Coming into college I thought I already knew what to expect. I already had a brother who graduated college and a sister who just graduated from UMD. They warned me of how hard it was going to be and to prepare to fail some exams. Additionally, the massive class sizes made it impossible to learn. That was my mindset coming to college, survive and get a degree. However, college turned out to be something completely different.
Now I will preface what I am about to say with the fact I am taking many considerably “easy” courses for my major, but the workload really has not been that bad. I have actually enjoyed this year more than most of my high school years. I have adjusted to the seemingly unlearnable massive class sizes and realized I learn better in lectures than what high school previously offered. And yes the exams are 100 times harder than high school exams but they don’t feel impossible. I haven’t failed an exam yet but who knows what will happen in the future. Now these two topics are what my siblings warned me about but what did I find the most different?
I was extremely surprised by the small emphasis college puts on homework. In high school homework would be worth at least 30% of our grade but, in college, you normally get at most 10% of your grade from homework. Some classes don’t even grade homework, like my Calc 3 class. As a college student, you have to be more motivated to keep up with your course so you can do well on tests and quizzes. I will even admit I didn’t do homework for a week in Calc and as a result, received a 50% on the quiz covering those topics. College gives students a lot of freedom, but with that freedom comes opportunities to slack off and fall behind in your class.
CPSG100 however was extremely different from the previously mentioned classes. CPSG100 was high school but felt more like a high school level class when compared to my other college classes. It is a great gateway class for freshmen to adjust to college. I was surprised that CPSG100 offered great opportunities to connect with peers and make new friends at college. There are multiple out-of-class activities that are educational but also focused on making bonds with a group of people. I know with the metro scavenger hunt, I did not expect questions from our other group members. Overall these out-of-class activities provide a great foundation to start college.
CPSG100 in-class assignment wasn’t solely focused on science and global change. CPSG100 also covers many important skills needed to survive college, such as creating a website. When I originally signed up for SGC I wouldn’t have even dreamt of learning website creation, however, it will be a vital tool in the years to come. While I didn’t expect website creation I was kinda expecting CPSG100 to cover how we can improve global climate change. In this semester we only confirm that climate change is a thing and it has a very high chance of killing us. This is a very important fact to know but what I want to know is what I can do to fix this problem. As college students, it is up to our generation of educated individuals to deal with the mistakes of our ancestors. I want to know what was already thought of to expand those ideas or take those ideas to make completely different ideas. I hope in the coming semester, the ideas of how to fix this will be covered.
College life outside of class is much more united than I expected. I came into college expecting an academic competitive environment however it turned out the be the exact opposite. While yes, most time outside of class is spent doing something academic, everyone is always willing to help. I have realized college is a community and it isn’t student vs student but students vs the class. As long as you ask for help, someone will be willing to give it.
For all income SGC students, you have to put yourself out there, and not be scared to talk to strangers. Like I previously said ask people in your class for help on homework or other activities but also be open to the opportunities SGC gives you. For me, all the scholar-related events seem tedious and pointless but I made some of my best friends at those events. They offer a great opportunity to get to know people with a similar mindset and get you started on the right path in college. Put yourself out there and don’t be shy to talk to strangers, I promise most of them don’t bite. Scholars is a living-learning community and their job is to introduce you to new people, so let them!