Over the past year, the courses that have had a significant impact on me include ANTH260, PHIL203, and MATH241. ANTH260, Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology and Linguistics, forced me to think in a broader context by explaining human cultural history and how humans have developed over the years. It was an interesting topic to expand my knowledge on and was a nice change from my STEM related courses. PHIL203, the Rights and Wrongs of Killing People, was another class that was an escape from math and physics. It talked about serious topics involving killing and rights and broadened my knowledge on the various viewpoints about issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty. I would highly recommend taking this class if you have space. MATH241, Calculus III, was an enjoyable class because of the professor, Justin Wyss-Gallifent, who is probably the best professor I have ever had. I have learned to love math and he made this hard subject much easier to understand, so if you ever get the chance to take Justin, you definitely should. To find interesting courses like ANTH260 and PHIL203, look for courses on the Schedule of Classes on Testudo that fulfill gen-eds that also seem interesting to you.
Honestly, this year I have not developed any strong relationships with faculty, and I am disappointed because of that. Not having in-person classes has greatly impacted my ability to connect with peers and professors, mostly because no-one turns their dang cameras on in every class I take. In some classes, I do interact with professors and TAs when possible, however this has not led to any strong relationships. As a recommendation for when in-person classes resume, be sure to ask questions as this will allow professors and TAs to get to know how you think and allow for connections based on the material being covered in class.
Having a solid group of friends is absolutely essential to succeed in university. Maintaining a social life while balancing the stresses of classes is a difficult thing but having people to back you up and support you will help get you through your first year of college. At first, I did not expect to meet that many people because of the limited interaction available during covid times, however I have bonded with the people on my floor through floor wide events and have formed great friendships since then. In reality, any social interaction is a good thing and keeps you sane.
Looking back, I feel that I was least prepared for the sheer amount of work that classes require. Many of my classes now require 2-3 hours of asynchronous lectures to be watched per week, along with weekly homework and quizzes. This would be different in person, since the lectures would be at a set time and would not require me to find time to watch them, however it has been problematic finding time in my schedule to watch these lectures. For incoming students, I would recommend preparing for the worst in terms of workload, so that even if your classes are very hard, you will be ready for them. Also, developing good time management skills is necessary to succeed in classes. Procrastination is something that has haunted me throughout high school, but I have gotten better and found ways to not procrastinate as much, for example having a digital calendar with reminders of when things are due or making a to do list for one day. Finding ways to manage your time is something that one must do in order to succeed in college level classes.