Andrew Lee's "Freshmen Time Capsule" Reflection Essay

As my first year of college is about to end, some classes that has came as the greatest revelations include MATH241 and HIST289Y. These two classes were completely different, but it showed what courses in college can be like. Coming into college, I expected classes to be extremely difficult compared to high school classes. However, my expectation did not hold. MATH241 was just like a normal high school class. The workload was very similar to that of Calculus AB and Calculus BC. The whole course was guided by the professor, so the structure of the class was very easy to grasp. However, HIST289Y was completely different. This course only met once a week, however there was a lot of work. This meant that the students in the class had to manage their time on assignments as the due date was the same every week.

I have yet to develop a strong relationship with a faculty member. This has been a struggle for me as all the classes I have taken are GenED classes, meaning that the class size is fairly large. Having a lot of students in a lecture hall makes it difficult for students to get a 1-on-1 conversation with the professor. My recommendation for this is to continue to going to TA hours. By doing so, you can get close to a "faculty" member that has a connection to the professor.

My view of campus on my first day has changed a lot since the end of my freshmen year. Many students from my county, epsecially my school, attend the University of Maryland, College Park. This meant that I knew a lot of students attending the school. However, for those who are coming from out-of-state, I would recommend to get close with your floormates. Instead of sticking with my same friend group from high school, I wanted to expand my social circle. I got fairly close with my floormates as I spend a lot of time with them. Also, another thing that I would recommend is to reach out to other freshmen before the beginning of the year. My closest friends right now are the ones that I met over social media. If this is not enough, joining a fraternity could help you as well. My perception of "greek life" and a fraternity scared me, as coming into college I did not want to join one. However, after attending an event that my fraternity held, I really enjoyed all the brothers. The brothers of Phi Delta SIgma (FDS) helped me through my second semester. After joining, I have gotten close with a lot of the brothers. However, an obstacle that I encountered during the first semester that I learned to avoid the second semester is meeting too many people. I wanted to meet a lot of people my first semester, but keeping track of all the plans you make with new people can be overwhelming.

I was least prepared for managing my time. I would say my freshmen year has been very easy and smooth. However, the one thing I struggled with the most is managing my time. I have so much time to hang out with friends and just relax after classes, I forget to do some assignments. In order to avoid this, I would recommend to get a google calander and updating it after every class. By doing so, you will be on top of all your assignments and you will be able to hang out with your friends without stressing if you have an assignment due the next day.

Last modified: 08 May 2022