calculators and have had calculators loaned to me, and books.

It's saved me a great deal of money. And, you have to return them.

But it does, it saves you a great deal of money on books that you're

not going to keep with you anyway. You don't have to go through the

buying a book and selling them back. Like I've said, it's very

convenient, very helpful.

I think it's very helpful. Yeah. they let you check out books.

yeah, it's free. Free is good! (laughter)

You can earn shirts if you meet your goals. Counseling is good.

Always very nice people. Very helpful...people!

I've had advisers help me with registering for classes when my personal

adviser couldn't get to me. That's been a big help.

They've helped me with my financial aid. I've also received the scholarship

from SAGE, that's been very helpful.

You can get tutoring. You can be tutored. I got tutored (laughter)

You can be a tutor. Yeah.

Hi, I'm Danny. SAGE is a really great place to come to in order to study

and improve your study habits.

Yeah, tutors do get paid. I was a tutor! I wish I was one. (Laughter)

Umm...it really helps to have a special place on campus to go to

away from all the noise.

SAGE has helped me becuase they've got a computer lab that I can use to do my

homework assignments. They have tutoring to help with classes I need help in.

If I need to just talk to somebody they're here to talk to.

It's a good place to study for homework, tests, quizzes, get caught up in all your classes.

Hello my name is Danny. And, I'm Rebecca. And I'm a displaced

worker and I've returned to school, uh...returned to college after being

out of school for about 15 years now.

SAGE can be a great benefit to you because they've helped me with getting

tutoring, getting help, actually even advising me on things. They helped me

get my schedule together.

There's many, many people here to help you with the question you

would have about advising you for classes, financial aid and

those sort of things that you'll need.

And, I've decided to come back to school. I've also been out

of school for about the same amount of time, for about 15 years.

SAGE means the most to me for the guidance and the support that I get.

But, it's a great program. you can't ask for anything better.

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Actually networking is building a group of people that

can help you in your success as a student. That would be fellow

students, instructors, the SAGE staff, especially the SAGE staff. They're here to help you.

It doesn't hurt to raise your hand, ask quesitons, all the time.

Just ask questions. That's what they're here for!

They can guide you in some of the classes you need to take

in order to be successful when you get out into the job market.

You have to think of yourself as a selling tool so that when

you're in the market you're really selling yourself to your employers.

So you want to make sure that you get the best instructions, you get guidance

from the SAGE staff.

Don't be afraid to reach out and make friends with people.

Our instructors are people, too. And it's good to get to know your instructor

and for them to get to know you.

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College is different from high school because you don't have

teachers telling you to hurry up and get to class so you're not late.

You have to work time management so you're not late.

College is different than high school in the fact that you have a

lot more freedom but with that freedom comes a whole lot more responsibility.

Making friends is a lot easier. You don't have to be under pressure

There's all different kinds of age groups, and if you're in class

you're there for the same reason, so you have a different way of

bonding.

Uh...you have less class time, but you to have a lot more time studying what

you've learned in that class. So, it's almost flip-flopped.

I wouldn't say it's easier, but it's easier if you make it that way.

You become more sociable in college. Because, in high school you don't have to ask

your neighbor for help, you just go straight to the instructor. But, in college

the instructor is not always there to help you where you have to go to

someone else.

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Uh..I think another good thing about being in SAGE is the campus

visits you go on. It's especially important if you're planning

to transfer to a four-year university. On the campus visits you

get to meet with the professors, um...you get to take the campus tours, kind

of get a feel for the campus so you know whether it's too big for you

or too small for you.

Yes, I plan to go NC State for a campus visit since I'm going into

veterninary medicine. So, I can get a feel for what the school is like, see if

I really want to go there when it gets time to graduate from WCC.

I'll be transferring to Winston-Salem State for their nursing program, and hopefully see what their school

is like and how their nursing program will be beneficial to me.

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Being selected as a mentor in the SAGE program was very exciting for me. It helped me with my leadership

skills..uh..and it helped me to focus more on the techniques that SAGE presents to you when you in the beginning when you become

a SAGE member. As far as mentoring goes it's been beneficial

to me in order to help people, to guide people along with their

studies, areas to go to for assistance whether it be Student

Services, the library, SAGE, and helping them find tutors that will help

them with the subject matter they are having difficulty with.

The mentoring program is um..a program where your peers

your fellow students, that guide you through some of the materials

that are very helpful to you that may not go so in depth with

some of your other classes. It's having someone to go to

knowing that they're not alone

and the experiences that they're having is in general just the

same experiences all the students are having. And, not everyone's willing to talk about it

and instead of keeping it bottled up inside, effecting your studies,

it's great to have someone to go to and talk to that's already

been through the same experiences.

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There's different types of study methods and learning methods.

You have to find out what your's is so that you can take advantage

of that and be able to prosper in your classes.

Um...you're new to school and everything is totally different

from what you've experienced before in high school or even

in the workplace. Myself, I'm a dislocated worker after over

30 years from being out of school, coming back to school has

been a whole new experience even still.

I have learned that the more you get involved on the campus

involved in SAGE, involved in your clubs, the better student you are.

You prosper more, you learn leadership skills.

Well, my first study tip will be to study your notes in every

class every day and it doesn't need to be a huge study

session, just small study sessions each day, so you don't

end up having to cram the last day before a test, because

you won't keep it in your mind that way, If you study each day

in small amounts it will stay in your brain more.

Set yourself a specific time, find yourself a specific place

and that's another thing I like about this SAGE program. You've got

an area here where you can get by yourself. It's quiet; you can study.

Uh...you have to have a place where you can just focus on

what you're doing.

When I review I look over someone else's notes to make sure

that we've got the same thing where if I miss something, they might have caught it.

I had a math class that was a very difficult class with

minimal instruction. It was mostly you do the material on your own

and then if you have questions the instructor would help you

out with that. So, we formed a study group and that was

very beneficial because we could bounce off ideas from

what we've read and learned and tried examples.

Hmmm....create study groups. Have your friends come and

study with you.

The best thing I found about SAGE is the study group, where

a group of students get together for a certain subject or class

and they make up their own test questions becuase anyting

is possible for a test. So, make as many as you can and just

go through them and try the best you can to make them accurate

as they can be.

Always do your assignments two days before they're due.

That way you can review them and you're not rushing for the

last minute. Yeah. Because you don't want to be pressed for time.

Do not procrastinate! Because, procrastination is the worst

thing, in my opinion, that will hurt your success in school.

Depending on the classes that you're in even if they don't assign

you homework, you have to assign yourself some homework.

To be in college it's required to have time to study. If you don't

have time.....you don't do as well. You won't be successful.

Whatever you do, don't wait unitl the last minute! Prepare

a week to two weeks in advance before you take an exam, and

it will make it so much easier to get through the exam.

I find that if you dedicate a certain amount of time even if

it's 30 minutes a day studying a particular, you know whatever,

subject that you're in, that you're doing and studying for that you

don't have to wait until the night before to do it. You're constantly

moving that information around in your head and studying it

and learning it and uh, because if you put if off until the

night before you can't process all that information in one night.

It makes it really hard.

Uh...study to where you understand, not just to memorize

a fact. If you understand why something is, the way it is,

then you'll understand the concept a lot easier.

I would suggest to be self-motivated. That's very important.

I'd just like to share another tip. For me, what has really made me

make things work good for me to be a success in college is

to have the right attitude. And you know, don't be afraid! Don't be afraid to step

out there and give it all you've got!

There's help here that's provided for you. You just have to

ask for it. And uh, people are willing to help you.

Umm...I spent the last two years learning all over again

and it's been a great experience!

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