Now that I have reached the end of my first-year in college, I look back at the wonderful experiences and memories I have created here at UMD. In the beginning, I had almost gotten lost among this large campus and the sea of people at the campus. However, through time, I have created significant relationships and connections with those around me and my professors.
I have become more knowledgeable in my own field and received so much support from my friends and family. It has been a wonderful and thrilling experience so far. I hope my interests and outlooks continue to grow throughout this journey.
Exciting Courses at the University of Maryland: The courses at university truly on not on par with those at high school. Much of the courses are tailored towards a student’s interests and major. It is definitely more exciting to take college class rather than those at high school because you are learning world-class professionals who know about your interests in a very thorough fashion. The courses I have taken for my major (CMSC131 and CMSC132) are pretty great courses for an introduction to coding and programming. I have learned so much more from these classes about the Internet and specific algorithms. They are challenging but interesting courses, so it is important to express interest in them.
Developing Strong Connections: I have yet to build a strong relationship with faculty in my department, however, the upperclassmen are truly amazing at this university. Connections to them helps to have important information about things going on campus-wide. The faculty in my department are very resourceful, but the greatest obstacle in building connections to them is actually having them notice you among the sea of students. There is a lot to learn from the upperclassmen in terms of making meaningful connections with the people in a university. Having an open mind is of utmost important when building strong relationships with people, so I recommend being fearless and connecting with faculty in such a fashion.
Adjustment to University Life: Adjusting to university life definitely is not easy because there is a greater freedom in doing things. It is hard to know what you want to do if you are given such a great freedom. So, in a sense, it’s important to find friends to do fun things with and help each other out. The greatest obstacle in pursuing these relationships is having the hesitation to speak to someone. It can definitely be hard for some people, but once you overcome that barrier it will not be hard to finding more friends. Having friends in the same major is very good, but it is also important to connect with friends from other departments. You can learn so much more by interacting with such individuals and collectively working together.
Advice for Incoming Freshman: Coming in from high school, I was a bit surprised by the lax schedules I have had so far in university. Before, taking 6 – 8 different classes each day was nothing surprising for high schoolers. However, in university, having smooth schedules can tempt someone into slacking off on such classes. Thus, it’s important to maintain balance between having free time and studying for these classes. One thing that I do not recommend is taking an 8 am class that is mentally draining (such as math). Unless you are someone who is super organized and enjoy waking up early, you are bound to pay less attention to that class during lectures. Although I have not slacked off like that, the morning class took a toll on my sleep schedule which affected my grades. Thus, it is of utmost importance that one figures out how to balance out academic life and social life in university.