Going into college, I had extremely high expectations for the amount of work I would be doing and the difficulty of my classes. I was intimidated by the University of Maryland name and feared that I would not be able to keep up with the work. I was told that college professors were heartless forces of nature who carried out judgment regardless of a student’s circumstance. That is why I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that the professors in my classes cared about my success and did everything they could to make the work and content manageable. Chemistry 135 specifically, was a class that I had been told would give me a lot of trouble. However, I realized that I could do well as long as I came to the discussion and did the sufficient practice, I could succeed. Presently the class is undergoing an adjustment to better apply chemistry to engineering and student feedback is really valued. The professors are also much more lenient with work than what I would have thought. Granted I had a somewhat light course load this semester, I still expected to be pulling all nighters regularly just to keep up with classes, but I realized that was not true.

In CPSG 100 I expected to learn about climate change, and only that. I didn’t expect that the class would teach me much more. I expected a pretty basic class which would teach me about the effects of climate change, and how we could stop it. The most interesting topic I learned in the class was about scientific verification, and really the true definition of science. In highschool, science was taught as if all of the proven hypotheses were set in stone, but the truth is that all science is still subject to revision and is falsifiable. CPSG 100 does not just teach us about climate change, but everything surrounding the topic. This includes the history of earth and the means of discovering it. We learned a lot about the field of paleontology and geology, which I didn’t expect, but found myself interested in the studies. On top of that, the course brought numerous opportunities to my attention. One class was dedicated to giving us resources for college. Through this class I found out about the extensive research network offered by UMD. One thing that did surprise me was that we did not spend a lot of time on solutions to climate change which is understandable considering we haven’t found a way to enact changes we need to stifle global warming. At the end of the day, everything depends on the willingness of the public to preserve the environment.

While University life is fundamentally different from my life in highschool I have found a lot of similarities, especially in the social area. I expected to be a little more overwhelmed by new responsibilities, but once I settled into a schedule, they were less apparent. One big thing I miss from highschool was coming home to home cooked meals. While the dining halls here provide decent food, it does get repetitive and coming towards the end of the semester, I genuinely started becoming sick of it. However, I am pleased that everything I need is close to me and accessible. Dorm life could be better, but it could certainly be worse. Having a roommate who is in the same scholars program and major as me has also been very nice. However, overall social life has made me realize that college freshmen are just highschoolers learning to be college students. Everybody is fast to try and find a clique and fit in which is something I find myself doing as well. The thought of being alone in a place far away from family is a scary thought, so it's natural for everyone to rush and find a group. From what I’ve heard from upperclassmen though, these groups tend to fall apart by the beginning of sophomore year. Hearing this has made me much more careful when choosing who I talk to.

For future SGC students, I would most likely tell them to settle into a manageable schedule as quickly as possible. Leave time to socialize with friends and try to find upperclassmen willing to give you good advice. I would put more emphasis on the college schedule because the overwhelming nature of college can be nearly completely mitigated if time is correctly organized. Make friends, but don’t force it, having too many friends can become a distraction and mess with your schedule. A last tip I would give which may just be helpful to me is get appropriate sleep. Many of the people I know are in bed at average around 1 am and wake up and go to class by 9 or 10. To me this is ridiculous, but they don’t seem at all phased. I am usually in bed by 10 pm, but will occasionally make exceptions for socializing with my friends. I have been able to remain motivated and healthy, and I mostly attribute it to my sleep schedule. I make sure to go to bed early for my 8 am classes so that I can remain focused for my classes throughout the day. Other than that, I would just say have fun because otherwise, you will not be motivated and will struggle to succeed.