Expections Vs. Reality Essay

Anthony Johnson

As I wrap up my first semester of University I can initially say that the CPSG100 led to the formation of friendships that may not have existed without that class. Initially, the main difference between high school and college is the structure of how the classes go. While it depends, most classes are lectures heavy and you are expected to take notes, most times you aren't given a worksheet to follow along in class, but the classes that did that made learning a lot easier. Classes like Chem and Calc are lectures heavy and I spent a lot of time outside of class getting familiar with the content and reviewing it. Other classes are more work-heavy with fewer lectures, for those classes you have to pace yourself and be able to keep up with the work by mostly learning on your own. Make sure over the summer to refresh your memory on core topics and also figure out how you learn and how you can quickly digest information. As a mechanical engineer, it is more than notes, it is a type of thinking, you will learn and acquire those skills over the first semester, but you must continue to fine-tune how you learn. The class delivery of required graded items didn't differ too much from high school, but the increase in tests and consistent readings made time management sometimes difficult and overwhelming so focusing on doing the work ahead of time was key to succeeding in classes. Overall, this is what I expected, I have several friends in college already that are mechanical engineers and they have given me a clear picture of what to expect so coming into college I knew what I was in for, maybe a bit more optimistic than I should have been. Everything works out and you just need to focus, drop the phone, and figure out how to work efficiently. Easier said than done, but trying to progress these skills is immensely helpful to get through the college workload. For CPSG100 specifically, I was surprised at how much we learned about the word science, nearly 10-12 weeks were focused primarily on the term and how individuals misuse it and cause mayhem within the scientific community. Learning about logical fallacies, pseudoscience, and the misuse of data was important in understanding how a scientist thinks which is very important since most students in this class are STEM. We'll be conducting research, doing experiments, and writing about our findings. Having this set of rules displayed to us makes sure we remember to stick to them to ensure that the scientific community improves and is not riddled with false information. I wish we had explored more of the global change aspect of this class since we are primarily focused on that as a topic. However, now reflecting I see that it is important to cover what science is so everyone is on the same page and we can approach the next topic thinking as a scientist and not just an individual who is not knowledgeable on the terminology and rules of science. As for outside-classroom activities, I did not expect to be shoveling dirt and wading through marshes on my first week of school, that was quite the surprise and left me with back pain for several weeks. Yet, I know that I helped my community out by helping repave the paths and getting rid of species that would damage the flowers at Kenilworth Gardens. I would think we would do more exploration into the effects of global change such as seeing how the Potomac river has caused erosion or things of that nature. Still, I am satisfied with the activities I partook in. Now overall as a University student living in Centreville was great, I got to meet a lot of new people, and reconnected with some old friends. This was very similar to my idea of college life as a high school student. The late-night studying hanging out with friends playing board games and running down to route one to get a slice of pizza. I enjoyed meeting people from the floor that had similar interests to me and having these insightful conversations expanded my view of the world. It was great seeing everyone come together and get along. I'm lucky to also have a roommate that is in SGC. My roommate Alex has become a good friend of mine and having heard the horror stories from other individuals I was lucky I ended up with him. It was a very typical first semester and I know I may not have experienced that if it wasn't for CPSG. Having that sense of community when you get thrown into a school with over 40,000 students was great and I cherish the memories I've been able to make with my friends from CPSG. Some advice I would give future SGC students to ease them into college life would be to leave their dorm door open at all times. This is an easy way to meet new people in the hallways and connect better with people on your floor. For example, I knew nobody on my floor for the first couple weeks, however, once I opened my door I was able to meet many floormates which led them to open their doors which led to the formation of new friends and a sense of community on the floor. Additionally, it's important to consider that everyone is in the same boat freshman year and people want to make friends so approaching people and introducing yourself is vital to forming friendships. Also, other people want to make friends, and doing this eases the pressure off yourself and the individual you made a connection with. Another vital thing to consider is to brush up on how you learn as an individual as this will make learning easier for your classes. Also, make sure to have a lot of writing papers, you will go through these quickly. Make sure to prioritize your time, drop the phone, and focus on what you need to accomplish because classwork stacks up fairly quickly. One more thing is that there is always something going on at UMD, so take advantage of all the events and opportunities going on campus. Go to clubs, volunteer, and put yourself out there, it will improve your college experience. Overall, if you are an upcoming SGC student you shouldn't stress too much, you'll ease into it and have a great first semester.