My first semster in college My first semester at the University of Maryland is almost done, and it seems as though it flew by. On move-in day, I was so excited to leave the house that I had lived in for years. In the months leading up to college, I would fathom how nice it would be to live by myself and stick with newfound friends (hopefully). Every day at home, I would wake up, go to school, go to practice after school, come home, maybe hang out with my friends, and then go to sleep. There was nothing to do in my quaint little town, which is why I was often either alone or just playing basketball or soccer with my hometown friends. I wanted to explore the world, but I couldn't do that being stuck in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. Me and my friends would visit Boston as often as we could, but the city got boring after the 10th or so. Everything seemed static, and I wanted to introduce some dynamics into my life. After move-in, I sat in my dorm, and me and my roommate went to the dining hall to eat. We were one of the first to move in because we were both College Park Scholars living in Cumberland Hall. Depending on my orientation, I thought that Y was the best thing that had landed on Earth. My high school food was so bad that it made me throw up once. As a vegetarian, I didn't enjoy as many options in high school as I did in college. The first night also felt weird. I wasn't able to sleep properly, and I barely slept. That weekend, when everyone came, was a huge culture shock for me. Everyone seemed to look, tap, and act like me. I felt lost within the crowds of individuals, and as everyone seemed to be making friends, I was still struggling to overcome my social anxiety. It was so hard to make friends, especially since I was from out of Maryland. Everyone within Maryland was interacting with others from Maryland or closer states. It seemed like when I moved high schools, but it was worse this time due to the number of people. I ended up finding more people to hang out with because of my roommate, but it took me about a month to find my identity within my friend group and this new community. Classes started a couple of days after I moved in, and I was refreshed and ready for them. The first different thing was the software all the classes revolved around: Canvas. There, we could email professors, view grades, and submit assignments, but the transition was smooth because I was used to working through Google Classroom. The classes themselves were similar to my high school classes, except much larger. The professors tended not to teach through activities as they did in my high school but instead by talking nonstop. Some of my classes were boring, others weren't, but I enjoyed my engineering classes, where I was able to get some hardware and software experience. I expected university courses to be jampacked with assignments and paperwork, but I felt as though it was easier than high school. I was taking fewer classes in high school, and if I managed my time properly, I would usually end up with more free time in college. My passion for pursuing my major also helped me complete a lot of the boring work that I would have procrastinated. The graded items seemed similar to assignments due in high school, except most professors liked downloaded documents, not pictures or handwritten notes, which is something I would often do in high school. The structure throughout the day was very laid-back, and the fact that I didn't have to go to class was something I loved. My high school forced me to go to class after class after class, but I loved the schedule I had this semester because I always had at least a 20-minute break between classes. The only unfortunate thing for me right now is how bad my sleep schedule is due to my procrastination and friends. The CPSG100 class was an interesting experience for me because it wasn't like other classes. While other classes focused on one subject and delved deep into it, within CPSG100 we learned a range of topics. From HTML Web Development to learning about different rock layers and what they mean, CPSG100 was an information-packed class. I did not expect to cover the HTML development information, and that is what interested me the most because I’ve always wanted to create a website for myself, and now I have the tools to develop it. I was expecting to cover a bit of what humans were doing to prevent total climate collapse and renewable energy resources that should be explored in recent years. The outside-of-classroom activities, such as the excursions, were fun. Since I’m from Boston, I never had the chance to explore Washington, DC, as the SGC scavenger hunt let me. Currently, I live in Cumberland Hall, but I’m looking forward to moving into an apartment next year and living off-campus with my friends. It will be fun hosting parties and trying our best to eat breakfast in the morning when we all wake up after 1 p.m. Over the summer, I often envisioned how it would be to live alone, and in reality, it seemed to fit what I envisioned. I still go to sleep late, but lately, I've been able to discipline myself to sleep at a decent time. It was hard adjusting to sleeping with a roommate who snores a bit and staying in a rundown dorm with bad lighting and hard floors. Compared to my bed back at home, the dorm feels like a prison. We can’t open our windows, so the room perpetually smells like dirty socks, even after I spray it with a can of Febreze. I still love it. The fact that there's no curfew and so much freedom drove me to attend college, and I’m loving it so far. To future students who will be taking SGC, I advise you to make a relationship with Dr. Holtz and/or Dr. Merck. These two professors will most likely be the ones that you like the most because they are the most relatable. I’m getting one of my rec letters from Dr. Merck, with whom I've had a great relationship. Both of them are energetic and passionate about teaching new students about the discoveries within their field and love going on excursions with us, so make sure you appreciate the time you have with them. I just wish I had more time with them, but it was a great semester with SGC.