As I near the end of the first semester at UMD, I look back and am amazed at the magnitude of change my life has gone through these last few months. Coming into college, I had heard from many upperclassmen that college was supposed to be "easier," and this info held some merit as I crusaded through my courses. My classes were generally light on busywork, but they made up for it by the enormous weight of larger projects and exams on my grades. These were generally fair, and we were given the due dates in advance; however, these usually covered a vast amount of content, which added more difficulty to the classes. Also, I found a slight downgrade in class experiences because of the giant ratio of students to professors, not to mention the roulette for good teaching assistants (TA's). Because of the large amount of students and little time per semester, content really sped by at a rapid pace. Though not the worst experience, it was quite surprising to me, considering I had just left high school a few months prior. However, our CPSG class was much more like the classes that I left behind: the lectures, group activities, and biweekly quizzes. The Science and Global Change program was definitely not what I had expected it to be. I had known about our Service Day trip a bit from the program website, but I was definitely surprised by the content covered in the course. I had expected our program to go primarily over methods to prevent the rising global temperatures, but instead we dived into understanding what global change really is, its causes, and its effects on our world. We also learned about many loose ends that tied to understanding why many people do not believe in global warming, such as about logical fallacies and our course books. Though we have spent the last semester discussing on global warming, I understand how we are nowhere close to covering the full extent of the topic at hand. Returning back to my college experience, I found myself with much more free time based on my schedule. The perks of living on-campus really shone throughout the semester; living near North Diner allowed for a relatively convenient walk to grab food whenever I had the urge, there were many places to quietly study nearby, and I could visit my friends with a short notice. Also, the distance between my dorm and classes allowed me to catch a few extra z's at night and throughout the day. There are also so many events to go to on-campus, such as the abundance of sporting events, club activities, or concerts. Between classes, social activities, and studying, college is definitely a change of pace from high school and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the future SGC students, I would advise that college is not that bad if their time is spent well, considering the fact that there is so much of it. UMD offers so much for its students, and by balancing school and fun I am sure it can be one of the best life experiences.