One course that was particularly surprising to me was CHBE 101, the first introductory major requirement for chemical engineers. During the beginning of the semester, Dr. Woehl told us that chemical engineers are not chemists. He explained that chemists create new substances and equations, while chemical engineers apply what is already known from a variety of different scientific disciplines, for example, chemistry. Ever since then, his definition of what my future academic and professional career entails has been stuck in my head, because it wasn’t really what I expected. But then again, I honestly didn’t know what I was expecting by choosing this major, so this moment sort of feels like a revelation that I’ll most likely remember in the future when I graduate. Another surprise that has come out of this course was that engineering is hard (at least for me). This “revelation” seems like a no-brainer, as engineering is widely considered to be one of the hardest majors, and I sort of expected that this moment was bound to come in order to humble and lower my ego. I just didn’t expect it to happen when I was taking an introductory course. I would find myself taking hours upon hours to complete a single weekly homework assignment, and I would also spend almost an entire week studying for an upcoming exam, and end up doing worse on it than I would for other courses where I would only study for a day or two. For incoming chemical engineering students, or just engineering students in general, I would recommend that you humble yourself now before you bomb your first exam. I would also like to point out that pretty much all of your engineering professors have research as their primary responsibility, so expect their lectures to be absolutely unengaging and sometimes even useless, and prepare to put a lot of time into learning the subject on your own.
To be honest, I didn’t make much of an effort to try and develop a strong relationship with any of my professors during my entire freshman year. Yes, I do regret it, and I understand how I would have been able to develop such relationships, but it honestly wasn’t one of my major priorities. Alternatively, I sought out help for my classes through TAs and UTFs because it seemed less intimidating. However, if you are trying to build a mentoring relationship, the best way to do so is through office hours, especially if your lectures take place in a room with 150-200 other students. Frequently asking or answering questions during class is another way to get them to know your name. Also, having a conversation with the professor after class to clarify specific points that were said during lecture is a great approach as well. I would say that the “strongest” relationship that I’ve built with a professor so far was in my professional writing class that only had around 20 students. I didn’t really do much to build the relationship, but he ended up being more in tune with his students compared to literally every other class that I’ve taken simply because of class size. He even offered the entire class that he would write a recommendation or be listed as a reference if we reached out to him. So, if you do want to develop a strong relationship with a faculty member, I would recommend doing so in a very small class whilst being constantly engaged during lecture and also visiting their office hours quite often.
Friendships that I’ve made in my first year whilst adjusting to university life has helped me cope because of shared struggles. A lot of interactions with my peers mostly revolved around what we were learning in class or any upcoming exams we had. However, I did meet some good friends in my major and we had a lot of good conversations not just about academics, but personal life too. Everyone is busy and has their own time schedules and responsibilities, so trying to find a time to meet outside of class was sort of an obstacle. For incoming freshmen, I would say that if you are struggling in a class, then reach out to one of your friends or maybe a person who is sitting next to you for advice. Personally, studying with a friend has not worked out for me, but try it and see if it makes you more productive. You should also recognize that freshmen, or specifically people in your major, are in the same boat as you, so it's easier to get more comfortable in such a difficult environment by talking to others about the struggles you both share.
In retrospect, I was least prepared for how time demanding a student would be at university. The current system that I follow in order to prepare myself for an upcoming exam is in all honesty, horrible. My sleep schedule gets absolutely demolished, I ignore pretty much every other responsibility I have for all my other classes, and by the time I’ve finished the exam and gone home, I’ll be too burnt out to complete any other assignments or continue studying for the day. I can’t imagine how hard part-time students with a job have it. Anyways, this system has brought me success that I’m somewhat satisfied with, but I would like to change this “bad” habit in the future by simply just having better time management skills (which is easier said than done). Also, I was thinking about auditioning for one of UMD’s bands at the beginning of the semester, but thankfully I didn’t because I don’t think I would be able to manage another responsibility. If you are worried about time management as a freshmen, then I would recommend that you organize your responsibilities along with their due dates into a productivity app, as it's literally the least you can do in terms of being efficient. You should also be mindful about your limits when signing up for classes by questioning whether or not you will be able to handle another class, club, or responsibility.
Overall, my freshman year at UMD has been quite enjoyable so far, and I’m excited for what’s to come next year.