My freshman year was full of surprises, joys, and frustrations. One of the courses that came as a surprise to me was my ASTR100 class. This class was an introductory astronomy class. I took this class as a general education natural science requirement, not expecting much from it. My expectations worsened when I found out that the class was held in the flipped classroom format. I was not a fan of having to do all of the work and learning outside of the classroom. However, I believe that doing all of the learning myself allowed me to learn much more. The material of the class was very interesting and had me excited to learn more about space and celestial bodies. For other students to have the same experience, they should open their minds. A lot of students have taken general science classes in high school: biology, chemistry, and physics. If students need general education credits, they should take classes in fields that they do not know much about, because you never know when you will find a class that you are really fascinated by. However, since this class was in the flipped classroom format, I did not develop much of a relationship at all with my professor. In fact, I did not develop a relationship with my professor in most of my classes. Most of my classes were super big, with over one hundred people, so it was hard to get individual attention during class. I should have gone to talk to professors after class to develop better relationships. On the other hand, my scholars class was very interactive with the professors and I was able to get to know the professors and they got to know me. It is great that I will have a connection with Dr. Merck and Dr. Holtz throughout college, and hopefully after I graduate. My relationships with my peers were one of the main reasons I made it through this tough first year of college. I have made so many memories with my friends at college just in the first year, and I know I can rely on them to help me if I ever need it, and I will always be there to help them. They not only help with my mental state, but if I ever need academic help, I can get help from my friends. The best time to make friends is at the beginning of the year. At this time, everyone is looking to make friends and is open to talking to new people. However, a few weeks in, people will have their close circles, and it gets harder to make new close friends. Nevertheless, there will always be people in your classes looking to find other people in the same major as you. The aspect of university life that I was least prepared for were the living conditions. Sadly, University of Maryland’s on-campus living conditions are subpar. The laundry machines break often, the air conditioning is bad, and the dining hall food is not great. New students will need to make a lot of adjustments and learn to live with the conditions, because it is hard for maintenance to fix the facilities in a timely manner. Overall, my first of college has been great and, at this point, I have become fully accustomed to it and I look forward to the next year of college.