I can’t believe I’m actually in college now. Even more so, I can’t believe that I’m at a four year public university. It seems like just last week my mom was telling me that I would be going to community college to get my associates before I even thought of coming here. Nevertheless, here I am. Paving my new path in college. And that said, I am so glad I’m here. I never expected to be meeting this many people, finding so many extracurriculars to do, and just having so much fun. All through high school, I expected college to be this super professional institutional learning facility where all you did was study. But now that I’m actually living here, I’m having the time of my life growing so much as a person and learning so much about myself and what I want to do in the future. In a lot of ways, college is a lot like what I expected, but there’s so many things about it I didn’t expect either. Who knew you had to actually ask for help when you didn’t understand something, instead of just Googling it and hoping for the best? Overall, there were a lot of things I didn’t expect about some of my classes, SGC included, as well as just living alone for the first time.
First of all, there was a lot I wasn’t expecting about all my classes. For example, I was not aware that a lot of the discussions are just like having another class. When I heard the word “discussion” I was expecting a time where students were collaborating on projects or assignments with one another. In reality, it’s just like you’re going to class to learn new stuff, except it’s taught by the TA. I also expected a huge portion of our grade to be dependent on the exams. However, while a good percent of the grade is the exams, there’s still a lot of homework assignments that help pad your grade. I was scared coming in that all my classes would have 90% of the grade be the final. One of the other big things is the labs. I was not expecting to spend hours of my time outside of my chemistry lab writing up lab reports. And probably the biggest thing is how the classes are actually taught. Most of my classes require tons of self studying. In high school I could kind of get away with just going to class and doing the homework, but now I spend hours just trying to figure out what was going on in lecture so that I can finally start my homework. Even if a lot of things about the classes are different, I think it is all manageable and I am constantly trying to get better with everything I do.
When it comes to SGC in particular, it was a lot different than I imagined. When I was looking into what scholars classes to join, I was really intrigued by Science and Global Change. However, I was expecting to jump right into things like global climate change. Instead, we spent most of the semester talking about the definition of science and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. We spent a lot of time on what science actually is and we looked at things like logical fallacies and Sagan’s toolbox. Even if it wasn’t what I expected, I think I really learned a lot and most of that information easily translates to a lot of my other STEM classes. I’m hoping to go more into the ways we can stop climate change in the future though. Another thing I wasn’t expecting was all the field trips we would go on. I was not thinking about going on a big trip to DC or even a totally free trip to New York. Both really cool experiences and they both really made me enjoy being a part of scholars.
Now, I was also expecting life to be a lot different just being a university student. I of course was scared to share a room with someone for the first time, but it turned out a lot better than I thought. I have an amazing roommate. I was scared I was gonna argue with my roommate and feel weird sharing a space together, but now he’s one of my best friends. I love always having someone to talk to, but we also respect each other’s space and I can easily get stuff done when we’re both in the room. I also didn’t expect having to really plan out my week as much as I have been doing. In high school, everything was kind of structured for you and clubs only met right after school. But here in college, I have had to get used to planning time to do homework around the clubs I have when some of these clubs meet at 8 o’clock at night. That said, I love living with my roommate and I think college is a time where I can really gear my time management skills towards being an actual adult as opposed to just a high school student.
For any future SGC students, the most important thing I would say is to remember to have fun. Going to college and changing your life completely can seem really scary, but you have to remember that it’s a time to really find yourself and the things you like to do. I really found comfort in finding new friends and meeting new people. SGC was a great place to get to know people and some of my closest friends I actually met through SGC. Other than that, remember to stay organized. It’s on you to get your assignments done on time, so having a planner and figuring out when you have time to do stuff is crucial. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Office hours are a thing for a reason. Overall, just remember that you’re here at the university to learn about what you want to do in the future. But that doesn’t mean you should just study your classes all the time. Go out and meet new people, find clubs you’re interested in, and have fun being out of high school now.