The Center for Student Excellence (CSE) held a note-taking workshop on Friday in the Student Union designed to help students be successful. The speaker was Mindy Notariano, Southeastern 101 teacher and freshmen academic advisor.
The CSE holds workshops that focus on several different topics such as “How to Excel in an Online Class,” “Time Management,” “Study Skills” and “Test-Taking.” These workshops are completely free to students and are held at 2-3:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and 10-11:15 a.m. on Fridays.
“I love teaching these workshops. As a freshmen advisor I have a desire to help students be as academically successful as possible,” said Notariano. “This gives me the opportunity to share insights I have learned from my own personal experience as a student as well as things I have learned along the way from working with students.”
Notariano explained that students should take notes before, during and after classes. These notes should be well organized and dated. Notariano discussed the various internal and external distractions, such as texting or lack of sleep, as well as how to decide when something is important and should be noted.
Notariano has been teaching Southeastern 101 and working as a freshmen advisor since 2008. She graduated from Southeastern in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and went on to receive a Masters in Counseling from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2005.
Junior Chris Walker, majoring in general studies, attended the workshop because his advisor told him that they can be helpful.
“I learned what my learning style is and helpful tips on what I can do to take better notes and ultimately become a better student,” said Walker. “I would recommend students to look at the schedule of topics these things cover because they are free to go to and the information you learn could be very useful.”
Notariano said that it is a challenge to promote the workshops to students because they are voluntary.
“I am always looking for new workshop topics relevant to student needs,” said Notariano. “I desire student feedback on how to make the workshops more accessible and applicable for students.”
For suggestions or more information contact Notariano at mindy.notariano@selu.edu or CSE at 985-549-3981. Workshop times, dates and topics can be found at www.selu.edu/cse_workshops.