Looking back on this past year, I think the course that surprised me the most was ENES 100, Introduction to Engineering Design. The reason why this course was so surprising to me was because it was very independent compared to a regular class. The goal of this class was to work in a team of other students in the class to design a robot to perform a specific task. For my group, we had to build a robot that could navigate to a material, a cube, determine its material type, and its weight. This class started out like most classes, with our instructor teaching us and telling us what to do. After about two months into the course, everything we did was on our own. We had to design our own robot and buy our own parts. While signing up for this class, I had read its course description and talked to other students about what the class is like, but I didn’t expect the class to be as independent as it was. For incoming students, I think the best way to experience this yourself is by taking classes that are unfamiliar to you. Signing up for a class that is outside your major, or finding a class that is not just lecture based is a great way to surprise yourself. You don’t need to know everything about a class you're taking, as the point of the class is to teach you new things. Looking back on my professor this past year, I would say that I built relationships with most of them. Some of my closer relationships came in smaller classes such as English 101 and Communications, but also in some larger classes like my programming class. Starting with my smaller classes, I believe it’s much easier to create relationships with faculty due to the classes being small. These classes only had around 19 people, so my professors by default got to know us very quickly. What helped me create a stronger relationship was that I consistently participated in class, and I would communicate with my professors whether that's by email, or just saying hello. In my larger programming class, I was able to build a relationship with my professor by sitting in one of the front rows every lecture. This helped my professor to be able to recognize me. I also would say hello to him, and I would go to his office hours which allowed me to create a relationship with him. I think the hardest thing in creating relationships with my professors was finding a way to create an initial relationship. What I mean by that is that I only meet with my professors two to three times a week, so finding a way to talk to them in class is hard. I found that going to office hours is a great way to help break the ice. Making an effort to talk to your professor every time you see them, whether that's saying hello, or talking to them after class, any type of communication creates a good impression on your professor. Initially at UMD, I didn’t feel very uncomfortable. However, as the year went on, I found that when I wasn’t in class or doing homework, I felt isolated. Staying in a small dorm room isn’t the most pleasant thing, especially when you're by yourself. I found that having conversations with my roommate made our small dorm room feel more inviting. I also felt that doing things like getting meals with my friends, and going to sporting events really helped me feel more comfortable. I think the hardest thing when trying to build relationships with other students is being scared to initiate with them. I found that I became friends with people in my classes, but I didn’t really ever do anything with them outside of that. I think that if you just ask a person to do something like getting lunch is a great way to build relationships. Many other students feel the same way, so reaching out to them even though they may seem like they already have friends is a great way to become friends with them. I would say the best way to utilize relationships is by asking them to do things. Just because they don’t ask you to do something doesn’t mean they don’t want to be your friend. Most students are quite willing to socialize with you, they just might be worried as well. Looking back, I think the biggest part of academic social life that I was least prepared for was handling my free time. For the most part, I was able to do things like lifeguarding for parts of my free time, but I also found myself staying in my room a lot with my free time. Looking back now, I think the best way to fix this was by trying to do things like asking friends to hang out or to study. This goes back to what I was saying earlier with being scared to ask people to do things with, as I’m sure that if I asked a friend to do something, they wouldn’t say no. I also think that the best way to fill up your free time is to do things like work, join a club, or hang out with friends. College does come with a lot of work, but that doesn’t mean you have to study every second that you get. Taking more classes to fill up your day is a terrible thing to do. This often makes people isolated and stressed out. Joining a club is a great way to expand your academic knowledge, while also socializing with other students.