Life at University of Maryland has been much different than what I expected. College has always been romanticized by all the people around me. All throughout my senior year of high school, I've had many family members, adults, and peers alike tell me that my college years will be the best years of my life. And while there is a lot about college I enjoyed, there are certainly many downsides, especially when it comes to the academic part of college rather than the social aspect.
I've found that in my first semester of college, the course work and classes have been difficult. This is especially true when it comes to math, as I'm currently taking (and hopefully finishing) Math 140. One thing to take into account is that I intend to pursue a computer science degree, which requires a lot of math. In high school (and now), I really enjoy computer science and can't see myself doing anything else. The only problem is I didn't get so lucky with math in high school. The highest math class I took in high school was Pre-calc, so getting into college and going straight to Math 140 was a difficult adjustment. While most of my peers in Math 140 had already taken Calc in high school, I was a step behind, struggling to understand these new concepts. Although this class is a struggle for everyone, I felt particularly behind the curve.
I was ill-prepared for the amount of work I would be required to do for each class. Especially with Math 140, it feels as though I spend most of my time working on that single subject. And with finals coming up, I feel as ill prepared for Math 140 as I felt at the beginning of the semester. To sum it up, classes in general require much more work than I was expecting, and it's difficult to adjust to this new change. While in high school, I would rarely stay up past 8:00 doing homework. Now, if I finish all of my homework at 8:00, I consider that early to be ending. I typically stay up past 12:00 just for homework; not including studying.
It was naive that before I entered college, I was under the impression that I had a lot more time than I actually do. I didn't take into consideration the amount of time in between classes and throughout the day. Because although I have some days I'm done with classes at 1:00pm or 2:00pm, most days I'm in class until closer to 5:00pm every day. Learning to balance my schedule has not come easy to me throughout this whole experience. I also had to work my way through certain classes, one of which was CPSG, where not only did I do homework for that class, but I also went on outside of college trips to DC or NYC.
The content of CPSG throughout the semester had surprised me. While I was under the initial impression that Science and Global Change was primarily about Climate Change, I was impressed that it also delved into talks about paranormal phenomenons and how they were connected to the scientific world. We also talked about general information like the scientific method and logical fallacies, which are concepts that I've briefly learned about, but never had gone that much in depth about.
What's also surprised me about SGC is the outside of class activities. The excursions have been much different than anything I've ever gone on in middle school or high school. I went on both DC and NYC scholars trips, and what's surprised me the most is the amount of freedom we are given. I should've assumed that would be the case since many of us are adults now and can take care of ourselves, but we were allowed to do anything in DC and NYC as long as we completed our required assignments and made it back on time. I've enjoyed these excursions, and it's given me a good perspective on college life.
College life and its corresponding social life has been a completely different experience than I imagined. In high school, I never went out that much and kept to my comfort zone by remaining in the same social groups that I had the entirety of high school. In college, although I still hang out with many of my high school friends, I've met so many new people since being here. I've been really pushed out of my comfort zone, but I think it's for the best as I tend to stick to myself. I'd like to think I'm independent, but I also know it's good for me to rely on people every once in a while.
I've had some highs and lows, ups and downs, but college so far has been a time to remember. Getting out of my comfort zone, trying new things, meeting new people, adjusting to classes; all of these have been a part of my overall experience. And while I still feel uncertain about the future, especially after college, I think this semester has helped me take a big step in this direction. My advice to future SGC students is to take every opportunity you get to grow as a person. Because soon enough, college will pass you by and you'll regret not making the most of it.