By Severio Martin
On Thursday, April 21, there was an Omicron Delta initiation in the ballroom of Main Hall. Omicron Delta is an honor society that was started at Washington and Lee University. To be a part of Omicron Delta you have to meet the following requirements:
• Be a sophomore or above having completed at least one full-time semester at Southern Virginia University
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or above
• Have demonstrated leadership in one ODK’s five pillar areas:
◦ Student Government
◦ Academics
◦ Athletics
◦ Performing Arts
◦ Publications
It now has over 300 chapters at colleges nationwide. As a member of Omicron Delta, I asked students who were getting inducted on how they have found academic success given that is a core requirement for induction. Here are some of the tips that the students provided.
ReaAnn Lessing (’23) said, “To obtain academic success you must show up, pay attention, and do your work. You are going to have days where all you want is to lay in bed all day and watch tiktok — I’ve had many of those days — but you need to get up and do the hard things. It will pay off in the end.”
If you want to have success academically you need to do your work and come to class.If you have any issues, make sure you communicate with your professor. They are here to help you.
I believe that finding academic success came to me most when I was able to build relationships with my professors. Southern Virginia University has such a unique advantage in having small class sizes.
Take advantage of resources such as office hours or tutoring. Students can struggle with a subject , when there is free tutoring for that particular subject available.The way I was able to get through College Algebra was to build my schedule around that class. I was available to attend office hours and tutoring as needed. I had to attend office hours or tutoring quite often that semtester.You can email your professors ahead of time before the start of the semester to get their schedule for office hours or tutoring.
Paul Canland (’23) said, “When I have struggled understanding a concept or assignment I have been able to communicate concerns and find answers through spending extra time with my professors. This also allowed me to build lifelong relationships with the amazing faculty here at the school.”
My last tip is to balance your schedule that allows you to be a functioning human being. If you want to take over 17 credits in a semester, you will need to get a form from the registrar and get it signed by your advisor. If you are wanting to graduate early, take summer classes.
If you do want to take over 15 credits, doing a mix of harder (upper level classes 300 or 400) and easier classes (lower level 100 to 200) would be the best way to go. I would not recommend doing over 15 credits during a semester unless your other classes are super easy or enjoyable for you. Being overworked will eventually affect your spiritual, social, and mental health and will harm your GPA.
Finding academic achievement can be hard with many other distractions in life. I hope you find these tips helpful on your academic journey.
Omicron Delta Initiation & Tips to Find Academic Success was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
