Before college, I was told by a variety of people that college would be quite similar to a high school curriculum. I thought that there would be classes every day where I would attend and learn information about the subject and that my grades would be determined by how I do on the homework, quizzes, and exams.
Some of my expectations were correct regarding the University courses. I was right about there being good amounts of quizzes and exams that I had to prepare for in classes. I also got what I expected out of lectures, as they were long periods of teaching that were similar to the classes of high school. However, there are many things that I did know existed in the University course structure. I very quickly learned about discussions and how important they would be to my academic knowledge of the subject. I remember my first week of college when my roommate and I didn’t really know what discussions were and thought it was a waste of time to simply just talk about a subject. I soon found out how wrong we were. As a computer science major, discussions are so crucial to learning about programming. In my CMSC131 discussions, we do numerous labs. These are very critical to understanding the concepts we learn in class and are one of the few times where you can receive assistance from a TA with coding. In my PHIL100 discussions, it was so helpful as the teaching assistant helped us really understand the topics and cleared any questions that we may have had. Discussions have been really helpful to me in college. I also learned how a lot of classes aren’t just graded on tests and quizzes, as there are projects that are a huge portion of our grades as well. In my ENES210 class, projects make up half our grades which is something I never expected in a college class. Office hours are something I wasn’t aware of. I go to them a lot especially to receive help on my papers for ENGL101 and PHIL100 and my codes for CMSC131.
CPSG100 has been a fun class to attend this semester. I did not expect us to cover what science specifically was and the logical fallacies that exist in it. Seeing the subject title being named CPSG100: Science and Global Change, I thought we would jump right into climate change and learn about its effects on the world. I also did not know that we would be learning how to work with HTML and create our own websites about ourselves, but I’m glad I know how to do it now. Though we did tap into the subject to an extent, I want to learn more about global change, specifically dealing with shifts in weather patterns. The outside-of-classroom activities have been better than I expected. The scavenger hunt was really fun, as we were able to go through a variety of museums and learn about various contents. My excursion trip to the Philip Merrill Environmental Center was also fun, as I got to learn about the CBF and the actions they take to keep the environment safe. Most importantly, I was able to meet new people on all of these trips and build connections with them.
My university life is very different from what I envisioned in high school. For college, I envisioned life being very similar to high school, thinking that people would simply just go to classes, eat at dining halls, and study. However, this is not entirely the story. The University of Maryland has activities that you can attend every day, basically every club possible that you may be interested in, and a lot of locations where you and your friends are able to study. I found myself being involved in activities I’d never envision myself partaking in, such as the UMD Super Smash Bros Club. My classes are actually so much further than I expected and I definitely was not expecting to walk so much. All the independence in college really taught me how important it is to take care of myself, which was not the case when I was living with my parents and had their support. Living in halls is not as bad as I thought it would be, as the regulations that are set with your roommate and peers that live in the hall are great to make sure everyone is happy with their residence.
Some advice I would give to future SGC peers to ease them into college life is to not stress too much about academics, be open to trying new things, and have a routine. I know a lot of people come into college nervous thinking that they need to focus all of their energy on getting good grades. Though this is a good mindset to have, you should never be beating yourself up mentally if you don’t understand a subject. UMD offers so many tools such as office hours and tutoring sessions that’ll help you if you do not understand something. You should also attempt to leave your comfort zone and try new things. The college has so many opportunities for you to find your interests, so don’t be afraid to take advantage of that! Having a routine is critical in college. Last but not least, you will be given a lot of work and it is important that you stay organized and on top of everything. It takes some time to adjust and I’m not there yet, but this advice will help you make the most out of your college experience.