With the days getting shorter and the weather getting colder, it seems that the semester is finally coming to an end. This semester has simultaneously been the shortest and longest four months of my life. If you were to ask me the date, my knee-jerk reaction would be to say August and yet I can’t even picture the person I was back then. I have gone through so much change in such a short time: internally and externally. Nothing could have prepared the high school version of me for the swift shifts her academic and social lives would undertake.
During my senior year in high school, I took all AP classes, which unfortunately had me convinced that I was ready for the workload of college. I always overdid it in high school and managed, so I signed up for 17 credits my first semester: without using Planet Terp. I had filled my schedule with classes that were either poorly rated or had professors who were known to make the content challenging to digest. On my first day of classes, I got a taste of what the rest of my semester would be like. From 9 am to 6 pm, I ran from class to class and slowly came to the realization of how different college is from high school and just how difficult this semester was going to be. From my statistics class with a professor who didn’t know how to use a microphone to my physics class that didn’t have a real syllabus, I was baffled by how unorganized my classes were. I chose to be here. Unlike my high school, the school had no responsibility or incentive to ensure my success. I had to take the responsibility for my education and manage my success. I also wasn’t expecting how things were graded and how curves worked. In high school, I never had a curved exam, but in a lot of my classes this semester there is a curve for anything from random assignments to exams. In general, there have been several surprises when it comes to my courses, especially SGC.
In all honesty, this scholars program is nothing like I expected it to be. When I filled out the preference form I was under the impression that this class had to do with international relations and policies dealing with technological advances. Looking back, I am not sure how I got that impression, but I was a little surprised when I found out that the class content covered climate change. However, I do not regret choosing this class. Even though I am a Computer Science major, my first love and passion will always be archeology, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that I was going to have a geologist and a paleontologist as my professors. I have loved taking this class. The content not only provides a reprieve from all my STEM-centered courses but has also prepared me for the rest of college. While I do enjoy learning about mass extinctions and the geological record, I believe I have benefited the most from the lectures about logic as I find myself using the tools in Sagan’s toolbox in my other classes. This course has also pushed my limits outside the classroom. For my excursion, I attended a lecture by one of my other professors, Sylvester J Gates. It was fascinating to learn about the man, whose lectures I had been attending for months. It bestowed me with a new perspective on his teaching style and allowed me to appreciate his class in new ways.
I don’t think there would have been a way to tell the version of me from 4 months ago what college was going to be like. I mean there are certain things I expected. The lack of privacy, waiting for laundry machines, and getting sick of the dining hall food were all things I anticipated. However, nothing could have prepared me for the social aspect of college. I see everyone I know all the time. I can’t even remember the last time I had dinner by myself. I always happen to run into someone or get a text that disrupts my entire schedule. I am always pivoting and changing. During the first look fair I picked out several different organizations and attended their meetings for the first couple of weeks, but before I knew it my roommate dragged me to a rush event for a professional technology fraternity. I spent the rest of my semester pledging and the other clubs fell off my radar. Last week, I was initiated into the organization. Despite all my planning and attempts to schedule my life, there is just a certain aspect of spontaneity in college that is unavoidable.
While I find myself missing the simplicity of high school, I wouldn’t give up my first-semester experience for anything. I have gone through so much and I believe that I have become a better person for it. I have met so many new and different people who have helped me expand the way I think and work. Even though I struggled, I struggled with others and found a new support system that I hope will follow throughout my collegiate career and even after. If I had to give any advice to incoming freshmen, I would tell them to accept everything that is thrown at them. Sometimes life is going to suck and sometimes its going to be great. It is all about balance. I have had my highest highs and lowest lows all within the course of the past 4 months. College is difficult and it is going to suck... a lot, but it makes you appreciate the good in your life and the world. Also, there will always be washers and dryers available at 6 A.M..