University Bound Program
Clips of Former Students
Scott Pallotta
Good afternoon. How's everybody? I'm Scott Pallotta. I used to be a student here at Schoolcraft College. A little bit of background on myself is that I have a bachelor's in Biology from the U of M Dearborn, many years ago - 1986. I was in corporate America for a number of years in the insurance industry and after a number of years of doing that, it really didn't pose a challenge for me anymore. I was a claims adjuster. I've done a lot of road work for a lot of insurance companies. I would mainly handle personal injury claims. I'd have to go to accident sites, take photographs, investigate clients, talk to them, that type of thing.
Anyway, back in the late 1990's I decided to go back to school and become a pharmacist. So, when I had the bachelor's in Biology from U of M Dearborn, of course I focused on a lot of science courses in biology, chemistry, physics, math, those types of courses. And the deal with pharmacy was relative to the science courses, they could only be 5 years old prior to your application. So the main obstacle I had was mainly a psychological obstacle. I had to go back and repeat all those courses. Ok, a year of general chemistry, a year of physics, a year of organic chemistry, math, all those courses had to be repeated. Well, I successfully did that here at Schoolcraft and got an associate [degree] in the year 2000. I also worked here as a tutor for Deb Daiek in the LAC along with Linda Talbert. Linda's still here.
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But, that leads me into the points, or factors, that I have here on my handout, that you have in front of you here today. And as I was composing these factors, I just wanted to basically make them as simple as I could for you relative to things that you could incorporate into your lives that would translate from an academic setting to a work setting, to increase your chances of being successful. They're very simple.
So the first one, time management skills: Probably a lot of you have part-time jobs, you?re going to be transferring to 4-year institutions. Maybe some of you have families, spouses, kids. You have a lot on your plate, like everybody does in today?s society. So, relative to the time management skills, what you need to do, obviously, is prioritize your skills. If you feel overwhelmed, and we all do at certain points in our lives, you know, set your priorities. What do I need to accomplish today? I can tell you from first-hand experience, ok? I'm Type-A personality. I get up at 7 a.m. and I go non-stop for literally 16 -18 hours, ok. I need very little sleep. I go to bed 1 - 2 o'clock in the morning, and do it again the next day. You?d be surprised - If you manage your time wisely and constructively, how much you can get done on a daily basis. All right? So time management - that's very crucial. I'm also, as you see at the top of my handout, I'm on the faculty over at Baker College. I'm adjunct faculty, part-time. I teach anatomy and physiology. And I see that as one of the major problems with students - they procrastinate and they don't have effective time-management skills. That's very important.
Number 2, and if you have any questions along the way, feel free to stop me. Ok? Number 2: attending class on a regular basis. Allright? A lot of students, a lot of classes we have at Baker are on Blackboard - probably the same here at Schoolcraft, right? And of course, at Wayne State. A lot of students go into the computer and print out the notes and they feel they don't have to attend class. That's a wrong habit to get into. With me and my classes at U of D, and my academics experience that relates to me, I never miss a class unless I'm ill. I don't care how boring the instructor is. I don't care how much I dislike the course. I always go to class unless I'm ill. I'm always there - period. Ok? That will translate to getting into a habit when you have to go to work, right? Monday through Friday, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. <I have a cold, I'm here> There you go.