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The Four Keys to Balancing School and Family workshop that occurred on Feb. 9, 2012 was held by Instructor of Child Development Angela Beck.

Math major Raquel Ramirez explains why she attended the workshop, “I came because I know I have a ton of things on my plate, I’m always trying to do way more than I have time for. A time management workshop would be perfect for me just because of all the things I’m trying to do.”

The workshop focused on ways that students can better improve themselves in many ways.

It went over time management, showing students how they can use their time more effectively.

It also went over study skills and how students should prioritize and get into study groups.

“I actually got a really cool week scheduler that goes half hour by half hour so I can plan my entire week down to the 30 minute block, so I know I’m going to start using that,” Ramirez said.

Biology major Jason Cooper also attended the workshop and talked about how it helped him.

“To learn how to efficiently prioritize my time, manage it through my essays and making sure i get stuff done,” he said.

Cooper continued with, “The thing is, I procrastinate a lot and I need to make sure I get my stuff done. So my plan is to stay in school and stay after school and get it done before I go home because when I go home that’s when things don’t get done right and I feel that all these extra little tips should help me out.”

This is not the first time Beck has done The Four Keys to Balancing School and Family, she has done it at least four times before. She teaches from her own experience and provides the necessary information to help you along.

The workshop also went over how students should build a support system made up of family and friends, even using community agencies. Beck talked about child care and provided students with phone numbers for childcare services offered around the area.

Child development major Martha Montes said, “I need to prioritize my family and school. It gave me a lot of tips on how to be in control, and how to organize, from the time that I wake up to the time that I go to bed and have everything ready for the next day with my schedule and my family.”

Ramirez commented on Beck’s workshop.

“I thought she was great, she really knew her stuff and she gave us a lot of really helpful information. I think that we should have more of them [workshops] and a lot more students should go to them because I think they will really benefit a lot,” she said.

Beck appreciated the students’ energy during the workshop.

“It was great the students brought really good energy they had a lot of ideas they wanted to share I thought it turned out very nicely,” Beck said, “We’ll put something on the schedule next semester.”

Students had a good time learning how to balance family and school. Workshops like this are offered at Cerritos College to students who are interested, and they are open to all.

“It’s a great resource and a lot of information that sometimes we don’t come to see what is up there for us, it’s just here to help us all,” Montes said.