The class that shocked and interested me the most relating to my major is BSCI160: ecology and evolution. I never expected this class to have so much information. I always thought that there was very little and unneeded information to learn about evolution, but from that class, I found out that there is so much to the topic that keeps growing and growing because society keeps growing as well. I need to take this class as a major requirement and became further intrigued by the topic as I took the class. My favorite class that I took out of my major requirements would be MUSC220: music and culture. I had an interest and I had an interest in learning about others' cultures. This class was great to learn about both and how each impacts the other. To enjoy the classes, even the hard ones, it is best to come with an empty mind and no bias. Then you can learn to enjoy the littlest thing. The best mentoring relationships that I got were from being very active and participating in class, sitting in the front, and keeping in contact with a faculty member. The faculty member can only learn the good qualities about you once they no more about you and also you take interest in their knowledge. It is hard to make these connections though because there are few faculty and such a large number of students. My advice is to just stay in touch with the professor and put in the effort in the class. Don’t just do the minimum for the class, and take extra interest. I made great friends when I came to UMD last semester. I walked in with almost no friends and now I have so many people who will support me and be there for me. Most of my friends were formed from the people on my floor. I introduced myself to them and we got closer that way. I had to put myself out there and make an effort to make the friends. That was the hardest part for me and I had to be an extrovert and learn how to converse with people I met for the first time. For future freshman who come in knowing nothing, it is best to try everything. Go to all the events made for the incoming students. You could make your friends from that. It’s hard, but try to talk to everyone you see. The more people you meet, the more people you will get to know and find the right people. I was least prepared for having to balance school work and my social life. I thought I would have enough time to meet with friends and do other activities. Everyone has different schedules with different timings and it is hard to make plans. I also was not prepared for having so many exams. I thought college has very few exams and just large exams at the end, but there are exams almost every week. Try not to get distracted by others and put your education first.