Looking back on freshman year, I have realized what a roller coaster it has been. The first day of college feels a lifetime away, but at the same time I cannot believe that I already have my freshman year under my belt. It has definitely been an experience. Starting with my course load and schedule, I was definitely shocked at the pace, density of information, and scope of my classes. While I certainly struggled through many classes and was swamped with homework most days, there were a few classes that made my schedule more bearable. Being a Biology major, it likely comes as no surprise that my favorite class this year was BSCI222 which is a class centered around the study of genetics. This class, while rigorous, was very interesting and some of the information I learned was truly engaging. In high school, I had never had a class I actually enjoyed going to, so it was a pleasant surprise to experience this in college.
On the topic of classes, I have found it is very important and beneficial to establish strong relationships with faculty and supervisors. In my CLAS170 course, a course about Greek and Roman Mythology, I had a teacher's assistant who I grew to develop a strong professional relationship with. It was very nice to speak openly with someone in a position of authority and share my opinions in an academic environment. This relationship allowed me to do better in the class and feel more engaged in the classroom. While it is definitely intimidating to begin a professional relationship with an individual of superiority, I thought this relationship ended up proving beneficial in the long run and motivated me to do well in the class.
On this topic of relationship, I have found it vitally important to build relationships with peers. Luckily at Centerville Hall, I have had the opportunity to make strong friendships and make a lot of fun memories with the people on my floor. With this being said, it is definitely intimidating at first to put yourself out there and try to make friends with everyone you meet, but I have found this is what you need to do in college. It was especially difficult this year given complete online classes and social restrictions. However, the friends I did make this year made school and life in general a whole lot better so do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone to make friends. It should be much easier to make friends next year given in-person classes and all, but it is definitely worth making friends with the people within SGC.
Lastly, I will discuss areas of college life that I felt I was least prepared for. The difficulty and sheer amount of work required by my classes was a definite slap in the face and a challenge that I continue to struggle with. I was unprepared for the speed and density of knowledge that was needed for college level courses so I recommend coming into college not thinking it will be constant fun and be ready to work. I was also ill-prepared in the social aspect of college. In all my years of school prior to college I had never had problems with having and making friends. When I got to college, it was a little uncomfortable and unfamiliar to not automatically have a friend group of close friends I had grown up with so this aspect definitely took a little getting used to. It also forced me to branch out and try to make friends with basically everyone, which is a strategy I suggest to incoming freshmen. While my freshman college experience will certainly be different than that of incoming freshmen, I hope my feedback provides a look at what college life is like.