When I began this semester, I carried very specific expectations about what my classes would be like. I anticipated a step up in difficulty, a faster pace, and a level of independence that did not come in my high school classes. For the most part, those predictions turned out to be accurate. However, there were some surprises along the way. The nature of my classes, from their structure to the ways they deliver material, has been both familiar and completely new.
One major difference I noticed immediately was the structure and rhythm of assignments. In high school, teachers consistently reminded us when due dates were approaching, and there was often a week-by-week breakdown of what we needed to do. College courses, however, expect you to handle that responsibility on your own. Professors tend to give you all of the deadlines at the start of the year and expect you to manage your time accordingly. I knew that if I did not find a way to keep track of all of my assignments, I was bound to forget some of them. So, I created an assignments tracker on Google Sheets at the start of the semester and used that to remind myself of upcoming deadlines. However, I realized that this system did not work the best for me, so I plan on using Google Calendar next semester.
Another major shift was how the material is delivered. Lectures move much faster than they did in high school. Professors normally say the material one time and expect you to understand it from there. Professors are not able to fit every single detail about a topic in a short 50-minute block. They either have to pick and choose to teach what matters or they have to rush through the material. At the start, it did throw me off, but I quickly learned to take advantage of office hours. That private and one-on-one setting is helpful for clearing any confusion I may have about a certain topic.
Regarding exams, I had to adjust to the idea that tests often cover large units of content rather than a single chapter. That meant that I could not just study the night before and be fully prepared. I had to study the content as it was taught and spend the days leading up to the exam reviewing and deeply understanding the material and doing practice exams. Fortunately, I had spent high school learning what study methods worked best for me, which was definitely helpful. I walked into college knowing how to take notes efficiently and knowing how I best grasped the material based on the class. Still, I needed to put in more hours than I expected.
CPSG100 surprised me in many ways. At the beginning of the semester, I did not know what to expect from the class. It ended up for the most part being a science class similar to what I took in high school, where the lectures covered most of the content. However, there were more readings than I anticipated, and I enjoyed that they were not just regurgitations of the lectures of textbook experts. The weekly questions were thought provoking. I also liked that we learned basic HTML and CSS. I did not expect a course about science and global change to touch on web design, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that we did learn about content not directly related to SCG. It reminded me that Scholars is extremely interdisciplinary, and even though my major might not be directly related to science and global change, it still has its applications.
In high school, most of my time was either spent at home or at school: there was a clear divide. Now, all of my time is spent at school, so I have to make sure that I take time out of my day to hang out with friends, whether it be getting lunch or dinner together or watching a movie in one of our lounges. While I do not live in Centreville, being an on campus student gave me a smaller community in a school as huge as UMD. I am able to go to my room and unwind after a particularly long or difficult day, but I can also go a whole day without stepping foot into my room, a type of freedom that I was not given in high school. The freedom was definitely nice to have, but I had to give myself some time to find a rhythm and a schedule that worked best for me. I had to find a balance between structure in my days and being open to spontaneous hangouts with my friends.
My advice for future SCG students is to walk in with an open mind and a sense of curiosity about what the program can offer. You truly get out of Scholars what you put into it. Talk to your peers, participate in class discussions, and attend events even when they are optional, if time permits. Scholars can be a great experience if you walk in with that mindset. Many people meet their best friends from this program, and walking in, you never know what to expect. If you walk in with that mindset, Scholars can become one of the most rewarding parts of your college career.