May 8 2024
There were a couple of courses that came as a huge surprise to me. First, I decided to take a biology course last semester (BSCI170) that focused on cellular and molecular biology. I found that I really enjoyed it and that was a surprise for me because I’ve always felt more interested in humanities subjects and especially because I took chemistry and anatomy online in high school, I didn’t have a chance to really enjoy learning about life sciences. However, taking this course–and continuing my newfound love of life science with neuroscience this semester–I found that I wanted to add a major in a STEM discipline, too. Another class that really came as a surprise to me–and ended up being my favorite class I’ve taken thus far–was a class about the history of colonial Latin America. I took it as an elective, not expecting much, but I found that I loved the structure of the class and structuring everything under the umbrella of hegemony made me really enjoy the class–which was a surprise. I discovered both of these classes by accident, but I do encourage students to experience similar surprises by pursuing a truly interdisciplinary education.
I developed a faculty relationship with a couple of my professors this year. I found that I developed relationships with professors that I spoke to in office hours, especially my history professor last semester. I also was able to ask my moot court professor for a recommendation and plan to work with a professor on research this summer. The greatest obstacles in developing these relationships is not asking for what you may want or need from a professor and not attending their office hours. That’s how I recommend incoming students pursue these relationships: attending office hours, working hard in class and participating.
My relationships with fellow students were really helpful in coping with the adjustment because I realized all of us were experiencing the exact same feelings. The greatest obstacle in finding friendships is putting yourself out there and making sure you reach out to people. Next year’s freshmen should make the best use of their connections with peers by spending a lot of time with friends and trying new clubs or organizations even if they may seem intimidating.
I was least prepared for finals and the variation across classes. The main thing I recommend is making sure you read the syllabus because in different classes there can be huge differences–even things like what percentage constitutes which grade. Also, I would recommend staying proactive throughout the semester to prepare for finals because the best way to study is to try to learn and retain the content as it is presented in class–don’t rely on the final as a grade booster. I found that towards the end of the semester I felt a lot less motivated to study and making sure you do well throughout the entire semester helps to ease the pressure of finals and make it much less stressful.