Expectations essay 4 months ago, I was spending the last couple days of my summer before college working at the beach and taking care of our family's new dog. It was not the most hectic schedule I've had, and I had lots of time to think about what my life was going to look like for the next 4 years. I Had lots of expectations, but I consciously tried to downplay them because I did not want to be disappointed if they were not met. Now looking back, I can gladly say that this was not an issue I faced. For my classes I had high expectations. I was looking forward to having meaningful classes and looking forward to learning about things I cared about. I was expecting a very heavy workload and I felt that I was prepared for that challenge. However, when I got here, I felt underwhelmed by the workload. I realize that as I become an upperclassman my workload will get harder, but my freshman year was fairly stable. It was definitely hard to handle at some points but for most of the year, I was on top of all my assignments and had a good handle on deadlines. One thing I did not realize would prove to be difficult was waking up for 9 AM classes. I thought that it would be a piece of cake considering that I woke up at 7 AM for high school classes but that was not the case. I think I will need to work on my sleep schedule next semester. Other than that, I liked the structure of my classes. I liked being assigned readings and being tested on them later. I feel that I learn well that way. When I found out I was in College Park Scholars, I did not really know what to expect at first. I was not aware of the program, so I began to read a little more about it. After reading about the program, I was expecting to learn a lot about the ways we can help stop climate change. I was expecting to go on lots of service day trips and was under the assumption that these service days would be a regular thing. Now that I have been in scholars for a semester, I think my expectations were pretty much correct. However, there were definitely some differences. In our class, we focused much more on learning about the severity and the urgency of climate change, than on learning ways to make a difference. Both things were a part of our class, but I think the majority of the focus was on learning about the urgency of climate change. The outside activities were pretty much like what I expected them to be, but I guess I expected to attend more of them. I only went to one service day, and I thought that we would be doing a lot more of those. They were fun though despite It being severely hot outside. I made some good friends on those service days. In high school, I had a very relaxed senior year. I had only 2 classes and would spend the rest of my days working or relaxing at home. I had lots of time and freedom because I could drive places. I think that is the biggest difference I have felt at UMD. Obviously living without parent supervision has granted me more freedom but I realized that that freedom is limited because I don’t have a car here. I still really like the free will I have here. I think I exercise it responsibly when it comes to balancing school and other parts of my life. Iving in dorms has been the biggest change and I think I have adjusted well to it. I don’t find the communal bathrooms to be as disgusting as I expected them to be, and I like living with the people on my floor. I have made some cool friends there. I like the fact that I can just go to them for help with my homework whenever I need it. Through my experience, I can say that the best advice I would give to someone in scholars is to just be themselves and not stress about college too much. You will adjust well to your schedule if you truly try, and you will find your group of people. The key is to find a good balance between school and having fun. My semester has been great. I like the group of friends I’ve made, and I like my schedule. I realized that all the friends I have made here remind me of my friends back home. They all share certain qualities and I think that it is cool how people find comfort in new locations by finding things they are familiar with. I am excited for the upcoming years.