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Tips for Academic Success for Spring 2021

Let’s face it, we all know that we would rather be learning in the classrooms of Salem right now, but that unfortunately isn’t the reality.  During this time of virtual learning many of us might think that we have a sound plan to minimize procrastination and get our work completed efficiently.  But that is not always the case.  This article is here to bring you some helpful tips!

Tips for Academic Success

  • Time management

    • Build a study plan for yourself.
    • Weekly/daily plans:  Plan bigger projects out ahead of time to hold yourself accountable.  This helps keep all your activities from school to work in one location.
    • Avoid over scheduling:  If you have 16 credit hours, you might run into hardships with a 40-hour work schedule.  Pre-plan and make those managers/administrators aware of your needs.

  • Create a home workspace

    • Away from distractions/others working from home alongside you.
    • With good internet connection and a backup plan if you were to lose your connection.
    • Somewhere other than your bed! (Don’t work where you should rest.)

  • Treat your online class like an in-person class

    • Turn on your camera if you are able and feel comfortable doing so.
    • Take notes. Avoid relying solely on printed PowerPoint slides.
    • Participate and actively engage in course conversations with your professors and peers.

  • Tutoring /Academic support

    • Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
    • Know where to go for help (Quest, Writing Center, Library Liaisons, etc.).
    • Don’t wait until midterms or the last minute to try and bring up grades. Stay on top of them from day one.

  • Communication is key

    • Check your email and moodle regularly for updated due dates, class times, and request from professors.
    • Contact professors to clarify any coursework related confusion.
    • Reach out to your peers. Start a class GroupMe to help guide one another through the semester.

  • Extend yourself and others grace

    • Plan brain breaks throughout the day to help with Zoom/screen time fatigue.
    • Be patient with peers and professors.

As we all continue to coexist with our new normal that is remote learning, take these tips and use them to promote your virtual success.  Here’s to having a productive and rewarding spring semester!

Kierston Garner, Head Softball Coach 
Quntashea Lewis, Head Women’s Basketball Coach

An Exciting Start to the Year!

Happy second week of the semester! From celebrating MLK Day, to watching a historic inauguration of the first woman vice president, we have started this semester with a bang. The Office of Admissions also has had an exciting start to the year. From enrolling new students for the spring semester, to planning more recruitment events for the spring and accepting and reading applications for the fall, the Office of Admissions is working hard to recruit your future Salem Siblings.

We are continuing to offer daily personalized, virtual tours with the help of our awesome Admissions Ambassadors. We also have started offering monthly information sessions, regular FAFSA events with our friends in Financial Aid, and easy-to-book meetings with our admissions counselors.

We have accepted some very promising students and are excited to keep admitting more! If you know a student who would be a good fit for Salem, please send her our way! We would love to introduce her to the Salem that you know and love.

Janice Harring-Hendon
Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management

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Submit Your Poems!

There has been a lot of attention recently on young poets across America, which reminded us that we have a lot of excellent young poets right here at Salem College. We would love to read and share our students’ poetry with the Salem community. Submit your poem to marketing@salem.edu with the subject line We Are Salem Poem Submission by Friday, February 5. Please include your full name and class year. Professor Rebecca Davis will choose one to publish in the February 9 issue of We Are Salem. To sweeten the deal, the poet whose work is chosen will receive a Salem College t-shirt and a $25 gift card to Starbucks. The winning poem will be included in We Are Salem, all other submissions will be posted to a website page.

Turkish Piano Festival 2020
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Salem’s Graduate Music Students Featured in International Festivals in Turkey and Peru

Salem’s graduate music program is international in scope and visibility. Students are enrolled from Turkey, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, England, and China, as well as from throughout the United States. They have become active presenters and performers in state, national, and international conferences and festivals, including the Music Teachers National Association, North Carolina Music Teachers Association, and NC Music Educators Association, as well as in international virtual festivals in Peru and Turkey in November and December 2020.

Additionally, students have given concerts, workshops, and interviews for national festivals in Peru and Turkey. They continue to receive accolades for their contributions to the music teaching field from leading music educators in the United States, and to bring positive, high visibility to the graduate music program at Salem College.

In November 2020, five Salem Masters pianists (Ekin Ustunel, Andrea Arevola, Scarlette Kerr, Anni Wang, and Celeste Watson) gave presentations in Turkey’s first ever piano International Virtual Piano Conference, focusing exclusively on health and wellness. Hosted by Anadolu University, (the fifth largest university in Europe), Salem’s students received high visibility and Salem students shared the platform with some of Turkey’s most respected pianists. Their sessions were the most attended.

As Ekin Ustunel (MM ’20) reported: “We received countless emails, texts, follows on social media,were flooded with thank you notes for speaking up, sharing that there is hope [for injury-free piano playing]…for some, we were exactly what they needed and they are already planning their post-pandemic visit to Winston-Salem…We hope that we became a good bridge to them all for information, hope and understanding while representing our education and who we are as musicians the best way possible.”

And in December 2020, Master of Music students Celeste Watson and Andrea Arevola were featured performers at the 2020 Beethoven Festival in Lima, Peru. Andrea also gave master classes and presented workshops on injury-preventive technique and pedagogy. An exciting 2020!

Barbara Lister-Sink
Director, Graduate Music Program

This Week on Your Salem Campus

campus student center sunset in january

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